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Detroit Tigers Weekly Minor League Recap: Dominant Dingler

By Chris Brown |
West Michigan Whitecaps catcher Dillon Dingler works out behind the plate.
West Michigan Whitecaps catcher Dillon Dingler works out behind the plate.
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For the first month of the Detroit Tigers season it seemed like minor-league action would help distract from the brutal MLB product. But the Tigers have been decent in May! They’re 7-7 on the month and their run differential is just -8, a far cry from the ugly -58 we saw in April.

Sadly, those offensive struggles seem to have trickled down to the minors. Perhaps the Detroit Tigers and their affiliates all just need a month to get on track.

But there were still plenty of noteworthy performances down on the farm last week. Check them out below, and if want more detail then be sure to read our daily recaps of the minor league action.

Detroit Tigers Minor League Recap – Week 2

Toledo Mud Hens, 3-8, t6th (4.5 GB) in the Triple-A East, Midwest Division

Injuries to the Detroit Tigers meant the Mud Hens were hit with their first wave of roster moves last week, and the club went just 1-5 against the Indianapolis Indians, though four of the games were one-run affairs. In Tuesday’s opener the Hens outhit Indianapolis 8-4, and Matt Manning (6IP, 3H, 3ER, 0BB, 7K) was solid, but unfortunately all four Indians hits were solo home runs, and Toledo lost 4-3. A 9th-inning homer from Christin Stewart made things interesting on Wednesday, but Toledo fell 5-3. The Mud Hens pulled out their lone win of the week on Thursday, battling back from a 5-0 deficit thanks to a big game from Victor Reyes (2-for-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB).

Unfortunately that was the highlight of the week, with Toledo’s bullpen collapsing in a 6-2 loss on Friday, and Renato Núñez and Aderlin Rodriguez both striking out with the bases loaded in the 9th inning during Saturday’s 5-4 loss. On Sunday the Mud Hens leapt out to a 5-0 lead, with Derek Hill homering on the first pitch of the game. But Manning had a disastrous outing (1.2IP, 5H, 4ER, 3BB, K) and Indianapolis tied the game in the 8th on a home run off Jason Foley, before eventually walking it off against Buck Farmer in the 9th.

  • Reyes had the best week of any Mud Hens hitter, going 9-for-26 with three doubles and a homer. Isaac Paredes also had nine hits on the week, but they were all singles.
  • Matt Manning is getting an awfully rude awakening in Triple-A. He had allowed just 16 home runs in more than 330 professional innings heading into this season, but he has already given up 8 homers in 12.2 innings this year. That’s the highest total in all of minor-league baseball.
  • The Mud Hens return home this week to face off against the Columbus Clippers, who are 6-5 on the season and feature former Tigers players Kyle Dowdy and Anthony Gose.

Detroit Tigers Minor League Recap – Week 2

Erie SeaWolves, 8-4, t2nd (1.5 GB) in the Double-A Northeast, Southeast Division

Erie felt the ripple effects from Detroit’s roster moves, but they were able to work around them and put together a strong 4-2 week against the Akron RubberDucks. The week didn’t start off great, with Erie getting shut out 5-0 to spoil a solid outing from Pedro Payano (5IP, 3H, 5ER, 2BB, 11K). The Wolves bounced back on Wednesday for a 4-0 win thanks to a dominant start from Elvin Rodriguez (5IP, 0H, 0ER, 0BB, 8K) and a career-best three hits from Riley Greene. Infielder Drew Ward (1-for-1, HR, 2BB, 3 RBI) helped Erie jump out to a 6-0 lead, and they held on to win 6-4. There was a scary moment in the 7th inning, though, when Ulrich Bojarski took a 96 MPH fastball right to the face. Fortunately he escaped with “just” a broken nose and some bruising.

The Howlers made it three in a row on Friday when they put together a three-run rally in the 6th to once again win 6-4. Akron blasted Erie on Saturday, pounding out 9 runs on 17 hits, but the SeaWolves took the finale 7-6 behind a career day from Kerry Carpenter (4-5, HR, 3 RBI) and some strong bullpen work from Brad Bass, Max Green, and Gerson Moreno, who combined to throw 6.2 innings while striking out 9, walking none, and giving up just one run.

  • Carpenter remains a fascinating player. He was a 19th round pick in 2019 and barely played above rookie ball that year before making the huge jump to Double-A. No one is calling him a prospect, but after a 7-for-20 week he’s batting .324/.350/.568.
  • Elvin Rodriguez hasn’t worked deep into either of his starts, but he’s been absolutely dominant so far. He has struck out 45.2% of the batters he has faced this year, opposing hitters are batting just .069 against him, and his 1.25 FIP is the 3rd lowest in the league.
  • Veterans Jake Robson and Josh Lester continue to pace the offense. Lester went deep twice and knocked in six runs last week, while Robson went 7-for-18 with four extra-base hits and seven walks to raise his OPS to an absurd 1.349.

