I just pulled all my low end Mize/Manning/Skubal/Keith/Adinso Reyes/Greene/Tork rookies to purge in the .50/$1 bulk sale setup in my Detroit Sports and baseball card FB groups.
Left my Campos 1st Bowman Chrome and 1st BC Autograph in the keeper pile.
Cmon Roberto! Be The Guy!
Around the Tigers farm: ‘Gamer’ shortstop Franyerber Montilla off to strong start in FCL
Lots of tidbits on FCL guys.
The two pitchers I mentioned earlier.
Sears at the bottom.
Four pitchers in the FCL, Wilson was bought out of his college commitment last draft, believe he is the son of a former MLB pitcher as well.:
Rayner Castillo, 19, 6-3, 180, right-handed starter: Castillo has 15 strikeouts in 9.2 innings, against four walks and six hits.
“Castillo’s a strong kid and has some life on his fastball,” Paniagua said, talking mostly of a four-seamer that runs 95-96, and in Sunday’s game hit 98. “He has a heavy fastball (two-seamer), too. He’s got some good stuff and he’s only going to get better every day.”
Blake Dickerson, 19, 6-6, 210, LH starter, plucked by the Tigers in a February trade that included $500,000 in international bonus money shipped to the Padres. Dickerson has 12 strikeouts in eight innings. “Fastball 93 to 94,” Paniagua said. “And his slider is running great. Tall kid, great kid. He’s going to be one of those guys who’s going to have good stuff.”
Johnathan Rogers, 19, 6-3, 220, RH starter, 20th-round pick in 2024 from Tupelo, Mississippi (four hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts in 9.1 innings): “Velocity has been up — mid-90s — with a good two-seamer, slider, and change,” Paniagua said. “And attacking the hitter.”
Paul Wilson, 19, 6-3, 205, LH starter, and third-rounder last year from Lake Oswego, Oregon, who has a .194 opposing batting average in three games, but has been popped for 12 walks in 10 innings: “Sometimes, you want to be so good from the start,” Paniagua said. “His last outing, he was a lot better.”
Non FCL pitchers.
Most impressive pitcher of late at Single-A Lakeland: Andrew Sears, 21, and a 6-3, 200-pound, left-handed starter the Tigers snagged in last July’s 10th round from the University of Connecticut. Eight-game totals at Lakeland: 2.40 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 19 hits and 31 strikeouts in 30 innings.
“Sixteen punch-outs in his last 10 innings, and he’s picked off three runners at first base,” said Lakeland manager Andrew Graham, just before Sears started Saturday and struck out six more batters in 4.2 innings, getting 35% swing-and-miss on a fastball that runs up to 96 “and a slider that punches people-out.”
Graham on left-handed starter Joe Miller (11th round last year, University of Pennsylvania) who last week was shipped to high-A West Michigan: “He should have made the team (West Michigan) out of spring training, but to his credit, after a great spring and great second half last year, he didn’t complain one time. He knew he could dominate, and he did. And now he’s had two great outings at West Michigan (2.08 ERA, 1.00 WHIP).”
Graham on the like-named Jake Miller, also a lefty (2022, eighth round, Valparaiso) and now with a 1.42 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in nine games for the Flying Tigers: “He was really good when he was pitching 95 to 97, and he’s been 93, 94 lately. He’s still good with that left-side mix, but he was unhittable with that velocity early.”
Still no return date revealed for right-handed prize Jackson Jobe, who has missed the past four weeks with a strained hamstring. He is rehabbing at Lakeland and could return to Double-A Erie’s rotation later in June, at the earliest.
Wilson’s dad Trevor pitched for 8 yrs in MLB
full article at link.
There are video’s of him in the article.
few sections:
The Tigers drafted Jaden Hamm out of Middle Tennessee State in the fifth round last summer – making him their top college pitching selection – with an eye towards him being an upside pick.
“He is an absolute sponge for knowledge,” amateur scouting director Mark Conner said at the time, “and that is a big part of the process for selecting him. We know his eagerness to learn and develop.”
Still, not even the Tigers were expecting this.
If Wednesday’s performance was an outlier, it would be impressive regardless. But it was the latest gem in Hamm’s first full pro season. He has allowed four runs on 26 hits in 37 2/3 innings, including one run over 21 1/3 innings in his last six starts since April 30. His 0.96 ERA ranked third-best among qualified full-season Minor League pitchers entering Thursday. He has a 35 percent strikeout rate, having fanned 51 batters and walked just six.
He has taken pro ball by storm, and he’s still pushing himself to improve.
A Minor League Spring Training outing against the Blue Jays caught scouts’ attention; one evaluator called it “truly insane.”
What Hamm has done since then hasn’t tempered those opinions. If he keeps pitching like this, he could follow top prospect Jackson Jobe to Double-A Erie this summer.
Not gonna lie, I didn’t have a lot of confidence his bat would come around and it sounds like I’m wrong, now needs to improve that wallk %.
Dillon Dingler’s confident 2024 season moves him closer to Tigers
Full article at link.
There are, however, baseball realities at play:
The Tigers have two of MLB’s best defensive players in their catching tandem of Jake Rogers and Carson Kelly. Nothing is more important behind the plate than defense, base-guarding, and pitch-calling at which both Rogers and Kelly excel.
