Alex Faedo, Beau Burrows turn in dominant outings

Erie SeaWolves

Erie turned in a 5-3 week, raising their season record to 46-50. The SeaWolves remain in fifth place in the Eastern League Western Division.

Burrows, Faedo Dominate

A pair of former first rounders posted excellent outings this week for the SeaWolves. Beau Burrows offered up his best outing in awhile. The right-hander gave up a lone run on three hits over a season-high seven innings of work. He added nine strikeouts, and issued a pair of walks.

For Burrows, this start comes on the heels of his shortest outing of 2018. In that appearance, he gave up a season-high five earned runs over three and a third innings. Even the best pitchers have their rough days, so it’s good to see Burrows bounce back. For the season, he sports a 3.63 ERA across 91.2 innings for Erie.

The following night, Alex Faedo bounced back from a rough outing of his own. On July 5, Faedo got shellacked for seven earned runs, which included a career-high five walks. Thanks in part to the Eastern League’s All-Star break, he didn’t make another start until Monday.

Like Burrows, Faedo responded extremely well, tossing one of the best starts of his season. He worked seven shutout frames, allowing three hits and striking out four. The outing lowered his ERA to 3.80 with Erie and dropped his batting average against to .181 since his promotion.

Gutierrez, Paredes Promoted

Detroit promoted Florida State League All-Star Alfred Gutierrez to Erie late last week, and he debuted on Friday. His first outing for the SeaWolves turned out to be a mixed bag. The right-hander allowed four runs on seven hits and walked three over four and two-thirds innings. He also added six strikeouts in what was his first appearance at Double-A.

Gutierrez took the ball for Erie again Thursday night. He allowed seven hits again, but gave up just one unearned run. He also issued one free pass and added four strikeouts. Not bad for a guy who began the year in a long relief role for Lakeland.

Fellow FSL All-Star Isaac Paredes joined Gutierrez and the SeaWolves on Thursday. Paredes began the year a little slowly, but has been warming up with the weather. In 15 July games with Lakeland prior to his promotion, the 19-year old slashed .310/.394/.638, with more walks than strikeouts.

Paredes continued his roll in his debut for Erie Thursday night, collecting a pair of hits, driving in three, and drawing a walk. With Lakeland, he spent most of his time at shortstop, but played roughly a quarter of his games at second base. Paredes manned second base Thursday night, forming a double play duo with Sergio Alcantara, who has been Erie’s primary shortstop this year.

Alcantara Heating Up

Speaking of Alcantara, his bat has perked up of late as well. The strong gloveman has hit safely in 20 of his last 22 games, collecting eight multi-hit efforts along the way. This 22-game run helped Alcantara raise his average 24 points, from .265 to .289. He still has yet to show much in the way of power, but a good contact hitter with above average defensive skills could make him a nice eventual replacement for trade candidate Jose Iglesias.

Lakeland Flying Tigers

A 3-4 week for Lakeland brought their overall record to 51-45. Their 15-11 second half mark puts them in second place in the Florida State League North.

Busy Week for Manning

In addition to Dawel Lugo, Matt Manning also represented the Detroit Tigers in the Futures Game in Washington D.C. The former first rounder retired the first three hitters he faced, including striking out Lugo to start the fifth.

The righty then ran into trouble, giving up a single and a home run which tied the game, 5-5. Following the homer, Manning allowed two more singles before ending his outing with a strikeout. All told, he worked an inning and a third, yielded two runs on four hits, and struck out two.

The number two prospect in the Detroit Tigers system per MLB Pipeline, Manning has pitched well in 2018. The righty posted a 3.40 ERA and 12.3 K/9 in 11 starts for West Michigan, before earning a promotion to Lakeland.

Manning made his third start for Lakeland Thursday night. The righty continued to stifle opponents’ bats, allowing two hits over his six and two-thirds innings. However, the walk trouble which has plagued him at times throughout his young career popped up again.

The righty fanned six, but issued five free passes, the third time he’s done so in 2018. In three starts with the Flying Tigers, he’s walked 10 in 16.2 innings (5.4/9). While the strikeout rate (10.8/9) and opponents batting average (.132) remain outstanding, improving control remains the main focus for Manning down the stretch of the season.

Perez Continues Climb

Detroit Tigers top prospect Franklin Perez continues to make his way back from an early season injury. The righty made his second start with Lakeland this week, and put up mixed results.

On one hand, Perez threw two and two-thirds scoreless frames, and struck out four. He also gave up four hits and walked three.

Between GCL Tigers East and Lakeland, Perez has made five appearances. Overall, he owns a 3.95 ERA, .213 opponents batting average, and a two-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has yet to go longer than three innings, and five walks in five and two-thirds innings for Lakeland is a bit concerning.

However, the Tigers are doing the smart thing by not rushing him along. It may end up being somewhat of a lost season for Perez, but at 20 years old, time is still on his side.

Burdeaux’s Hot Streak

First baseman Dylan Burdeaux enters the weekend riding an 11-game hitting streak. This 11-game run includes six multi-hit games, and has brought his season average up to .270.

