Jason Beck is reporting that Francisco Cruceta has been cleared to travel to the US after missing out on all of Spring Training due to issues gathering a visa. Now he’s off to Lakeland to get warmed up and hopefully be able to provide some value to the team:

He’ll report to Lakeland, where he’ll pick up his throwing and prepare himself for games. Once he reports there, the Tigers have 30 days to evaluate him, after which they’ll have to decide whether to add him to their 25-man roster or outright him, since he’s out of minor-league options.

Cruceta had a good year with the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks, a farm team for Texas Rangers. He pitched 65 innings striking out 70 and walking 40 with a 1.19 WHIP. A pitcher who can come in and get a strikeout when needed would truly help this bullpen. Maybe he could replace Jason Grilli in the ‘pen