Tigers call up Daz Cameron, son of Mike

DETROIT -- Twenty years after Mike Cameron manned center field for the Mariners in the first game at Comerica Park, his son reported to the park to play right field for the home team. The Tigers on Wednesday morning called up outfielder Daz Cameron, the organization’s No. 7 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, from the alternate training site for his first Major League stint.

Cameron replaces Christin Stewart, who was optioned to Toledo after Tuesday’s win over the Brewers.

The 23-year-old Cameron started Wednesday’s 19-0 loss to the Brewers in right field, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout while batting seventh. He became the 10th Tigers player to make his Major League debut this season, as Detroit’s rebuilding effort intersects with a postseason push amidst a rash of injuries. The Tigers opened Wednesday a game back of the Yankees for the eighth and final American League postseason spot.

“It's been surreal,” said Cameron, who received the news Tuesday night and called his father. “Just me being here is a blessing, and I'm ready to get things started.”

With Cameron’s promotion, four of Detroit’s top seven prospects on MLB Pipeline’s rankings are now on the Tigers’ roster.

“We're going off of some very, very good teachers and coaches that were in Toledo telling us,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Everybody they've sent up here and said, ‘This guy's doing well’ has come up here and started off very well. So we trust those guys. There's a lot of hard work going in at Toledo in getting these guys ready, and it's Daz's time. We'll see what he's got.”

Cameron was a first-round pick of the Astros in the 2015 MLB Draft before going to the Tigers two years later in the Justin Verlander trade. The outfielder had a breakout pro season in 2018, making it all the way to Triple-A Toledo, but he struggled with the Mud Hens last year, posting a .214 average (96-for-448) and .707 OPS.

Despite those offensive struggles, Cameron’s talent has always been evident. He made several highlight-reel catches for the Tigers in his first big league Spring Training in 2019.

Cameron didn’t have a chance to make an impression in Summer Camp and opened the season on the injured list while going through COVID-19 protocol. He said he tested positive during intake testing and was quarantined for a month. In addition to symptoms, Cameron said he also developed pneumonia.

“It was one of those things where you never know what you go through with coronavirus until you get it, and then you realize how bad it can be,” he said. “I actually had seasonal allergies growing up as a kid, so when coronavirus hit me, it kind of pushed me to a stage where I was having every symptom of it. I'm just glad and thankful just to be here.”

Cameron arrived at the alternate training site at the end of July and caught up amidst a slew of prospects, including outfielder Riley Greene and top prospect Spencer Torkelson.

“He's handled himself very well through some adversity here with this COVID stuff, and he's got himself on the right track,” Gardenhire said. “They told me he's swinging really good down there right now. Hopefully he can carry it over to here, but it's time to see what he can do.”

Said Cameron: “Once I got healthy, it was just something that was a norm for me again. For the most part, me getting into actual playing mode was my main goal in getting ready for this moment right now. I had to work out to make sure I got into the workout room and did the right things to be able to contribute for this day.”

The Tigers are without their starting center fielder since JaCoby Jones suffered a fractured left hand last week. Former Rule 5 Draft pick Victor Reyes has filled in capably in center field in Jones’ absence, while former first-round pick Derek Hill has become a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch-runner since his callup last week.

Cameron will most likely remain in right field for now, Gardenhire said, with Reyes starting in center.

Mike Cameron played 17 years in the Major Leagues, and was a 2001 All-Star with the Mariners. Among his teammates during his stint on the Brewers from 2008-09 was current Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell.

“I do have one kind of distinct memory of him running around center field,” Counsell told reporters Wednesday morning. “He was probably 10, 11, 12 years old, and it wasn’t a stretch to think that he’d be a big leaguer at that time. You don’t see kids run around like that in a Major League outfield -- you could just tell it was something pretty special. It’s fun and you’re happy for Mike as much as anything. It’s a thrill for a dad, for sure; that’s how I see it. Maybe that shows I’m old, too, that it’s a thrill for a dad more than anything.”