On Tuesday, his hot streak infected the entire Lakeland offense. The Flying Tigers erupted for 15 runs on 20 hits. Each Lakeland batter collected at least one hit, and seven had at least two. The biggest frame for the Flying Tigers turned out to be the 10th, as they scored nine runs. Burdeaux picked up one of the biggest hits of the nine-run explosion, a bases-clearing triple.

Pair of 2018 Draftees Reach Lakeland

Two of the Detroit Tigers selections from June’s draft appeared for Lakeland this week. Clark Brinkman and Jordan Verdon each made brief stops in the FSL, becoming the first two members of Detroit’s 2018 draft class to reach High-A.

Unfortunately, neither fared particularly well, and both stints were short-lived. The longer of the two stints belonged to Brinkman. The 32nd rounder from Creighton went just 3-for-22 in six games, although two of the three hits were his first two professional homers.

Verdon played in just a pair of contests, going 1-for-7. Both began their pro careers in the Gulf Coast League, and after their stints with Lakeland, have joined Short-Season Connecticut.

West Michigan Whitecaps

West Michigan endured a tough week, losing five of six. The Whitecaps sit in a tie for sixth place in the Midwest League Eastern Division’s second half standings with a 12-15 record. Their overall mark also dropped below .500 this week to 48-49.

Myers Rebounds

Following the worst start of his young professional career, Dane Myers bounced back in a big way Monday. After giving up six runs on five hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning the week prior, Myers fired six shutout frames to get back on track.

The 2017 sixth rounder out of Rice sports a 3.58 ERA in 11 starts for West Michigan this season. He’s allowed one earned run or fewer in seven of the 11, and yielded more than three earned runs twice. After posting a 2.33 ERA in 46.1 innings with Connecticut last year, Myers may be turning into an under-the-radar prospect for the Tigers.

Clemens, Deatherage Continue Strong Debuts

Kody Clemens and Brock Deatherage have both impressed in the first month since they were selected in the draft. The Detroit Tigers third round pick, Clemens owns a .246/.367/.369 slash line. The average doesn’t jump off the page at you, but after going hitless in his first two games, he’s hit safely in 13 of his last 16, and had an eight-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday.

The more impressive number is the on-base percentage. Through 18 games, Clemens has drawn 12 walks, and struck out 11 times. Walking more than you strike out at any level is impressive, but doing it while seeing professional pitching for the first time is incredible.

Drafted in the 10th round, Deatherage quickly became a favorite of ours here at Motor City Bengals thanks to the scorching hot start to his pro career. He quickly earned a promotion to West Michigan, and continued to rake.

Deatherage collected three more multi-hit games this week, and owns a .308 average in 24 games with the Whitecaps. For the first month or so of his pro career, he slashed .330/.404/.600.

Lescher Key Piece in ‘Pen

Righty Billy Lescher began his season with a scoreless inning for West Michigan on April 7. A few days later, he landed on the disabled list and missed the next two months.

Lescher returned to action when Connecticut began their season last month. He made three appearances for the Tigers, allowing just two hits in seven innings, before being sent back to the Whitecaps.

Since his return, Lescher has continued to roll. Through nine outings and 17.1 total innings this season, he has yet to allow an earned run. His most recent appearance came on Monday. Lescher tossed three scoreless frames, allowed one hit and fanned three. A 17th round pick a year ago, he owns a 1.54 career ERA, and a strikeout rate of 10.1/9.

Connecticut Tigers

A 4-3 week for Connecticut brought their season record to 16-17. The Tigers sit in the basement of the New York-Penn League Stedler Division.

Perez Promoted

Following a terrific start to his season with Tigers West in the GCL, Detroit promoted shortstop Wenceel Perez to Connecticut this week. Perez sported a .383/.462/.543 slash line at the time of his promotion, but has struggled out of the gates with the Tigers.

Perez started 0-for-7, and is just 3-for-17 (.176) through three games in the New York-Penn League. He did, however, pick up a pair of hits in his most recent appearance on Wednesday. Hopefully it’s a sign his bat is about to reawaken.

GCL Tigers

Tigers West won four of their five games this week to raise their record to 17-8. They lead the Gulf Coast League Northwest Division. Tigers East lost four of their five games this week. Their 11-14 record puts them in second place in the GCL Northeast.

Pair Begins Rehab

Ryan Carpenter and Spencer Turnbull both made rehab appearances for Tigers West this week. Carpenter turned in a great start last Friday, allowing one hit and one walk in three scoreless frames. The lefty also added four strikeouts.

On Wednesday, Carpenter continued his rehab with Lakeland. Again working three innings, he yielded two runs (one earned) on four hits, walked one, and struck out one. Carpenter landed on the disabled list on June 1 with a strained oblique, and had been splitting his season between Detroit and Toledo.

Turnbull returned to action on Monday, lasting two and two-thirds scoreless innings for Tigers West. The former second rounder gave up one hit, walked three, and fanned three. Turnbull made 13 starts for Erie before landing on the DL about a month ago. He owns a 4.24 ERA and has struck out 10.5 batters per nine for the SeaWolves this season.

Next: Exploring Trade Possibilities for Nicholas Castellanos

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.