Detroit Tigers Future Friday: 3 Prospects who made huge gains in 2018

The Detroit Tigers saw many prospects continue to find success in the minor leagues this season. Here are three who took the biggest steps forward.

As the season winds to a close Detroit Tigers fans can breathe easy, knowing they survived the first year of the rebuild. While the product on the big league field was sometimes hard to watch, the product in the farm system was much more appealing. And while the Tigers still have a ways to go to be playoff relevant again, it was nice to see some outstanding performances from some of the young talent down on the farm.

Matt Manning, Beau Burrows, Casey Mize and Franklin Perez are all elite right-handed pitching prospects. Combine them with Kyle Funkhouser, Alex Faedo and Gregory Soto and the Tigers will have a solid starting rotation in a few years. That will pair nicely with an up the middle duo of Jake Rogers behind the plate, Isaac Paredes in the infield and Daz Cameron in center field. Christin Stewart and Nicholas Castellanos at the corners both provide some oomph as well.

It’s too early to make sweeping predictions, but this team does have some potential. While those are some of the biggest names in the system, often times it’s the late bloomers or the surprise success stories that have the biggest impact in the big leagues.

Here are three Detroit Tigers prospects who have taken big strides forward this season. Each of them is outside Detroit’s top ten prospects list (by most accounts) but all of them deserve your attention as they continue to produce. Someday, all of these three could be in the Motor City at the same time.

First up, we have a very young, very talented middle infielder.

Wenceel Perez

Perez spent 2017, his first season with the Tigers organization, over in the Dominican Republic playing for the DSL Tigers. He hit .314/.387/.358 in 61 games, a good sign of things to come.

He has taken a step forward here in 2018. He began the season with the Gulf Coast League Tigers, slashing a blistering .383/.462/.543 with seven doubles and a pair of steals in just 20 games. That earned him a quick call up to the Connecticut Tigers in the short-season New York Penn League.

Perez struggled a bit at that level, as he was on average three years younger than his competition. He hit just .244 there, although his 13.8% strikeout rate was still outstanding and his seven steals in just 21 games wasn’t too shabby either.

However, the reason he cracks this list is what he did next. Perez earned himself yet another promotion, this time with the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps in the Midwest League. He was about 3.5 years younger than most of the player at that level, but it didn’t matter. Perez slashed a tidy .309/.324/.441 with a 109 wRC+. His 2.8% walk rate at that level is certainly not ideal, but his 11.3% strikeout rate is incredible considering his age and inexperience.

All-in-all, Perez rocketed up three levels at the age of 18, and is beginning to look like a solid future shortstop. His ability to make contact is one of the best in the entire system, and although he has no power to speak of, it’s entirely possible he adds some muscle to his current five-foot-eleven, 170 pound frame.

The Tigers will certainly take their time with the young shortstop, but his ability to put the ball in play should help him succeed at all stops.

Jacob Robson

Since being selected in the eighth round of the 2016 draft, Robson’s future value has long counted on him developing at least a little bit of power. He is a speed-first, high-OBP hitter who hit just four home runs in 167 minor league games between 2016 and 2017.

2018 was the year fans were waiting for, as the 23-year-old outfielder finally showed some over the wall pop, while maintaining his excellent speed and on-base skills. He started the year out at Double-A Erie, where he slashed .286/.382/.450 with seven home runs, 11 stolen bases and a 133 wRC+. He was promoted to Triple-A primarily to fill-in while Christin Stewart was hurt, but he hit so well at that level that he never relinquished his spot.

In 57 games with Toledo, Robson slashed .305/.369/.427 with four home runs, seven steals, and a 127 wRC+. He posted a 12.5% walk rate in Double-A and a 9.4% rate at Triple-A, while maintaining a strikeout rate around 25%.

Strikeouts may be a factor down the line, but at this point Robson’s strong season has him in the picture at some point in 2019. Don’t expect to see him there on opening day, but if he keeps hitting over .300 in Toledo he will find his way onto the big league roster. Especially if that power keeps up.