Detroit Tigers Minor League Report: Week 2

The Detroit Tigers are in rebuilding mode. “Future Friday” is a segment where we examine the bevy of prospects in Detroit and their future impact in the Motor City.

The first two weeks of the minor league season are in the books for the Detroit Tigers affiliates. While some players are off to hot starts, others are trying to work their way back to Detroit. We’ll start with a first place team that has won four straight.

Toledo Mud Hens

Pitching has been carrying the Mud Hens to their 9-3 start. During their four-game winning streak, the starting pitcher has not allowed more than one run.

The trend started Saturday night, with A.J. Ladwig, Johnny Barbato, and Mark Montgomery combining on a three-hit shutout.

After inclement weather postponed Sunday’s game, Warwick Saupold worked three scoreless innings on Monday. On Tuesday, Ryan Carpenter allowed one run over six innings with nine strikeouts. Wednesday, Blaine Hardy went five innings, giving up a run on two hits to complete a Toledo sweep of Durham (Tampa Bay).

Detroit Tigers fans have seen Saupold, Carpenter, and Hardy before, two of them already this year. Saupold started the season with the Tigers, but was sent down when Mike Fiers was activated from the disabled list.

Carpenter made his MLB debut in a spot start back on April 1 against Pittsburgh. Hardy hasn’t been with the Tigers this year, but was a contender for a bullpen spot this spring before he was slowed by injury. Expect all three to contribute again in Detroit sooner rather than later.

The Offense

It was a quieter week offensively for Toledo. Dawel Lugo’s season-opening nine-game hitting streak was snapped, but he’s hitting .321 with hits in 11 of 12 games.

Lugo has played exclusively at second base, despite most of his minor league experience coming at shortstop or third base. That seems to suggest he’s being groomed to be the second baseman of the future.

The question then becomes, will Lugo be replacing Dixon Machado? Or will Jose Iglesias be traded and Machado moved to shortstop to make room for Lugo? It’ll be interesting to see how the middle infield situation develops throughout the season.

Prior to the season, our Andy Patton made a list of prospects entering make-or-break seasons. One of the quartet he mentioned was catcher Grayson Greiner.

Greiner was slow out of the gates, going just 4-for-28 to start the season. Hopefully that’s now behind him, as the former third round pick went 4-for-4 on Wednesday night.

Finally, there’s Mikie Mahtook, who started the season in left field for Detroit. Mahtook was sent down last week after a 4-for-31 start. The change of scenery has not helped, as Mahtook is 2-for-15 with seven strikeouts.

Mike Gerber getting the call-up to be the 26th man for today’s doubleheader is telling. It’s a message from management that Mahtook must turn things around in Toledo before getting a chance to reclaim the left field job with the Tigers.

Erie SeaWolves

Things have not gone as well for Erie, as the SeaWolves are 5-8 after a 2-4 week. Like Toledo, the arms shone brighter than the bats this week.

The pitching performance of the week came in game two of a twin bill on Wednesday. Right-hander Kyle Dowdy had been used only in relief in the season’s early days, but got the ball in game two.

The former 12th rounder responded with a dynamite performance. Dowdy gave up two hits in five scoreless innings while striking out 10. Opponents are now hitting .163 against Dowdy this year, and he has 18 strikeouts to three walks in 12.2 innings. Not a bad start to his first stint in Double-A.

After a mediocre first start, Kyle Funkhouser had an interesting line in his second start on Saturday. A former fourth round pick of the Detroit Tigers, Funkhouser went four and a third, giving up a run on two hits with seven strikeouts.

He also walked five, while throwing less than 60 percent of his pitches for strikes. Funkhouser hasn’t had a big problem with walks so far in the minors, but did have his share of control issues in college. Let’s hope this outing was a blip on the radar and not the start of a trend.

The Offense

The offense for Erie has been struggling, averaging just four runs per game. Two relatively new members of the Detroit Tigers organization are off to especially slow starts.

We touched on him a bit last week, but Jake Rogers has had a rough start to his year. In four games this past week, Rogers went 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts. Rogers has the talent to reach Detroit on his glove alone, but a .162 average is not going to cut it.

Outfielder Troy Montgomery has had a tough go of it as well. Acquired in the Ian Kinsler trade, Montgomery is hitting .162 and has struck out in 39 percent of his plate appearances. As a result, he lost his leadoff job to fellow outfielder Jake Robson, who is hitting .313 and leads Erie in hits.

West Michigan Whitecaps

Like the Detroit Tigers, West Michigan has been fighting Mother Nature a lot to get games in this April. The Whitecaps have played just four games since last Friday, with weather postponing games four days in a row.

Despite all the bad weather, West Michigan has managed to continue their strong start. At 8-3, they’re tied for first in their division with Dayton (Cincinnati).

The Whitecaps record is due in large part to their pitching. Currently, the staff is sporting a collective 2.20 ERA, and 9.1 K/9. Leading the rotation are lefty Eudis Idrogo and righty Garett King.

Through two starts, Idrogo has allowed just one run in 11.0 innings and owns a 0.91 WHIP. King has allowed two runs in 11.1 innings, and struck out eight in both of his starts. The righty has also only walked one, giving him a staggering 16:1 strikeout/walk ratio.

The starters have been supplemented by a strong bullpen. Among them are a pair of Venezuelan right-handers that have not been scored upon in three outings apiece.

Oswaldo Castillo has gone at least two innings in each of his appearances, and has fanned 10 in seven and two-thirds. Wladimir Pinto has saved a pair of the Whitecaps wins, and allowed one hit in three and two-thirds innings. Seven of the 11 outs he’s recorded have been strikeouts, for a rate of 17.2 K/9.

The Offense

Cole Peterson, who we touched on last week, continues to lead the offense. Peterson’s three-hit night on Thursday was his fifth multi-hit game of the year, and brought his average up to .356. Last year’s 13th rounder leads West Michigan in average, hits, runs, and steals.

Next: Who should start in left field?

The first two weeks of the season are in the books for the Detroit Tigers affiliates. Make sure to check back each Friday to stay up to date on the latest happenings from around the system.