Andy

Oliver

The move means that Drew Smyly and Duane Below are the two men left standing for the final spot in the starting rotation. Oliver entered spring training with a shot, but struggled with his control and gave up six runs over just three innings against the Astros on Tuesday. The 24-year-old southpaw still has a promising future, but he needs more seasoning in the minors.

Jacob Turner looks like the favorite right now, but Oliver is also in the mix for the fifth spot in Detroit’s rotation. If neither youngster steps up this spring, then the Tigers might again look to make a trade.

Oliver has allowed just one hit in seven scoreless innings to date (10 scoreless innings, if one includes his outing against Florida Southern), so he has to be the early favorite to serve as the Tigers’ fifth starter. The team still might pick up a veteran prior to Opening Day.

A weak showing for the pitcher who had been the favorite to go north as Detroit’s fifth starter. Drew Smyly is probably the better choice anyway, though we still wouldn’t rule out a trade.

With Jacob Turner likely out of the mix, Andrew Oliver and Drew Smyly are the top candidates for the last spot in Detroit’s rotation. Oliver seems like the favorite for the position, but Smyly rates as the better fantasy sleeper. Oliver, a 23-year-old southpaw, went 8-12 with a 4.71 ERA in 26 starts last year at Triple-A.

Oliver’s bid for a rotation spot has taken a big hit with back-to-back poor outings. Drew Smyly looks like the best of the Tigers’ internal options right now.

They could also pull Duane Below out of the bullpen to make the start. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Fister Saturday and picked up his first major league win. Oliver, Crosby and Below lost out on the No. 5 starter competition to Drew Smyly.

Oliver walked three and struck out three. This was his first official outing of the spring, but he also pitched three scoreless innings and struck out six against Florida Southern on Friday. Combined with Jacob Turner’s weaker performance today, his case to become Detroit’s fifth starter has already gotten stronger.

The former second-round pick has yielded a .286 opponents’ batting average and has tallied more walks than strikeouts. Oliver has been highly effective in the past against left-handed batters, but it’s hard to see him having success as a major league starter at any point in the near future. The 23-year-old southpaw went 8-12 with a 4.71 ERA in 26 starts this year at Triple-A.

Oliver went 4-9 with a 5.18 ERA as a starter on the farm before hitting the disabled list prior to the All-Star break. That’s all Detroit needed to see. “He’s been out for a while,” Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “He’s healthy. We weren’t going to have a good time to stretch him out. The second thing is, we have often wondered how he would do in the bullpen ourselves, so we just figured it’s a good time to make the transition for the rest of the year, see how it goes and take it from there.” Oliver could be a September call-up, but he won’t be fantasy relevant this season.