Couple of pitching Promotions, the knuckleballer moves to AA.
1 Like
I know you said Serwa isn’t ready, but he’s already 28 years old, and a knuckle baller.
I’m not sure how much more there is to learn. I think he would make an excellent bullpen arm.
3 Likes
I agree.
Spot starter if need be as well.
3 Likes
Whitecaps win in 11 on a walkoff bases loaded walk.
earlier
Wow, thats awful.
I was at that game! A good one…
1 Like
F*ck
# Rainer injury puts Tigers prospects Montilla, Hadeen in spotlight
Good luck, Flying Tigers.
Rainer, 19, was batting .288/.383/.488/.831, with five home runs, when he dislocated his shoulder Tuesday in a game at Lakeland. He was anywhere from first to fifth among top Tigers prospects, depending upon who you might ask on a given day for a pecking order of Detroit’s best farm talent.
Now, the scramble to replace.
Primarily, the shortstop stints will go to Franyerber Montilla, 20, a hotshot a year ago who has since had cooler months.
Also, Woody Hadeen, last July’s sixth-round pick from Cal-Irvine, will continue with occasional shifts at short, as well as at second base, and even in center field, as the Tigers try and make this switch-hitting baseball handyman, 22, a potential AJ Hinch-approved swing-man who someday can help in Detroit.
=======
“What happens with a lot of young players,” Rivera said, “is they go to FCL (Florida Complex League) and have a pretty good season and now over here (low-A) they’re facing a little better pitching, they get a bit more challenged. There’s a few college arms here that are really good.”
“It’s a big jump. But he (Montilla) is getting used to the league, taking better at-bats lately, and hopefully it clicks. We know what he’s capable of doing. Lately he’s hitting the ball better. When our hitting department looks at his contact rate, his hard-hit-ball rate and all that, his numbers are pretty good.”
Almost started a thread just for Rainer and the Meadows, Perez, Vierling comments on playing a game or two with him.
# Detroit Tigers players evaluate prospect Bryce Rainer: ‘He’s got all the tools’
full article at Link.
======
Bryce Rainer is one of the best prospects in baseball. If not for Kevin McGonigle, Rainer would be the No. 1 prospect in the Detroit Tigers’ farm system.
He prepares like a big leaguer, he hits the ball extremely hard, and he projects to stick at shortstop.
He is a superstar in the making.
Three Tigers players — Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez and Matt Vierling — watched Rainer play two games in late May for Low-A Lakeland during the 2025 season, getting a glimpse at the Tigers’ future.
“He’s got all the tools,” Meadows said.
=======
Before the injury, Rainer hit .288 with five home runs, 20 walks and 33 strikeouts across 35 games for Low-A Lakeland, posting an .831 OPS. The rising star played exclusively at shortstop, showcased elite arm strength and averaged 92.7 mph in exit velocity — big-time power for a teenager.
“Didn’t someone say Seager?” Vierling said.
=========
He turns 20 in early July.
“He has a big-league mindset,” Meadows said. “Pregame, seeing him in the weight room prepping his body, he knows what to do. His swing is a big-league swing. And I think he’s got it figured out mentally. It’s just a matter of time.” …
“It’s rare,” Meadows said. “He’s got what it takes.”
Back then, Meadows didn’t know how to prepare for games.
Rainer already does it like a big leaguer.
“It took me time,” Meadows said. “I wasn’t doing it at 19.”
========
(frm…there is a tweet in the article showing the fielding play Vierling references).
On May 21, Rainer fielded a hard-hit ground ball deep in the hole between shortstop and third base with two outs in the second inning. The one-hopper carried him into the outfield grass, but he got his glove on the ball, planted his back foot and uncorked a bullet to first base.
Vierling watched the web gem from third base.
“Very athletic, very smooth actions,” Vierling said.
===========
On May 22, Meadows and Vierling drew walks to set the table for Rainer with two outs in the fifth inning. To win a six-pitch battle, Rainer drove a slider at the bottom of the strike zone into left-center field, scoring Meadows and advancing Vierling to third. The exit velocity: an impressive 109.2 mph.
Vierling watched the hard-hit ball from the base paths.
“I barely saw the ball,” Vierling said.
============
It was a play and a swing Vierling won’t forget.
“You don’t really see that,” he said.
In 2025, Rainer registered a max exit velocity of 114 mph during the Spring Breakout game.
Only one Tigers player has hit that mark at the MLB level over the past three seasons: Riley Greene — 114.5 mph in 2025, 114 mph in 2024 and 114.4 mph in 2023. Over that span, Meadows maxed out at 110 mph, Pérez at 109.1 mph and Vierling at 113 mph.
