Top prospect Franklin Perez makes 2018 debut

Erie SeaWolves

Three straight wins propelled the SeaWolves to a 5-2 week. Erie’s season mark stands at 36-41, good for fifth place in the Eastern League Western Division.

Burrows’ Career Night

Beau Burrows turned in another great outing Sunday, giving up two runs on four hits over six innings. The former first rounder walked four, tying his career-high, and also set a new career-high with 11 strikeouts.

While the strikeouts have come and gone somewhat this season, Burrows has been consistently stingy in allowing hits. Opponents have hit .215 against the righty this year, the lowest total he’s allowed since 2015.

Part of the reason for the low average is a BABIP of .254, which is well below average. While some of that can be chalked up to luck, another portion can be attributed to his batted ball profile.

Per FanGraphs, Burrows has allowed roughly 10 percent fewer line drives than he did in his 15 starts for Erie in 2017. Additionally, the 21-year old ‘s infield fly ball rate has increased by nearly 10 percent. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out inducing more pop-ups and yielding fewer line drives is a recipe for improved numbers.

Through 14 starts for the SeaWolves this season, Burrows sports a 3.33 ERA over 75.2 innings of work. He’s yielded fewer than seven hits per nine innings, helping lead to a 1.15 WHIP. Last year, Burrows allowed 9.3 hits per nine, and posted a 4.72 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 15 outings for Erie. Don’t be shocked to see Burrows get a taste of Triple-A before the season ends.

Cameron Catching Fire

We mentioned last week the hot start Daz Cameron got off to after his promotion to Double-A. The hot streak continued for the 21-year old outfielder this week. In his first 10 games for the SeaWolves, Cameron hit safely in nine of them, recording multiple hits in five of the 10.

Not only is Cameron hitting, he’s hitting for power. Of the 16 hits he’s collected, six of them have been for extra bases. Cameron hit just three home runs in 58 games for Lakeland, but has already launched two for the SeaWolves, including a grand slam on Sunday. Cameron likely won’t hit .400 for the rest of the year in Erie, but it’s a great sign he’s off to a terrific start at a new level.

New Face in the Organization

The Detroit Tigers added a veteran backstop to the mix this week, signing Josh Thole. Thole spent at least part of eight straight seasons in the majors with the Mets and Blue Jays from 2009-2016. He joined the Diamondbacks last year, but tore his hamstring in spring training and missed the entire season.

Thole began 2018 with Arizona as well, but was released during spring camp. Like recent signee Hunter Cervenka, Thole went the independent route, signing with New Britain of the Atlantic League. In 17 games for the Bees, he hit .317, and walked nearly as often as he struck out.

Detroit inked the 31-year old last Friday, and assigned him to Erie. In his debut on Sunday, Thole picked up a pair of knocks and scored a run, while catching Burrows’ gem. Organizations always need catchers, and adding a veteran to work with all the pitching prospects with the SeaWolves makes a lot of sense.