Royals Sign Tyler Collins To MiLB Deal

The Kansas City Royals on Wednesday evening announced that they have signed outfielder Tyler Collins to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training camp. Collins has recorded Big League stints with the Detroit Tigers in each of the past four seasons.

Over 183 career contests with the Tigers, Collins has accumulated a .235 average (118-502) with 53 runs, 17 doubles, seven triples, 14 homers and 58 RBI. He made his Major League debut with Detroit on March 31, 2014 versus the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park as a pinch runner and ended up scoring the winning run in a walk-off victory.
Collins has also split time at the Triple-A level each season since 2014, totaling a .255 mark (300-1175) with 142 runs, 48 doubles, four triples, 36 homers and 158 RBI, in addition to a .326 on-base percentage. In 74 tilts with the Toledo Mud Hens last year he tallied a .288 average (75-260), adding 29 runs, 14 doubles, two triples, nine homers and 46 RBI, along with a .358 on-base percentage. He also recorded the first two-homer game of his Big League career on May 17 against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Texas native earned MiLB.com Organization All-Star honors three consecutive seasons between 2012-14. Baseball America also rated Collins as the seventh-best prospect in the Tigers system prior to the 2015 campaign. He was selected by Detroit in the sixth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Howard Junior College in Texas. He was named the 2011 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Baseball Player of the Year after leading the NJCA Division I with 19 longballs, in addition to finishing second in batting average (.488) and RBI (82).