“He hits the ball so hard,” said Pérez, a 25-year-old former shortstop who has become a full-time outfielder. “He makes contact, too. I think he’s got a good approach for that age. He’s pretty nice at shortstop. He’s got a really nice arm — a cannon. And he moves well. I think he can stay there. He’s going to be good.”
Off the field, Rainer passes the character test. He isn’t flashy, he isn’t cocky, he isn’t loud — he’s just a good kid who handles his business with quiet confidence.
Vierling took notice.
“I really like his personality, just from talking with him,” said Vierling, a 28-year-old outfielder/third baseman viewed as a leader in the Tigers’ clubhouse. “He was so chill — that California chill vibe. It’s almost so matter of fact.”
THE INJURY: Tigers prospect Bryce Rainer set for right shoulder surgery, ending 2025 season
Rainer reminded Vierling of Bryson Stott, an infielder in his fourth MLB seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies.
3 Likes
Perhaps rainers arm gets stronger after surgery. We can hope
How about what Max Anderson is doing in double A? Our second round pick in 2023…
Anderson has slashed .335/.371/.553 with nine home runs and 37 RBI in 48 games so far.
Someone is going to want this kid at the deadline.
2 Likes
He is kind of thr forgotten dude. More hope for him than Jung methinks.
2 Likes
Keeps this up he won’t be a throw in trade chip
Serwa in his Eried debut a few days back.
Kenny Serwa – 6 IP 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, Win
It was Kenny Serwa debut day in Erie, Pennsylvania. The 27 year old knuckleballer signed in the offseason made his first start for the SeaWolves and it was serviceable, throwing 80 pitches over six innings.
1 Like
Serwa is the perfect Pitching Chaos bullpen guy for the playoffs
4 Likes
Imagine trying to hit an 88 mph knuckler after facing a 100 mph Skubal fastball all night.
2 Likes
Great article on him in today’s Freep, felt he deserved his own thread, lol.
1 Like
McGonigle is the future at second and why I think Max Anderson becomes trade bait as the Tigers have several high performing middle infielders at the moment.
Good article on the winning going on throughout the Tiger organization and kids learning to win together. If Pacheco has really figured things out might have a an option for third coming up in next couple of years. Then again, he is old for W Mi so who knows, the fun of mlb prospects. They tease tease tease.
# Kevin McGonigle one of many showing Tigers organization in ‘unfathomable’ winning position
Full article at Link
==========
The Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers (34-26) are in first place in the Florida State League.
The Whitecaps just won their first title since 2018 — a team that had future big leaguers such as Kody Clemens, Wenceel Pérez, Will Vest, Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal (for just three games).
Meanwhile, the Toledo Mud Hens — a team that doesn’t get the benefit of any cohesion or consistency, with so many players moving up and down to Detroit — are still 35-32.
========
It’s one thing that the Tigers have the No. 1 farm system in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
But it is just as important they are taking that talent and learning to win.
“Seeing guys go out there and also care about winning, that says a lot,” Clark said. “It’s like a team culture as well as like an organizational culture.”
=======
Tell me if this sounds familiar: “Our team is unbelievable but it’s so fun. We got a great clubhouse. Everyone’s tight knit. Everyone hangs out. Everyone chills together, and it’s obviously a blast. I mean, these guys are incredible.”
That quote could have come from any of the Tigers (46-26), one of the best teams in the majors.
But it actually came from Izaac Pacheco, a 2021 second-round pick who has suddenly blossomed and is playing fantastic in in his fourth stint in West Michigan. He hit two homers and a double on Friday night and is now hitting .291 with a .965 OPS. Pacheco has matured and improved and he loves, I mean loves, playing for Cappuccilli.
===========
I feel like the main thing about this is there’s not any individual players,” McGonigle said. “I feel like everyone’s playing for the team. So that really helps with the success we’re having.”
McGonigle was talking about his team, but he might be the hottest hitter in baseball over the past few days.
On Thursday night, he went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBIs. Then, on Friday night, he went 5-for-6, scored three runs and knocked in a pair. McGonigle is hitting a ridiculous .429 in High-A with a 1.243 OPS in 19 games. He has three homers while walking 14 times with just 12 strikeouts.
Which brings up a key point.
Should they break up the Whitecaps because they are so dang good? Yes, that’s going to happen, naturally. Obviously, this team is not going to stay together for long. McGonigle is going to get a promotion soon to Erie because he’s dominating this league. But the fact these youngsters are learning to win together is immeasurable in the big picture.
“We have obviously, a really good baseball team,” McGonigle said. “I’ve never had a first-half championship before.”
The Whitecaps have had talent before.
But nothing like this.
=======
2 Likes
.900 batting average over the past two days? Is that good?
2 Likes