This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
DETROIT — When the Tigers drafted Dane Myers in 2017, the former two-way player from Rice University typed a note into his phone with his career goals. Among them was to pitch at Comerica Park.
Seven years later, Myers finally got his chance to step onto the field Wednesday … and dig into the batter’s box, for the Marlins, against the Tigers.
“It’s pretty wild,” Myers said a couple days earlier. “It’s been a long road.”
Myers pinch-hit for Nick Gordon in the seventh inning and flied out to left field, then finished out the Marlins’ 2-0 win in left. The only way it would’ve been more fitting would be if he had flied out to former Tigers Minor League teammate Kerry Carpenter in right.
“He’s awesome,” Carpenter said. “I love that guy.”
Myers’ journey from Tigers pitching prospect to Marlins outfielder had plenty of twists and turns. Carpenter saw a lot of it, starting when they were teammates in rookie ball in 2019 — Carpenter a just-drafted hitting prospect, Myers just hitting for the first time after a midseason intervention.
“It was kinda crazy,” Myers recalled of the switch. “I remember my good days pitching, I was like 93-95 [mph]. And then my last year pitching I was down to like 86-87. Arm was feeling OK, so it was kinda weird. Mechanics weren’t that good on the mound, so I think that probably played a role in it.