Dingler is marvelous insurance against either Rogers or Kelly getting hurt, as often happens with catchers, and all as he continues to grow at Toledo.
Dingler’s status as prime-time organizational depth at catcher means he also could be catapulted to Comerica Park should the Tigers, as trade-deadline days draw near, include either Rogers or Kelly in any potential deal.
At the heart of Dingler’s biggest jump in 2024 — his offense — have been these numbers:
A much-needed decrease in strikeouts: from 31% in 2023 to this year’s 21%. It has been a dramatic change in profile and has made his big-league ticket probably a matter of time.
His batting average has gone from .202 last year at Toledo (26 games) to this year’s .300-cusp. Not only has the punch-out decline been a factor there, so has Dingler’s ground-ball rate, which last year sat at 46.9 and this year is 30.7.
For those into advanced metrics, Dingler’s ISO (it measures raw power) is a muscular .219. His wOBA (weighted on-base percentage) is likewise impressive: .367.
What’s changed for this Ohio State alum, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, whose arm remains something General Dynamics might have added to its U.S. Defense Department sales inventory: 33% toss-out rate on stolen bases?
Dingler concedes the answer is not sexy, but that it’s substantive: confidence.
“It’s a big thing that not many people talk about,” he said. “But it’s the difference between having confidence at the plate and not having it.
“Obviously, that comes with success. But anyone who’s played the game knows you can have all the tools in the world, but without confidence …”
Dingler acknowledges he’s had “pretty good at-bats” and that’s the product of paring down his mental-mechanical process.
“Make it as simple as possible,” he said. “I’m seeing the ball, seeing the pitch out of the hand — and then adjusting to it and putting a swing on it.”
Around the Tigers’ farm: Ty Madden, Lael Lockhart learn some harsh Triple-A truths
Full article at Link
Lockhart and Madden struggling in Toledo after dominating AA Erie.
Another full section on Jace Jung and his development; bumps at third…high Krate
McGonigle, Clark, heading to W Mi soon? (I really hope they wait a week as I may be able to finally see the Flying Tigers next week).
J Hamm to Erie?
The Tigers are on record saying they don’t care to push farm prospects overly rapidly. They want a hitter or pitcher to show conclusively he’s ready for the next tier.
They also see benefits to players being part of a single team for extended months.
That doesn’t preclude exceptions. And one probably rests at low-Single A Lakeland where infielder Kevin McGonigle is scorching the ball.
McGonigle, of course, was last year’s 37th overall pick, a prep Pennsylvanian and left-handed batter who simply had a knack for putting bats on baseballs.
He’s batting .355/.438/.514/.952 in the 29 games since rejoining the Flying Tigers after some early-spring hamstring issues.
His walk-rate (14.8%) was higher than his strikeout percentage (12.5). Among his 100-plus exit-velocities last week was a 110-mph rocket.
He is 19 years old, plays shortstop or second base, and could be headed for West Michigan as quickly as the deliberate Tigers development staff believes he’s had enough of Florida State League pitching.
As for the Pitcher Most Likely To Be Bumped Up: That could be Jaden Hamm, another of last July’s draft snatches (fifth round, Middle Tennessee State), and a right-handed marksman, who in 10 starts at West Michigan has an 0.96 ERA and 0.85 WHIP.
Tale of the tape on Hamm, who is 21, and 6-1, 190: 37.2 innings, 26 hits, six walks, and a whopping 51 strikeouts.
Erie, here he comes — probably fairly quickly.
Also some more positive prospect news
Hao-Yu Lee, the player we got from the Lorenzen trade last year in double A is hitting a .274 BA, .829 OPS, and 8 HR so far
hes also 21
Hes looking promising right now
Good catch and you are right, I suspect he may be a trade piece at some point. The Tigers have Keith locked in at second and I’m not sure if the team has played Lee anywhere else.
t
BA updated their list with 4 Tigers in the top 100
J Jobe
M Clark
K McGonigle
J Jung
McGonigle is raking. We might want to move him to triple A, and see how he handles that.
I think he is clearly more advanced than the pitching he is facing right now.
I just looked. He’s batting .360, and has an ops around .950.
Those are elite prospect numbers, even if it is in A ball.
I think I just found my new favorite minor league hitter.
He has been mine for a while.
I will be in Lakeland Fridy and Saturday nights, if all goes to plan. I will post videos of the Flying Tigers game from Friday or Saturday.
Love McGonigle really wish that Briceno was healthy
I own a house in Salt Springs. If I can get healthy enough to travel down that way, I’d love to catch a game with you.
He continues to impress, hopefully it’s a real break thru for him.
Campos has been in the system so long that it’s hard to believe he’s 3 years younger than Jace Jung.
Dingler hit another homer last night. His hitting streak now sits at 13 games, and hits in 16 of the last 17 games
Now batting .308, with an ops of .898
Jung went 2 for 3 last night, with 2 homers, and 2 walks. Now batting .285 with an ops of .935
He’s ready.
Also, Dingler extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
Its too bad we dont have a MLB SS in the system.
Anywhere.
Including Detroit.
Jung at SS >Baez/Kriedler/McKinstry
Can we just play 4 OF with Jung on the grass a few steps in LCF?
Dinglers hitting streak is at 15 games now.