West Michigan Whitecaps RHP Marcelo Carreno (Photo courtesy of The Daily News)
The Detroit Tigers will give minor-league RHP Marcelo Carreno and cash to the Chicago Cubs to complete the Aug. 5 trade that sent utility man Jeff Baker to the Tigers.
Carreno, 21, spent the entire 2011 and 2012 seasons with the West Michigan Whitecaps. In 2011 he went 7-10 with a 4.55 ERA, 115 strikeouts and 41 walks in 124.2 IP. This year he improved to 9-8 with a 3.23 ERA, 119 strikeouts and 28 walks in 139.1 IP.
Jim Callis of Baseball America tweeted today that Carreno has a “good not great arm” with a fastball in the low 90s and a sinker. (For some more opinions about Carreno, see this post by John Arguello of Cubs Den.)
Perhaps the best game of Carreno’s career thus far came in early September when he struck out 13 while giving up only four hits in six scoreless innings of a game that I wrote about here. He was relieved by Slade Smith, who struck out seven batters in the last three innings to complete a 20K performance by the Whitecaps pitchers.
