Detroit Tigers Hoping Daniel Norris Can Fulfill Potential
By David Hill
The Detroit Tigers have officially run the white flag on the 2015 season, as they have traded David Price to the Toronto Blue Jays for Daniel Norris, Jairo Lambert and Matt Boyd. For the Blue Jays, getting Price will solidify their starting rotation, giving the team that ace needed to truly contend for a playoff push.
For the Tigers, this would seemingly be quite the haul for the former Cy Young award winner. Lambert had been considered the Blue Jays 19th best prospect by MLB.com, and Boyd was ranked 11th on that list. Yet, the clear prize of the trade, at least from the Tigers vantage point, would be Norris.
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In Daniel Norris, the Detroit Tigers are getting a pitcher who has been considered to be a top of the rotation starter. With his mid 90’s fastball and solid changeup, the expectation are the Norris will help jump start the Tigers rebuild, giving them a young starter that they can build their pitching staff around. After losing Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Price over the past couple of seasons, getting Norris to fulfill his potential would be of the utmost importance.
The question is whether or not he will be able to. There is no denying Norris’ stuff, as all four of his pitches were rated as 50 or higher on the 20-80 scale by MLB.com. The biggest question is whether or not Norris can put everything together on a consistent basis.
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These inconsistencies manifested themselves during his time with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. Norris put together a disappointing 3-10 record with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.511 WHiP. Those struggles were exacerbated by his 41 walks in 90.2 innings, following a career history of shaky control, as he has a career minor league mark of 3.8 walks per nine innings.
Those control issues appeared during Norris’ brief stay in the major leagues this season. While he only allowed 23 hits in his 23.1 innings, Norris walked 12 batters en route to a 1.500 WHiP. In order for the Tigers to get the return they envision for David Price, Norris will need to harness his command.
For now, Daniel Norris has jumped to the top of the Detroit Tigers prospect list, and could well make his debut in Detroit later this season. However, for this trade to work out as the Tigers envision going forward, they need Norris to take that next step in his development.