Tigers pitcher inducted into Whitecaps Hall of Fame

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) —  The West Michigan Whitecaps inducted a former player into its hall of fame at a banquet Thursday.

Matt Manning, the current starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and former first-round draft pick, will join the Whitecaps Hall of Fame. He was chosen by a committee including front office members, local media personalities, select fans and online fan votes from a list of former Whitecaps players, managers and staff.

Manning was the ninth overall selection in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft out of high school and spent parts of the 2017 and 2018 seasons with the Whitecaps, starting 16 games and striking out 102 batters, the Whitecaps said. He made his MLB debut for the Tigers in June 2021.

Inductees into the Whitecaps Hall of Fame must be at least five years removed from their time with the team and are judged over their entire career and impact on community, character, sportsmanship and integrity.

Jeff Greenberg, the general manager for the Tigers, made a stop at the Whitecaps Foundation Gala Thursday night. He took time to talk about the outlook for the team.

The Tigers finished in second place last year, and were eight games away from winning the Central. To close that gap, the Tigers had to bring in talent in the batters’ box and on the mound. and Greenberg believes they’ve done that.

“We were able to add Mark Canha very early in the off-season, we wanted to add some veteran presence in our rotation, we were able to do that with Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty. Same thing in the bullpen, we were able to add Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller, so you know, we were active early, it felt like we were productive and we feel like we’re well-positioned with spring training only a few weeks away,” Greenberg said.

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