Detroit Tigers Minor League Report: Austin Murr causes a stir

Toledo Mud Hens Triple-A East Midwest Division (59-42)

Since the trio of Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Ryan Kreidler have arrived in Toledo, many Detroit Tigers fans are salivating at the thought the future is coming close to arriving in the Motor City.

Lost in the shuffle a bit is this veteran Mud Hens team in first place and getting contributions from everyone including Kody Clemens, who continues to have a good month of August. He hit his first career grand slam yesterday and on the month, he has five home runs and 17 RBI.

As discussed by Lynn Henning of the Detroit News with Toledo manager Tom Prince, ($) the lefty bat and the ability to play anywhere will help Clemens come spring training. The K rate is still about 25% but perhaps another winter to work on cutting back his K rate and a stint in Arizona Fall Ball could help Clemens.

Riley Greene, the number one prospect on the MCB Top 20, is adjusting to Triple-A life nicely with a wRC+ of 124 in 12 games. He has a walk rate of 14.3% and has been hitting the ball to all fields including this monster shot to right field in yesterday’s 9-8 victory.

Ryan Kreidler’s first few weeks went well as he is currently at a .385/.478/.615 clip with a pair of home runs in Triple-A. Spencer Torkelson continues to adjust to Triple-A pitching, batting .188/.281/.396 but did lunch the first two home runs of his career this week against St.Paul.

On the pitching side, in addition to Del Pozo having a solid month,  Will Vest, fresh from his return from being a Rule 5 pick by Seattle, in eight innings of work so far in August, has allowed two runs in eight innings, striking out nine and walking three. Vest looks to try to get a spot in the bullpen come spring training.

Nivaldo Rodriguez, who was signed and added to the 40-man roster from Houston, has been struggling since arriving in Toledo. Chris and I saw him pitch two weeks ago and the fastball was sitting in the low 90’s. So far in his first 14 innings of work, he has allowed 15 hits, five earned runs, and has walked seven and struck out eight.

Next up for the Mud Hens is a road series as they take on Omaha starting tomorrow.

Erie SeaWolves Double-A Northeast-Southwest Division (54-48)

Detroit Tigers fans got a surprise this afternoon as outfielder Daniel Cabrera, who was drafted in the 2020 MLB Draft out of LSU, was called up to Erie as reported by Jason Beck.

It was a good way to start the week as the SeaWolves went 4-2 against Bowie last week.  In game one, lefty Joey Wentz went five innings, allowing two runs on two hits, walked three, and struck out four.  Ryan Carpenter and Andre Lipcius both went deep in the 9-7 victory.

In game 2 on Wednesday, Garrett Hill, in his first start in Double-A, pitched a gem, allowing one run on three hits, walking a pair, and striking out six in the 6-1 victory.

After a tough loss on Thursday, Reese Olson was able to hang in for the win on Friday, allowing one run over five innings on one hit, with four walks and three strikeouts to earn his first Double-A win.

The SeaWolves on Saturday won 6 to 5 as they would score a run in each of the last three innings to pull ahead of the Baysox and yesterday, Bowie won the second game of the series, 6 to 5.

Gerson Moreno is still around

Moreno, who has been fighting injuries the last few seasons, put up 14 strikeouts over 10.1 innings of work for Erie in the month of August, allowing four runs on three hits. He is still a bit wild, with five walks and two hit batsmen but worth noting in Erie: 40.1 innings, 28 hits, 17 runs, and 56 strikeouts. If the 21 walks number can come down a bit, he could get back into consideration as a relief arm for Detroit but for now, feels like he is an organizational soldier.

Josh Lester is back

After spending four games in Toledo, Lester came back with a vengeance. Since his return in nine games, he has five home runs and is 14-for-40 (.350)

The SeaWolves entertain Harrisburg for six starting tomorrow.

High-A West Michigan Whitecaps High-A Central-West Division (48-54)

The Whitecaps earned a split with their I-96 rivals, the Lansing Lugnuts. After the rainout on Tuesday, myself and Chris Brown made it out to the game on Wednesday and were treated to a doubleheader as the Lugnuts won the first game on a walk-off home run in the 7th.

What made the game interesting was despite the game being tied at one into seventh, Whitecaps pitcher Austin Bergner was throwing a no-hitter. He pitched five innings allowing one run on a pair of walks when Jonny Butler hit a sac fly in the bottom of the third. Bergner struck out six on the day.

In the second game of the doubleheader, it was the Gage Workman show as he had a solid game defensively and on offense. First, let’s start with this outstanding play in the 4th inning of the second game.

On the day, he went 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs and a double, driving in three in the 9-2 victory.

The next day, Daniel Cabrera joined in on the fun, hitting a grand slam to tie the game at 5. He went 4-for-5 with six RBI on Thursday night. Overall against Lansing for the week, he went 8-for-21 (.381) with four of the eight hits on Thursday.

Austin Murr, the 6th round draft pick in this year’s draft from NC State, is already moved up to his third level this season and continues to hit well in High-A. He hit his first professional home run on Saturday night and on the season for the Whitecaps, is hitting .364/.420/.455 with four walks to just nine strikeouts so far in 44 at-bats.

After a slow start, Colt Keith picked up the pace in his last three games, showing off some extra-base power and hitting his first High-A home run.

The Whitecaps come home to take on Peoria starting tomorrow night.

Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers Low-A Southeast-West Division (43-59)

The Flying Tigers went 4-2 last week against the Dunedin Blue Jays at home. They started by crushing the Jays in the first game on Tuesday 12 to 2. Ben Malgeri, the Tigers 18th round draft pick from this year, had a home run and Kingston Linak went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

Then on Wednesday, Lakeland swept the doubleheader 3 to 1 and 7 to 4.  Mike Rothenberg, the catcher the Tigers drafted in the 12th round of this year’s draft out of Duke, hit his first professional home run in the first game. Kenon Carter, our friend over at Tigers Minor League Tracker, had a good look at both Malgeri and Rothenberg and came away impressed.

In the second game, Williander Moreno pitched four innings, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out six. Moreno has assumed the ace role for the Flying Tigers.

He throws a fastball, sinker, slider, and a changeup with his four-seam fastball generating the most swings and misses at 28% CSW (Called strikes & whiffs) but does better against right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters. So far on the season, he has a K per 9 of 11.1.

Lakeland hosts Clearwater this week.

Florida Complex League

For the FCL Tigers East team, infielder Manuel Sequera continues his all-or-nothing approach, as he hit his 8th homer in the 8-2 victory over the Phillies. He has struck out 45 times and is hitting.218 on the season, Sequera is tied for second overall in the Complex League in home runs, and right behind him is Roberto Campos, who plays on Tigers West, with 7.

Speaking of FCL East, two 2021 draft picks RJ Petit, a 14th round draft pick out of Charleston Southern, and Aaron Haase, a 17th draft pick out of Wichita State, made their pro debuts and both pitched a scoreless inning, striking out a pair.