Alex Faedo, Beau Burrows turn in dominant outings

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.

It may be hard to believe, but there are only about six weeks left in the regular season for the Detroit Tigers affiliates. This week included a pair in the All-Star Futures Game, the debut of Toledo’s newest rotation additions, and players rehabbing at several different levels. Let’s get to it.

Toledo Mud Hens

The Mud Hens turned in a 3-4 week, bringing their season record to 53-43. Despite struggling a little as of late, Toledo remains atop the International League West.

Martin on the Mend

Leonys Martin began a rehab assignment with the Mud Hens this week as he works his way back from a hamstring injury. Martin played in three games for Toledo, picking up a hit in each. Overall, the outfielder has gone 3-for-10, with two runs scored and an RBI.

A return to Detroit for Martin would be a welcome sight for an offense which has hit .237 in July. JaCoby Jones has been particularly bad this month, hitting .190 as the primary center fielder. Sending him back to a reserve role and bringing back the leadoff hitter should help a little. However, when Martin does return, he may not stay in the Motor City for long.

Duo Makes Toledo Debut

Following the Double-A and Eastern League All-Star breaks, Kyle Funkhouser and Matt Hall were promoted from Erie to Toledo. Both made their debuts for the Mud Hens this week, turning in similar outings.

Hall took the mound first, pitching Sunday against Indianapolis (Pittsburgh). The lefty limited the Indians to three hits and two runs over five and a third innings, but struggled with control. He walked five, a new season-high, while striking out three. Expecting him to continue his red-hot pace from Erie would be a lot to ask, but despite the walks it was a solid Triple-A debut for Hall.

Funkhouser took the ball the next day for Toledo. The former Louisville Cardinal put together a similar outing to Hall, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. Funkhouser also issued five free passes and picked up five strikeouts. Watching the duo adjust to a new level will be one of the more interesting stories to watch over the remainder of the season.

Lugo Goes to D.C.

Dawel Lugo was one of two Detroit Tigers prospects to take part in this year’s Futures Game as a part of the All-Star festivities in Washington, D.C. The Dominican played for Team World, which fell to Team USA 10-6.

Lugo started and handled the first four innings at third base while hitting ninth for Team World. The versatile infielder singled and scored in his first at-bat, then was struck out by fellow Tigers prospect Matt Manning his second time up. Ranked as the number 12 prospect in the Detroit Tigers system per MLB Pipeline, Lugo owns a .263 average through 85 games with Toledo this season.

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.