Detroit Tigers: Matt Manning Shines in Lakeland Debut

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.

Things are heating up throughout the Detroit Tigers organization with just two months left in the minor league season. This week featured debuts at new levels, Eastern League All-Star announcements, and the organization’s seventh Pitcher of the Week. We’ll start with the suddenly slumping team a short drive down I-75 from the Motor City.

Toledo Mud Hens

A 2-5 week dropped the Mud Hens record to 47-38. Despite losing nine of their last 12, Toledo remains atop the International League West.

Injury-Related Moves

As the injuries continue to mount for the Detroit Tigers, so do the roster moves. The Tigers placed Leonys Martin and Shane Greene on the disabled list, recalling Mikie Mahtook and activating Daniel Stumpf from the DL to take those spots on the roster.

Stumpf pitched fairly well over five minor league rehab appearances with Toledo. He posted a 3.18 ERA in five and two-thirds innings, and struck out six. In his return on Tuesday, he was tagged with the loss.

Mahtook started the season as Detroit’s left fielder, and has been back-and-forth a few times already. He had been struggling at the plate for both clubs until hitting .283 with five homers for Toledo in June. With Martin out, Mahtook has slotted into the leadoff spot in the Tigers order.

Pair of All-Stars Promoted

Detroit made several other moves involving the Mud Hens. Warwick Saupold and Grayson Greiner were sent back down and replaced by a pair of International League All-Stars.

The first IL All-Star to earn a promotion was Jim Adduci. Adduci played in 29 games for the Tigers last year, slashing .241/.323/.398. Prior to this week, he’d spent the entire season in Toledo, where his .309 average and 22 doubles rank in the top-10 in the International League.

Defensively, he brings the ability to play both corner outfield spots and first base. Adduci also adds another much-needed left-handed bat to the lineup, for a team that is near the bottom of the league against right-handed pitching.

Ronny Rodriguez also rejoined the Tigers this week. Rodriguez has destroyed International League pitching in 2018 to the tune of a league-leading .338 average. His offensive numbers rank among the league’s best nearly across the board in the IL, but it’s been a different story in Detroit.

After collecting a pair of hits in his Major League debut on May 31, Rodriguez went hitless in his next 22 Major League at-bats. The 26-year old snapped out of his funk with three hits in his return Thursday, playing third to give Jeimer Candelario a night off.

With Dixon Machado designated for assignment, Rodriguez will have the opportunity to challenge for playing time at second base. If his Triple-A numbers can translate to the majors, he may just earn the every day job.

VerHagen on the Mend

The latest Detroit Tigers pitcher to head out on a rehab assignment to Toledo is Drew VerHagen. VerHagen hit the disabled list a few weeks ago after breaking his nose in Cincinnati.

The righty started with a pair of solid appearances for the Mud Hens, working two and a third scoreless frames. He added four strikeouts, and walked a pair. Thursday was a mixed bag for VerHagen. He tossed a pair of innings, yielded two runs on three hits, but fanned five.

VerHagen’s numbers with Detroit haven’t been pretty in 2018. After five straight scoreless appearances in April, he allowed at least one run in seven of his last eight outings for the Tigers. With that said, there’s no need to rush him back into an already struggling bullpen.

Cervenka Continues Domination

Recent signing Hunter Cervenka continues to dominate in the minor leagues. Following five and two-thirds scoreless frames with Erie, Cervenka made the jump to Toledo.

Despite the new scenery, the results remain excellent. Through four outings with the Mud Hens, the lefty has fanned eight, while allowing one hit over three and two-thirds innings.

The former Marlin would be a welcome addition to a Detroit bullpen which has been searching for a reliable lefty for awhile. However, a blow came to his chances when the Tigers added righty Victor Alcantara to the 40-man roster in order to call him up. Alcantara took the spot vacated when Dixon Machado was designated for assignment. Now someone else will have to lose their spot on the 40-man for Cervenka to get his chance in the Motor City.

Erie SeaWolves

The SeaWolves posted a 4-3 mark for the week, bringing their season record to 40-44. Erie currently sits in fifth place in the Eastern League’s Western Division.

Four SeaWolves Named All-Stars

The Eastern League announced the rosters for their 2018 All-Star Game this week, and four SeaWolves were named to the squad. The four spots were claimed by Beau Burrows, Kyle Funkhouser, Will Maddox, and Jake Robson.

A former first rounder, Burrows earned a Mid-Season All-Star nod for the second straight year, having been named a Florida State League All-Star last year with Lakeland. Through 16 starts, Burrows sports a 3.83 ERA, and has held opponents to a .228 batting average. Burrows also claimed an Eastern League Pitcher of the Week award back in May.

The other member of the rotation heading to the All-Star Game is Kyle Funkhouser. The former Louisville Cardinal owns a 3.36 ERA through 16 starts, earning him a spot just inside the Eastern League’s top-10. The right-hander has taken things to another level in his last 10 starts. In those outings, Funkhouser yielded more than two earned runs once, while shutting out the opponent three times.

Will Maddox collected his second Mid-Season All-Star selection, having been selected as a Midwest League All-Star while with West Michigan in 2016. The infielder’s .303 average places him in the top-10 in the league, and leads Erie among players with at least 100 plate appearances.

