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Detroit gets ‘infusion of real talent’ in deal

Posted on by darion

Remember last spring? The optimistic point on the Tigers 2024 timeline.

The Tigers won their first five regular-season games. There were pitchers, plenty of weapons, from Detroit to the Tigers’ farms.

Then came summer. And injuries. And pitchers who were either injured, or had lost an early lead, or who, because too much general physical breakdown had caused the team to become a factor in the team’s ineligibility for the playoffs, were traded in the final week.

The better news from last week’s trade sale came from astute Tigers observers who took a closer look at the seven player acquisitions, as well as from evaluations shared by Ryan Garko, the Tigers assistant general manager who oversees player development.

“We got an infusion of real talent with real potential,” Garko said. “We got pitching at every level (of the farm). We got a Triple-A pitcher (Chase Lee). We got Double-A pitchers (Tyler Owens and Eric Silva), and that’s real stuff — top-notch stuff they’re throwing.

“Montalvo is a really exciting young player,” Garko said of Joseph Montalvo, a right-handed starter at Single-A West Michigan. “He has a ton of potential. He’s super exciting. This young man has a lot of potential in baseball. He’s an athlete we really want to have.”

“We talked about bigger engines and more stuff, and that’s what this group brings.”

Also brought on board was Trey Sweeney, a shortstop, outfielder and typical multi-positional handyman who has a left-handed bat that he already showed in Toledo: 4-for-9 with a double and a home run in his first two games. Sweeney could easily be considered an upgrade over Zach McKinstry as the Tigers build their 2025 roster and consider the dividends of the Yankees’ first-round pick in 2021 (20t Generally).

From the Tigers’ perspective, the most enticing player drafted last week is two-handed catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo.

“I’m really excited about the way he affects the baseball from both sides,” Garko said of the 6-foot-3, 195-pound player who turned 21 on July 5. “He’s a big-time profile, a catcher who hits from both sides and is pretty athletic.

“We’ll do some work on him, get some measurements, but there’s a lot of athleticism in the body. He was moved around pretty quickly (in the Dodgers farm system) and he was only 20 at the start of the season.”

Almost everyone admits that Liranzo still has a lot of work to do when it comes to his catching skills.

“As far as catching goes, I think our group (coaches and development officers) do a pretty good job there,” Garko said. “There’s just so much clay to work with.”

Top FCL Pitching Stories

Johnathan Rogers20tA second-round pick a year ago out of Tupelo (Mississippi) High, he wouldn’t be widely considered the Tigers’ best pitcher in the Florida Complex League.

Here’s how you can impress your bosses:

You play in 11 games, spanning 38.1 innings. You post a WHIP of 1.23, allowing 29 hits while having 18 walks and 31 strikeouts. You do this as a 6-foot-3, 220-pound, right-handed pitcher, and you’re only 19 years old.

“Johnathan Rogers blossomed,” Garko said. “We had two FCL pitching coaches this year, the first time we had that, and they did a great job with Johnathan. He was a pitcher from a small high school who didn’t have a lot of coaches. And he really took off this year.

“He was a strikeout pitcher who struck people out and kept getting better. He was probably the coolest development story on the team.”

On the other hand: What happened to Paul Wilson?Last year’s third-round pick, a supposed left-handed dynamo, 6-3, 205, who got $1.7 million to skip Oregon State?

Tigers appreciate the question. They’ll also like to say: Don’t pay attention to the numbers.

“Paul Wilson — the ball flies out of his hand,” Garko said. “He’s got a lot of work to do. He’s still growing. When everything comes together, and it will, we’ll see why it was important to get through this year in an educational setting.

“I think Paul has learned how to be a professional pitcher,” Garko said. “What should my breaking ball shape look like? There’s so much growth and maturation in a year like this. He’d be a freshman at Oregon State and probably wouldn’t have thrown an inning.

“These are the opportunities here to grow. The good thing is, the frame is there, the athleticism is there and the motor is so big. We always want our throwing prospects to have big motors. He’s going to spend a lot of time in the weight room this offseason. We’re going to get him on top of all those moving parts. The ceiling is so high for him.”

Are you moving to Lakeland?

Now that the FCL season is history and now that Max Clark AND Kevin McGonigle We moved to West Michigan, where high standards apply, so it’s natural to ask ourselves:

Who is moving up to Lakeland’s Class A squad?

The first guess would be Franyerber MontillaThe 19-year-old shortstop, who was the Tigers’ favorite to win the FCL until the July heat got to him, as he was playing his first full season of baseball in the United States.

Montilla remains a likely candidate, even if the Tigers are in no rush to move, not wanting to further weaken the 6-foot-3, 186-pound teenager.

“He played really hard,” Garko said, confirming that the Tigers are taking their time with Montilla. “He runs the bases hard, he’s all over the field defensively. And so, I think the grind of his first full experience in the United States is something all young players go through.

“He gives it his all on the pitch, every day. What he does in the gym, in terms of nutrition and diet, that becomes the main focus. He’ll play a 150-game season somewhere next year.”

