LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers right-hander Chavez Fernander isn’t afraid when he’s on the mound.
He showed this trait in Saturday’s minor-league minicamp scrimmage at Joker Marchant Stadium. The right-handed pitcher, a 35th-round draft pick in 2018, entered for the sixth inning and was tasked with facing some of the Tigers’ best prospects.
“With anybody in the box, I’m just there to compete,” Fernander said Saturday. “If it’s (Spencer) Torkelson or whoever, I’m focused on trying to get the job done.”
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On Saturday, Fernander clashed with Torkelson, Riley Greene, Ryan Kreidler and Andre Lipcius. He got ahead 0-2 in the count against Greene before a 2-2 splitter forced a weak groundout to second base, then he struck out Torkelson swinging with a 1-2 slider.
Although Kreidler singled to left field, Fernander bounced back by striking out Lipcius on three pitches.
“The biggest thing with Chavez is his mentality on the mound,” Tigers catching prospect Dillon Dingler said Saturday. “He’s definitely one of the most mentally tough guys we have. He’s not scared to do whatever he wants to do. He places his fastball wherever he wants. I know he’s been tweaking his slider, and today, he threw three or four really good ones.”
Fernander, 24, was born and raised in Freeport, Bahamas.
He moved to the United States when he was 15 and attended Georgia Premier Academy (formerly Faith Baptist Christian Academy), where his baseball career began.
Fernander pitched for Polk State College in Winter Haven, Florida, roughly 20 miles from the Tigers’ spring training complex. After his sophomore season at the JUCO level, the Tigers drafted him.
“I want to be one of the guys on the plaque back home as the next player making it to the big leagues,” said Fernander, who aims to become the ninth player from The Bahamas to make his MLB debut. “That gives me fire. People doubted us, so we have to get there and make that next step.”
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A three-pitch arsenal profiles Fernander as a reliever, which is the role the Tigers gave him in 2021. He posted a 3.68 ERA with 26 walks and 56 strikeouts over 58⅔ innings for High-A West Michigan (11 games) and Double-A Erie (22 games).
Fernander pitched in the Arizona Fall League, too.
He had a 3.38 ERA with six walks and seven strikeouts in eight innings out of the bullpen for the Salt River Rafters.
“Getting to face better hitters, you have to compete and put your pitches in the (strike) zone — or else you won’t be successful,” Fernander said. “If I want to get where I need to go, I have to be able to throw these pitches for strikes and command more than one pitch.”
Fernander throws a 93-96 mph fastball, an 86-88 mph splitter and an 83-84 mph slider. He has immense confidence in his splitter — his go-to pitch against left-handed hitters — but his slider is a work in progress.
In minicamp, Fernander has focused on revamping his slider with director of pitching Gabe Ribas. The goal is for his new slider to sit around 88 mph and feature a sweeping motion with a hard break.
“The grip is completely different,” said Fernander, adding last year’s slider acted like a cutter. “Something with my mechanics I had to work on was my hand wasn’t letting me get through the baseball. We switched some mechanical stuff to get everything in sync, which made the pitch better.”
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An improved slider could elevate Fernander toward his MLB debut. He is likely to return to the Double-A level to begin the 2022 season. The Tigers want him to continue crafting his newest weapon while working on his command.
Once everything clicks, he should receive a promotion to Triple-A Toledo.
“It’s going to be a game changer for me,” Fernander said. “If I can get that slider to a nice plus-pitch, I’ll have three out pitches. I can go with my splitter to lefties, a backdoor slider and the fastball. The slider would be a big upgrade to my arsenal if I can really get it down pat.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.