Jake Robson also earned his second All-Star selection. The Eastern League replaced him, however, as the Tigers recently promoted him to Toledo. While with Erie, Robson led the club in runs, hits, doubles, walks, total bases, and steals.

The promotion has not slowed him down. Since joining the Mud Hens, Robson owns a .462 average, has hit safely in all seven games, and belted three home runs. He’s also scored 11 times, driven in eight runs, and swiped three bases. Not bad for a first taste of Triple-A.

Replacing Robson

A few days after the announcement, the Eastern League replaced Robson with Danny Woodrow. Woodrow collects his second straight Mid-Season All-Star nod, after earning a selection with West Michigan last year.

After a brief stop in Lakeland to start his campaign, the Tigers quickly elevated Woodrow to Erie. In 43 games for the SeaWolves, Woodrow owns a .299 batting average. He celebrated with a four-hit, three-RBI performance Thursday night, which also included his first professional home run.

Lakeland Flying Tigers

Lakeland broke even with a 3-3 week. The Flying Tigers lead the second half standings in the Florida State League North at 9-3. Their overall records stands at 45-37.

Manning’s Masterful Debut

Matt Manning made his first start since earning a promotion to Lakeland this week. The former first rounder tossed five shutout frames, yielded one hit, one walk, and struck out nine.

Manning posted a 3.40 ERA in 11 starts for West Michigan prior to his promotion, but seems to have taken things to the next level as of late. In his last three starts, he’s allowed one run on 12 hits over 19.0 innings. The righty is throwing more strikes too, having walked three, while collecting 25 strikeouts.

Watkins Snags Weekly Award

Spenser Watkins picked up the seventh Pitcher of the Week award for a Detroit Tigers minor leaguer in 2018 this week. Watkins earned the honor for an outing in which he tossed a seven-inning one-hit shutout on June 27, and came within two outs of a no-hitter.

The righty followed that up with another quality start this week. Watkins gave up two runs on four hits over six innings on Tuesday, adding four strikeouts. His 1.67 ERA leads the Florida State League, sitting nearly a full run lower than the next closest qualifier. Watkins joins former Flying Tiger Alex Faedo as the two Lakeland pitchers to pick up a Pitcher of the Week award in 2018.

All-Star Sittinger Heads South

Midwest League All-Star Brandyn Sittinger also debuted for Lakeland this week, making a pair of relief appearances. In his debut last Friday, the righty fanned the only batter he faced. Two days later, he struck out three and did not surrender a hit over three scoreless frames.

Sittinger struggles with walks at times, but the strikeouts have always been there during his minor league career. This season, he struck out nearly 12 batters per nine innings with West Michigan, but was walking more than five. For his career, Sittinger’s strikeout rate is 11.4/9, and his walk rate is 4.3/9.

Montgomery Hits the DL

Troy Montgomery started the season in Erie, but his struggles resulted in a demotion to Lakeland. For several weeks, the speedy outfielder continued to draw walks, but his average remained low.

Finally, Montgomery seemed to find his stroke again, collecting four multi-hit efforts in the span of a week. However, he left Monday’s game with an injury, and landed on the disabled list. Hopefully it’s a short stint on the DL for Montgomery, and he can pick up where he left off before the injury.

Connecticut Tigers

Connecticut turned in a 5-2 week, bringing their record to 8-12. The Tigers remain in last place in the New York-Penn League Stedler Division.

Arriera Racks Up the K’s

Gio Arriera collected a boatload of strikeouts in his two starts this week. Last year’s fourth rounder started by striking out eight in five and two-thirds scoreless frames on Friday. He followed that up Wednesday by fanning a career-high 12 in a career-high seven innings.

The righty has recorded at least five strikeouts in each of his first four outings this season for Connecticut. In 22.1 innings, he’s fanned 31, for a rate of 12.5 K/9. Arriera racked up plenty of strikeouts in 2017, too. Pitching for Tigers West in the GCL, he punched out 28 in 27.1 innings, for a rate of 9.2/9.

GCL Tigers

Both of the Detroit Tigers Gulf Coast League affiliates sit in first place ties in their respective divisions. Tigers East turned in a 3-2 week to tie for the top spot in the Northeast Division at 8-6. Tigers West won three of four and had a pair of games rained out. They co-lead the Northwest Division at 8-4.

Perez Continues Rehab

Tigers top prospect Franklin Perez continued his rehab assignment with Tigers East this week, making a pair of starts. Perez began the week with three perfect innings against Tigers West, which included a pair of strikeouts.

The second start did not go quite as well. Again Perez tossed three innings, this time allowing three runs on a pair of hits, one hit batter, and a strikeout. Through three rehab outings, the righty sports a 4.50 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, and opponents batting average of .120.

West No-Hits East

In the first of Perez’s two rehab starts, his team was no-hit by a duo from Tigers West. Lefty Alfredo Silva tossed the first six frames, walking three and fanning seven. Righty Angel Reyes finished off the no-hitter with a perfect seventh.

The no-no is the first thrown by a Detroit Tigers affiliate in 2018. It also marks the second time a Tigers affiliate has been no-hit this year. Lake County (Cleveland) held West Michigan hitless back on April 25.

Next: Tigers Midseason Awards

That’ll do it for 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 organization.