Detroit Tigers: Double-A Erie Seawolves boast elite rotation

The Detroit Tigers are in the midst of a long and painful rebuild, but the organization’s farm system isn’t without its share of up-and-coming talent.

Someone stop me if I’m wrong, but the Erie Seawolves may just have one of the best rotations in Detroit Tigers, and maybe all of minor league history. Headlined by Casey Mize, who was just activated from the IL, and fellow top prospect Matt Manning, this rotation could take the Seawolves and the Tigers to new heights.

The plethora of young, talented arms in this Erie rotation in just impeccable. Being a native of Erie, I have never seen a collection of talent in a pitching rotation than what we have now. I’ve seen the likes of Justin Verlander, Michael Fulmer, and former top prospect Jacob Turner among other talented Detroit Tigers minor league arms, but no group of pitchers has stood out more than the current rotation.

The full rotation consists of Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Alex Faedo, Tarik Skubal, and Anthony Castro. All five are having stellar seasons and the former four are all arguably top ten prospects when the new MLB.com rankings come out. Castro, who has come out of the bullpen a little this hear too, should be somewhere between 15-20 on the new list.

With the new Eastern League split-season format, the success of this rotation could be potent toward a second-half division win and a playoff berth. Off to a 20-7 start in the second half of the season and 1.5 GB of the Bowie Baysox (Baltimore) in the Western Division, the return of Mize is crucial to making that playoff run.

Their success may come to little surprise, however, with how highly our pitching prospects are praised, but to have them all developing somewhat at the same rate and playing together is so fun to see because maybe they’ll be doing that one day for the Detroit Tigers.