Detroit Tigers Minor League Recap – Week 2

West Michigan Whitecaps, 4-7, t5th (3.5 GB) in the High-A Central, East Division

The West Michigan Whitecaps made their home debut with six games against their in-state rival the Great Lakes Loons. But West Michigan’s offense was absent for most of the week and they went just 2-4. Tuesday’s home opener got ugly early as starter Keider Montero (2IP, 5H, 4ER, BB, 3K) couldn’t get an out in the 3rd inning, and the Whitecaps offense managed just two hits in a 9-1 loss. The ‘Caps bats seemed to wake up on Wednesday as they took a 7-0 lead, but the Loons battled back and even took the an 8-7 lead in the 9th before Daniel Cabrera hit a game-tying double and then scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Andre Lipcius went 3-for-4 with a home run on Thursday, but the offense could never put together a rally and West Michigan lost 4-1.

The bats stayed quiet over the weekend, with the Whitecaps managing just two hits until the 9th inning on Friday when Dillon Dingler hit the epic, 2-out, 2-strike, game-tying home run you see above. Unfortunately Great Lakes pulled out the 3-2 victory in 11 innings. Saturday’s game was delayed a bit by rain and the teams combined for just 8 hits, but West Michigan loaded the bases in the 9th inning and Spencer Torkelson blooped a single into center to give his club a walk-off win. Sunday’s finale saw the ‘Caps go hitless until the 6th inning. Montero once again flashed interesting stuff but failed to go deep into the game (3.2IP, 8H, 4R, 0ER, 0BB, 6K) as his defense committed four errors behind him. The Whitecaps made a comeback attempt, punctuated by a Bryant Packard home run, but they ultimately fell 7-4.

  • Dingler is off to a strong start on both sides of the ball, showcasing impressive defense and arm strength while maintaining a 1.011 OPS that ranks 5th in the league.
  • Sam Kessler has been effectively wild for the Whitecaps this season, The 2019 34th-round pick has walked 8 and struck out 10 in 7 IP, but he owns a 0.00 ERA because he has only allowed one hit.
  • West Michigan is batting just .186 as a team so far this season, which is ahead of only Great Lakes (.185) in the league. The Whitecaps own the league’s worst team OPS at just .594.

Detroit Tigers Minor League Recap – Week 2

Lakeland Flying Tigers, 5-7, 5th (4.0 GB) in the Low-A Southeast, West Division

Down in Lakeland the Flying Tigers hosted the Tampa Tarpons for six games, but they couldn’t keep their bats going with any consistency and went 2-4 on the week. Lakeland managed just three hits in Tuesday’s 5-1 loss, but they bounced back in a huge way on Wednesday, scoring ten times in the first two innings on the way to a 15-4 drubbing. The bottom of the order did most of the damage, with Jimmy Kerr, Dane Myers, and Eric De La Rosa combining to go 6-for-13 with 9 RBIs. On Thursday it was the running game and pitching staff helping the Flying Tigers to a 3-2 victory, with the team going 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts, and Michael Bienlien, Isrrael De La Cruz, and Bryce Tassin combining to strike out 8 over 5.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Unfortunately that was the last win of the week for the Flygers. The Tarpons took Friday’s game 7-4, holding Lakeland to just four hits and spoiling another strong start from Joseph Salazar (4IP, H, 0ER, BB, 5K). The Flying Tigers managed just five hits on both Saturday and Sunday, falling 8-2 and 4-1. Sunday’s game was particularly frustrating, as Tampa only recorded two hits, and starter Gio Arriera (5IP, 0H, 0ER, 4BB, 7K) was solid. Both hits came in a four-run 9th inning that also included four walks and two steals, and that was enough for the Tarpons to secure the win.

  • Among the 25 players with at least nine innings pitched in the league this year, Salazar ranks first in WHIP (0.44) and Batting Average Against (.069), and he’s one of three who haven’t allowed a run, joining his teammate Bienlien.
  • Lakeland owns the worst team OPS in the league at .630, but they are toward the middle of the pack in runs scored (60) thanks in part to 25 stolen bases, which ranks second.
  • The site Minor League Splits offers a convenient place to look at the Statcast data generated by teams in the Low-A Southeast league, and there we can see Kerr (111.8), Workman (110.1), and Jose De La Cruz (109.3) have all posted excellent max exit velocities already.

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