Detroit Tigers Minor League Report: Week 8

Lakeland Flying Tigers

Lakeland has taken over as the hottest team in the Detroit Tigers system. The Flying Tigers won six straight before a doubleheader split on Thursday. At 28-23, Lakeland is within a game of first place in the Florida State League North Division.

Lakeland’s 1-2 Punch

Last year’s first rounder Alex Faedo made two starts this week. The first was a little bumpy due to a career-high four walks, but he was able to pitch around them successfully. Helping the cause were a career-high seven strikeouts, which kept Faedo from allowing more than one run over his four and two-thirds innings of work.

Faedo’s second start lasted one inning, as it was cut short by a lengthy rain delay. Through 10 starts, his ERA sits at 3.47 and his WHIP at 1.02. He’s allowed one or zero earned runs in seven of those 10, and allowed more than three only once. His strong first two months earned him a mention in an MiLB.com piece taking stock of the 2017 draft class.

Venezuelan right-hander Anthony Castro is quietly having a very strong season, too. In his latest outing, he gave up one run on six hits in a season-high seven innings. He also set a season-high with eight strikeouts.

Through nine starts, Castro sports a 3.38 ERA and opponents are hitting .232 against him. He doesn’t have the gaudy strikeout numbers of some of the others around the system, but his 8.0 K/9 rate is solid. Like Faedo, Castro has been very consistent, allowing two earned runs or fewer in six of his nine starts.

Castro may not be as well known as some of the other pitching prospects in the organization, but he’s been good at every stop. His career ERA is 3.26 in nearly 400 professional innings.

New Addition to the Outfield

After spending the first few months as one of the few consistent hitters for West Michigan, outfielder Luke Burch was promoted to Lakeland this week. Burch was hitting .313 at the time of his promotion, and has kept on hitting with his new club.

In his first seven games with the Flying Tigers, Burch is hitting .304 and has already driven in six runs. Even with highly touted prospect Daz Cameron, Cam Gibson, and Derek Hill sharing the outfield with Burch, he’ll command playing time if he keeps hitting the way he is now.

Prior to the season, our Andy Patton wrote about a handful of prospects entering make-or-break seasons. One of the players on the list was former first rounder Derek Hill. Hill was off to a rough start, hitting .170 before landing on the disabled list in early May with a knee injury.

Hill has been hitting much better in the eight games since his return. He’s hit safely in seven of the eight, and posted a .363 average to raise his season mark to .209. Hill stole his first base since returning from the DL Thursday night and is 12-16 on the season. Known first for his speed and defense, it seems Hill is on the right track after a rough start to 2018.