“I’m super proud of what he did, even at the end. He didn’t get (hit). But defense-wise and baserunning-wise, he was really good.”

Another possible driving force could be Nomar FanaThe 21-year-old ambidextrous defender in 53 games posted a .291 average with an incredible .432 on-base percentage (44 walks) and 10 home runs, contributing to an impressive .943 OPS.

“He destroyed this league,” Garko said, noting Fana’s 156 WRC-plus metric. “He’s quite physical and held up quite well.”

Reality in 3B: Jung is young

The most noticeable change in the Tigers farm positions last year was undoubtedly, Jace JungShift from second base to third.

It will still be a tough transition and will almost certainly keep Jung out of Detroit in 2024.

Jung is having a good game at Triple-A Toledo: .259i/.376/.469/.845 with 14 home runs in 83 games. He has a high strikeout rate (23.3%), which is offset by a 15.8% walk rate. There’s work to be done on his offense, which he’ll probably do better to continue at Triple-A over the final two months of the season.

But defense was what the Tigers needed to see to see if Jung’s experiment in left field could work as the team’s long-term plans at third base are being made. He has committed 16 errors in 59 games at the position and has an .883 fielding percentage.

“It’s hard to change positions, especially from center to corner,” Garko said. “But his dedication to his work was great.

“We threw him in at the deep end,” Garko said of Jung’s switch from second to third. “We have to let a guy like that make mistakes. Now we have a pretty big record of plays from this year — plays he made, plays he didn’t make, his throws, his positioning, his footwork. Now he has a bigger Rolodex of how to make different throws to first base.

“He’s in a much better place than he was in April. I still think the arm will play, which is the most important thing. He’s made some really good plays. You can see it in bursts.

“That’s what the minor leagues are for. We don’t care how many mistakes you make. You watch him, there’s no move he can’t make.”

Garko knows that Jung will spend the off-season mostly taking advice and guidance from his older brother, JoshAll-Star third baseman for the Rangers.

“Those two train together,” Garko said. “It’s a huge benefit to have a brother like Josh who can play. The way those two work together and care about each other — they’re always competing. It’s kind of built into Jace’s routine.”

Short jumps

▶ Garko on Double-A’s Right-Based Starter Troy Meltonfourth-round pick in 2022, who last month had a 4.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 21.2 innings, 20 hits, just five walks — and 26 strikeouts: “He was really good. Very similar to Jackson (Work) in that he has some of the best stuff in our organization. In Double A, execution is as important as stuff. He did a really good job working with the staff in Erie, getting the ball to both sides of the plate — north-south, east-west — and understanding how to attack hitters.”

▶ Jobe, who reigns as the Tigers’ top wunderkind, will remain in Erie for the foreseeable future. The Tigers are pleased with Jobe’s progress, even if he’s been issuing a few walks recently. They don’t appear to have any immediate plans to promote him to Triple-A. It’s still doubtful Jobe will start 2025 anywhere but Triple-A Toledo, where the Tigers — if Jobe’s health holds — could expect to take him to Comerica Park or a similar MLB venue at some point next spring.

▶ It is still unknown when the 19-year-old stunner Josue Briceno will rejoin Lakeland’s roster after suffering a severe knee sprain in early May. Briceno, a catcher and a great left-handed hitter, avoided surgery. But the prognosis was for a 4-6 month recovery. And the early August projections suggest Briceno will need at least four months before he’s ready to catch. Designated batting? Some cameo appearances at first base? It’s unclear yet.

▶ It seems unlikely that the Tigers will sell tickets Jaden Hammtheir prized right-handed starter at high-A West Michigan, to work in Double-A in 2024. It’s not that Hamm hasn’t shown enough good things for Double-A (20 games, 19 starts, 2.45 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 84.1 innings, 65 hits, 24 walks and 107 strikeouts). Note those innings thrown: 84.1. Hamm threw 91 innings in 2023, between Middle Tennessee State and 12 innings of work at Lakeland ballparks. The Tigers prefer just a 20% increase in innings this upcoming season. Hamm will soon approach 100-plus, which would mean he likely won’t see Erie until the start of the 2025 season.

▶ Garko on Spencer Torkelsonwho makes it seem like Toledo could be his home until the end of 2024 as the Tigers work to address their issues on offense and defense: “One of the great things is he made some changes that he wanted to make and that we talked about.

“First, it was some things that were maybe uncomfortable, some things in the batsman’s box. Now he’s back in contention and he’s not worried about the perfect swing, he’s just fit. He’s hit some really hard balls in the last few weeks. I think we’re starting to see that everything is working, the way the ball is coming off the bat. He’s bought into it and he understands the process. He’s playing for the long term. We’ve had some great conversations. And his defense is really good, working with him.” Billy Boyer (Tigers team coordinator in the lower leagues and on the pitch).

“The work has been going well and the attitude is good.”

Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and retired sports reporter for the Detroit News.