Top prospect Franklin Perez makes 2018 debut

West Michigan Whitecaps

The Whitecaps posted a 5-3 week, bringing their season record to 41-37. West Michigan’s start to the second half has them in third place in the Midwest League Eastern Division’s second half standings.

Manning Dominates, Receives Promotion

Matt Manning turned in another dominant outing for West Michigan this week. The former first rounder tossed seven innings for the second start straight, and allowed one run on eight hits. He also fanned eight without issuing a walk.

Following the outing, Detroit promoted Manning to High-A Lakeland. In 11 starts for West Michigan, Manning posted a 3.40 ERA, and struck out 76 in 55.2 innings.

His final two starts for the Whitecaps were especially strong. In 14.0 innings of work, he gave up one run on 11 hits. Manning also struck out 14, while walking just one. He will make his first career appearance at High-A in the coming days.

Elsewhere in the Rotation

Dane Myers turned in a pair of very good starts to begin his season back in April. Unfortunately, the strong start was followed by a month-long stint on the disabled list.

Since returning, Myers has picked up where he left off. Outside of his June 2 outing, during which he allowed five runs on seven hits, the right-hander has kept his opponent to three or fewer runs and five or fewer hits.

Wednesday night’s start continued the trend for last year’s sixth round pick. Myers tossed a career-high seven innings, yielding a run on five hits. He added four strikeouts and walked one. For the year, Myers boasts a 2.91 ERA through eight starts.

Despite losing more than a month to injury, Myers continues to build on what was a stellar pro debut season in 2017. Last year with Connecticut, he posted a 2.33 ERA in 13 appearances, 12 of which were starts. With Manning promoted, Myers should rightly get more attention for the work he’s done in his young pro career.

Rivera Raking

Like Myers, Rey Rivera also missed a chunk of time due to injury earlier in the year. Last year’s second rounder sat out most of April before joining a struggling West Michigan lineup.

Rivera gave the Whitecaps a power threat in the middle of the order and he has produced. Through 57 games, he’s collected 23 doubles, tied for the most in the Midwest League. His 39 RBIs trail only Colby Bortles, and his 99 total bases lead the Whitecaps.

The Puerto Rican really took off a couple weeks ago. Rivera has picked up at least one hit in 10 of his last 13 games, and multiple knocks in four of them. The two-week stretch boosted his season average 22 points, to .267. For the year, Rivera boasts a .267/.332/.481 slash line.