Detroit Tigers Minor League Report: Week 7

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

The last few weeks have featured numerous transactions for the Detroit Tigers and their affiliates. This week was a little lighter on that front, but there’s still plenty to talk about in this week’s Minor League Report.

Toledo Mud Hens

The Mud Hens continue to cruise along atop the International League West. After a 4-2 week, Toledo is 30-15 for the year. Yesterday’s win over Columbus (Cleveland), made the Mud Hens the second team in all of MiLB to reach 30 wins in 2018.

Jeimer Nearing Return

Of the few moves the Detroit Tigers did make this week, the most notable was to send third baseman Jeimer Candelario on a rehab assignment to Toledo. After an 0-for-4 effort in his first game back Wednesday, Candelario picked up a pair of hits and drove in a run Thursday.

When a position player is sent out on a minor league rehab assignment, he can stay there for up to 20 days. It appears Candelario won’t need that much time, as he reportedly could return to the Tigers as soon as this weekend.

Hot Hens Bats

Toledo’s lineup has been hot lately, including a 15-hit performance last Friday, in which every Hen recorded at least one hit and scored a run. One of the hottest hitters as of late has been utility man Ronny Rodriguez.

Rodriguez had four hits Thursday, and leads the International League with 53. He had an 18-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday, the longest streak posted by a Detroit Tigers minor leaguer this year. While Niko Goodrum is holding down the Tigers utility role for now, don’t be surprised to see Rodriguez up at some point.

Chad Huffman has been having a solid year for the Mud Hens as well, but exploded yesterday. A minor league free agent signing in the offseason, Huffman hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam, and drove in seven. It was the first time a Toledo batter had driven in seven in over six years:

Dark Horse September Callup?

A lot of shuffling has been going on with the Toledo staff this year as the Tigers send guys back-and-forth. One constant has been right-hander A.J. Ladwig. The 2014 11th rounder has started five games, and been used as a long reliever in two others.

Ladwig has been consistent no matter the role, going at least five innings in each start, and only surrendering more than three runs once. His strikeout rate is merely 6.8/9, but he’s made up for it by limiting walks to 1.9/9.

There are plenty of other right-handed pitchers in the organization who are more highly-touted than Ladwig. However, if the Tigers brass feels those prospects need more marinating in the minors and don’t want to start their service clocks, Ladwig would be a prime candidate to eat up innings in September.

As Adam McIntosh pointed out earlier this week, left-handed knuckleballer Josh Turley could be in position to reach Detroit in September, too.

Erie SeaWolves

The SeaWolves went 3-4 for the week, bringing their season record to 18-27. That mark has them in the basement in the Eastern League Western Division.

A Dominant Bullpen

Primarily in this space, we’ve focused on the glut of prospects in the Erie rotation. However, the recent run by the SeaWolves bullpen deserves mentioning. Since last Friday, Erie’s bullpen has surrendered just one run. Their dominant week included a stretch of a combined 23.0 innings without allowing a run.

Most teams use their top pitching prospects as starters in the minors, giving them more experience and innings to develop. As a result, minor league bullpens generally don’t have many guys considered to be on track to reach the majors.

The same is true of the current Erie bullpen. Only hard-throwing righty Gerson Moreno is featured on MLB Pipeline’s most recent top 30 list of Detroit Tigers prospects. Moreno has struggled with control at times, but has struck out 11 over his last three appearances. For the year, he owns a 4.41 ERA, with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks in 16.1 innings.

Righties Mark Ecker and John Schreiber have been solid all year. A 2016 fifth round pick, Ecker boasts a 2.96 ERA and has struck out more than a batter per inning. A native Michigander, Schreiber has gone four straight appearances without allowing a run. For the season, he sports a 3.20 ERA and leads Erie with four saves.

Since starting the season on the disabled list, righty Zac Houston has been very impressive. The 2016 11th rounder has fanned 20 in 14 innings, and yielded just six hits. A pair of recent additions from Lakeland have been chipping in, too. Right-hander Joe Navilhon and local lefty Trent Szkutnik have combined to toss four scoreless appearances since their promotion.

Sedio Joins the Offense

One of our favorites at the Minor League Report recently has been Chad Sedio. Sedio was hitting .319 in 37 games for Lakeland before earning his promotion to Erie this week. In his first game on Wednesday, he went 2-for-4.

Another player who started his season with the Flying Tigers is outfielder Danny Woodrow. Woodrow went 8-for-21 (.381) in five games for Lakeland before his promotion. He’s stayed hot since joining the SeaWolves lineup, hitting .324 through 10 games.

West Michigan Whitecaps

The Whitecaps had a great week, winning six straight before a loss Thursday night. West Michigan stands at 26-20 for the year, three and a half games out of first place.

Manning Delivers Strong Outing

Matt Manning was dominant in his lone outing of the week. The Detroit Tigers 2016 first round pick dealt six scoreless frames, gave up three hits, one walk, and fanned nine. As has been the case all year, Manning’s strikeout rate continues to boggle the mind. The right-hander is up to 43 in 26.2 innings, for a rate of 14.4 per nine.

As we’ve noted before, Manning has had a tendency to struggle with control at times in his young professional career. It’s encouraging that the righty has walked just one in two of his last three starts.

An even better sign is the percentage of strikes he’s thrown. Since throwing a measly 54.7 percent strikes in his second start of the year, his strike percentage has increased with each outing. On Tuesday, he threw 66.7 percent of his pitches for strikes, a season-high.

Dynamic Duo Promoted

Throughout the season, we’ve documented the dominance of Venezuelan righties Eudis Idrogo and Wladimir Pinto. Both of them earned well-deserved promotions to Lakeland this week.

Idrogo posted a 0.49 ERA in six starts for the Whitecaps and made his debut for the Flying Tigers on Tuesday. Coming on in relief, he gave up three hits and three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Pinto had been even more dominant as West Michigan’s closer. Prior to his promotion, the 20-year old had not allowed a run in 16.2 innings. His strikeout rate was 16.2/9, and opponents hit .077 against him. Like Idrogo, he didn’t have the Lakeland debut he was hoping for. Pinto gave up two runs on three hits in an inning of relief work on Wednesday, although he did earn the win.

2017 Draft Picks Heating Up

Last year’s second rounder Rey Rivera and 22nd rounder Colby Bortles had good weeks at the plate to supplement the strong Whitecaps pitching. Rivera went 8-for-23 (.348) for the week and drove in seven. The hot week raised his average to .273, and his 20 RBIs are fourth on the team, despite missing the first few weeks due to injury.

Bortles went 8-for20 (.400) to boost his season average .257. While .257 isn’t great, it’s a lot better than the .216 mark he was at a month ago. He also added seven RBIs in his five games to take over the team lead with 23.

Next: What can the Tigers expect from the No. 1 pick?

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