Detroit Tigers Farm Report Week 4 Recap: Jace Jung and Roberto Campos headline a strong week by Whitecaps pitching
The West Michigan Whitecaps started their two-week road trip and Dillon Dingler destroys Low-A pitching in his rehab assignment.
In this week's Detroit Tigers minor league recap, we look at the starting pitching performance by the Whitecaps down in Cedar Rapids, Justyn-Henry Malloy cools off slightly and the bullpen woes in Erie continue.
Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens (17-9) Run Diff: +38 2 back in IL West
The Mud Hens earned a split this week with Syracuse, the Mets Triple-A team. One can argue this has been the best team the Mud Hens have faced this season as far as prospect talent goes. The left side of the infield includes Ronny Mauricio (MLB Pipeline #6) and Mark Vientos (MLB Pipeline #8)
The Mets had a game plan for Justyn-Henry Malloy, who came into the series as one of the hottest hitters in Triple-A. Due to a rain out the night before, Wednesday was a double-header as Toledo jumped out early with three runs in the first and taking the 4-1 victory, but Malloy went 1-for-4 with a strikeout. Syracuse threw Malloy inside, which did not allow him to extend and got him to chase away.
In the second game, Malloy went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as he looked rushed in all four of his plate appearances. John Curtiss carved Malloy up with that sequence. Curtiss, who has pitched in 85 games in the big leagues, showed off an impressive slider as he struck out four in two innings of work. Total in the second game, Toledo struck out 13 times. On the week, Malloy went 5-for-24 with a home run.
Catcher Andrew Knapp had the best week among the Toledo bats, going 7-for-13 with a pair of doubles, and a triple to put up a slash line of .538/.684/.846.
Pitching wise, Alex Faedo had a good week. In two starts, he threw seven innings, allowing one earned run over two hits, striking out six and held batters to .091 batting average. Reese Olson, who started in game one of the doubleheader on Wednesday, allowed just one run over two hits. His fastball hit 96-97 but mainly working on getting command of his slider and threw his curve more, a pitch that he rarely used in previous starts. After game one, Olson was presented with the Rawlings Gold Glove for his defense at Double-A Erie.
Toledo continues their home stand with Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Toledo Transactions:
Detroit Tigers optioned 3B Tyler Nevin to Toledo
Tigers recall Zach Short
Tigers select the contract of Andy Ibáñez
Toledo place Ryan Kreidler on 7-day IL (knee soreness)
SS Corey Joyce to Toledo
RHP Layne Henderson to Toledo from Erie
RHP Chavez Fernander to Toledo from WM
Double-A Erie SeaWolves (8-13) Run Diff: -51 5.5 GB in EL Southwest
The bullpen woes continue for Erie. After winning the series opener, the SeaWolves lost five in a row to the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox). Their bullpen has the league's worst ERA at 6.60 and have allowed the most home runs with 19. They are also the most used of any time in the Eastern League as the SeaWolves starters, minus Sawyer Gipson-Long have been pitching a max of four innings per start. As a result, the bullpen has already thrown 117.1 innings.
However, there were several standout performances to highlight. Brant Hurter did not allow a run in his start this week. It marked the third time in four starts in which he did not allow a run. What was a big takeaway this week was this was the first start of the season in which Hurter did not allow a walk.
Wilmer Flores's velocity was down, however, he was using his third pitch he has been working on, a changeup as he got nine swings and misses in his start on Saturday. He finished the day with five strikeouts
On the offense side, the SeaWolves got production from several players that are not named Colt Keith. Trei Cruz, who went hitless in the first two games of the series, finished the week strong by going 8-for-19 with a double, three home runs, driving in six. He finished the week with a slash line of .421/.450/.947
Outfielder Daniel Cabrera went 5-for-17 with a pair of doubles and finished the week with a slash line of .294/368/.412
Grant Witherspoon, the outfielder the Tigers acquired from Tampa, also performed well at the plate, going 7-for-25 with a pair of home runs and driving in seven. He recently sat down with Chris Brown of Tigers Minor League Report to talk about his experience in the minors and how he found out about the trade to Detroit.
High-A West Michigan Whitecaps (12-9) Run Diff: +25 1.5 back in ML East
The Whitecaps split the series with Cedar Rapids by outscoring them in their wins 27 to 1. West Michigan got some strong starting pitching performances as Keider Montero, who is heading to Erie, was among four starters who did not allow an earned run. Here's how they faired:
Carlos Pena 2GS, 8IP, 3H, 4BB,10SO
Keider Montero 4IP 2H, 8SO
Wilkel Hernandez: 4IP, 2H, 2BB, 6SO
Garrett Burhenn: 4IP, 3SO
While you look at the statline of Jace Jung 4-for-20 and may not think anything of it, he hit two home runs and a double. All three hits were hit hard, and he had three walks to four strikeouts. In other words, he is putting the ball in play. He also posted a wRC+ of 129 for the week
Another bat who had a solid week was Roberto Campos, who continues to show an advanced approach at the plate. He went 7-for-26 with a home run and drove in five. For being just 19 years old and playing his first season in the Midwest where temps at game time are sometimes in the 40's, he has had a good first month in High-A.
Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers (11-10) Run Diff: -17 4 GB FSL West
Dillon Dingler finished his week strong in Erie as he is expected to head to Erie. He went 10-for-19 with two doubles and three home runs as the Flying Tigers split the series with Palm Beach.
Manuel Sequera, who led the FSL in home runs last season, had a good week, going 5-for-19 with a home run. Among the starting pitchers, lefty Edgardo Ibarra, who is one of the youngest starters in the system, at the age of 19, allowed one earned run over four innings of work. Pitchers Trevin Michael and Aaron Haase both got called up to West Michigan.
For minor league coverage, check out the weekly Tigers Minor League Report podcast over on the Tigers Minor League Report YouTube channel.