Detroit Tigers Minor League Report: Week 5

Erie SeaWolves

The SeaWolves have had a down season record-wise so far, so a 4-4 week will count as an improvement. Still, at 12-20 they’re well off the pace in the Eastern League Western Division.

Another Weekly Award

For the second straight week, the Detroit Tigers had one of their minor leaguers earn a Pitcher of the Week honor. This time around, it was Beau Burrows. The righty was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for his work between April 30 and May 6.

The 2015 first rounder won both of his starts in that period, including six scoreless frames with just a pair of hits allowed on Saturday. His season ERA now sits at 2.81, nearly two runs lower than it was in his 15 starts for Erie in 2017.

A big reason for his improvement is the batted balls he’s allowed. A year ago with the SeaWolves, 28.3 percent of the balls put in play against him were line drives. This year, he’s cut that nearly in half, down to 14.7 percent.

Burrows’ ground ball and strikeout rates are down too, but only slightly, so he’s getting more fly ball outs this year. The rate of infield fly balls has increased a little, so most of the outs he is recording now are lazy fly balls. Despite the increase in fly ball rate, he hasn’t given up more home runs, as that ratio has been more than cut in half.

Changes on the Infield

All the moves for Detroit and Toledo in the last week had an effect on the Erie roster as well. Kody Eaves was promoted back to the Mud Hens, leaving room for former 18th rounder Will Maddox to come off the disabled list.

Maddox hit the DL just three games into the season, and missed about a month of action. Since his return, he’s hit safely in all three games, giving him an even .300 average.

A few weeks ago, we noted the hot start of Michigan State product Blaise Salter. The shuffling turned out in his favor as well, as the first baseman was promoted to Erie for the first time this week. In his SeaWolves debut Thursday night, Salter hit cleanup and went 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Lakeland Flying Tigers

Lakeland posted a 2-4 week to drop to 14-19 on the year. Despite being five games under .500, the Flying Tigers are still in third place in the Florida State League North Division.

Starting Staff Update

Alex Faedo is still in search of his first pro win despite another solid outing. Last year’s first rounder yielded a run on five hits in five and two-thirds on Saturday, lowering his ERA to 2.34.

Looking at the .217 BABIP he’s allowed, you may fear regression is coming for Faedo. However, his batted ball profile may suggest otherwise. Like we discussed with Burrows, Faedo is getting a lot of fly balls, as nearly half of the balls put in play against him are in the air.

More than half of those are infield fly balls. That suggests lots of very weak contact is being made, as hitters pop-up into easy outs. Weak contact and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.5:1 should keep Faedo’s numbers from regressing too much.

A starter we have not yet touched on in this space is Tom de Blok. de Blok grew up in Amsterdam, and pitched for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic last year. Shortly after the tournament, the Detroit Tigers signed him.

The right-hander spent most of last season with West Michigan. Splitting his time between the rotation and the bullpen, he posted a 2.87 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 5.5:1.

His first few starts this year were a disaster, but de Blok has started to right the ship. In de Blok’s last three outings, he has gone at least five innings, allowed one run, and given up four or fewer hits. His ERA still sits at 6.11, but it’s a lot better than the 12.34 mark he had after three starts.

The Offense

Chad Sedio has been one of the top hitters in the Detroit Tigers system this year. A 27th round pick in 2016, Sedio has a hit in 25 of the 29 games he’s played in.

This past week, he added three more multi-hit efforts, including a pair of three-knock games. His .306 average is the highest in the organization among those who have enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title.

2017 Midwest League All-Star Danny Woodrow joined Lakeland this week after starting his season on the disabled list. Woodrow hit .271 and stole 31 bags for West Michigan last year, giving the Flying Tigers more speed with Derek Hill currently on the DL.

Woodrow had a pair of hits in his 2018 debut on Monday, and added three more last night to get off to a 6-for-17 (.353) start at the dish. He’s also already stolen three bases in four tries in his four games.

West Michigan Whitecaps

The Whitecaps went 3-4 for the week, bringing their season mark to 18-15. That record has them in fourth, three games out of first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division.

Keeping with the theme of the week, we lead off with a strong start by Matt Manning. The young righty was roughed up last week, but bounced back in a big way on Wednesday.

Over the course of six scoreless innings, Manning gave up four hits, one walk, and struck out eight. As we touched on last week, walks have been a problem for Manning this year, so allowing just one is a good sign. He also continues to pile up ridiculous strikeout numbers, having fanned 26 in 15.2 innings (14.9/9).

A few weeks back, we touched on the hot starts of Eudis Idrogo and Wladimir Pinto. Idrogo has been as consistent as anyone in the Detroit Tigers organization this year. Through five starts, the southpaw has gone at least five innings in each, not allowed more than one run, and given up five or fewer hits.

On Sunday, the Venezuelan tossed six frames of one-run ball while striking out five. For the year, Idrogo owns a 0.60 ERA across 30.0 innings with a 0.97 WHIP. While his strikeout rate is less than 7.0/9, his strikeout-to-walk ratio is still strong, at nearly 3:1.

In the bullpen, Pinto continues to baffle opposing hitters. The right-hander has held opponents to three hits in 11.1 innings for an .081 average, and has yet to yield a run.

Pinto’s strikeout rate is somehow even higher than Manning’s, at 15.9 per nine innings. He is also 7-for-7 in save opportunities, and his seven saves lead the Midwest League.

The Offense

West Michigan has had a tough time generating offense all season, hitting .231 as a club. Their most notable offensive performance this week came from Zac Shepherd, who had a four-hit game on Saturday.

The four-hit effort came in the middle of three straight multi-hit games for the Australian infielder. His strong week at the plate raised his average to .254 after a slow start. Shepherd’s on-base per percentage is much more impressive. Through 22 games it sat at .425, and he had walked nearly as many times (19), as he has had struck out (20).

Detroit’s brass took notice of Shepherd’s on-base prowess, promoting him to High-A Lakeland on Thursday. He made his first appearance for the Flying Tigers this year that night, going 1-for-2 and scoring a run.

Next: Analyzing the last 10 No. 1 overall picks

That wraps up another week of the Minor League Report. Make sure to check back each Friday for the latest updates from around the Detroit Tigers system.