Tigers affiliates set their 2024 starting rosters

The final rosters for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves, the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps, and the Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers over the weekend. All three rosters are in their own assigned spring camp after spending the past five weeks in the catchall minor league camp in Lakeland. Their seasons will begin on Friday, April 5, while the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens opened play this weekend by following their parent club to quick 2-0 records.

We previewed the Mud Hens talking about how the Tigers 40-man roster measures up to the rest of the league even quite a bit better than just the active 26-man rosters. The SeaWolves don’t have nearly as much to offer the parent club in terms of prospect depth, but they do have the most important pitching prospect in the organization in Jackson Jobe, along with two other arms that could make a big impact, if not quite as soon.

On the positional side of the SeaWolves lineup, you see the lull coming in terms of available prospect talent once the upper level guys graduate. That impression continues with the starting Whitecaps lineup as well, but there are at least a few more really interesting players slated to start there. In Lakeland, where the next wave rides to a degree on Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, the makings of another really strong class of prospect talent is in the works.

Erie SeaWolves

The 2023 Eastern League champs have lost most of the key position players that won that title to the Mud Hens. However, they’ve still got an absolute monster of a starting rotation that at least in the first half and before promotions start coming, they should be able to remain only a somewhat diminished force in the AA ranks.

Jackson Jobe, Troy Melton, and Ty Madden is a heck of a top three, and the class of the Eastern League. LHP Lael Lockhart continued to improve after the Tigers acquired him from the Dodgers last May. The big lefty still profiles as a depth starter/swingman type, but he doesn’t make many big mistakes and knows how to change speeds to work over hitters. Wilkel Hernandez has stalled out for a few years with injury trouble, but should be a very solid fifth starter for them.

I’ve probably said enough about Jobe for the moment. Lest I swoon again, let’s talk about my pick for “guy you will soon be talking about a lot.”

Obviously, Melton isn’t completely coming out of nowhere. He was the Tigers 4th round pick in 2022, we ranked him the sixth best prospect in the system this spring, and he’s getting 45 and 45+ grades pretty much across the board. Still he’s not at all a household name yet.

The 6’4” right-hander had only really pitched regularly for two seasons at San Diego State when the Tigers picked him up. He was very raw, with poor mechanics, little more than a fastball to work with, and still slender as a reed. In two seasons, Melton has built himself up to 225 pounds, turned into a strike throwing machine with a much shorter armpath, better lower half drive, and overall a much more streamlined delivery.

He now works with an above average slider and changeup to go with an explosive fourseamer that more typically sits 95-96 mph, but consistently creeps up near triple digits when he wants extra. Everything but the changeup is a high spin offering, his fastball IVB is already average or better and developing his extension for more was a big focus last year. It’s likely Melton and the Tigers can continue to tune up his best stuff, and his control isn’t too far from where it needs to be to pitch in the major leagues.

His command, particularly with his slider, still needs some refinement, but Melton threw a ton of strikes at High-A West Michigan, 67 percent of them in fact. He posted a 6.7 percent walk rate, gave up just two home runs in 15 starts, and few put the ball in play with authority against him despite absolutely filling up the zone all summer long. And again, this is a guy who didn’t really pitch at all until his junior year of college in 2021. The work the Tigers have done with him, as Melton says, has been comprehensive, but that aptitude for taking good coaching is just as impressive. The trajectory here is pretty exciting.

Ok, so I’m pretty stoked about Troy Melton. Let’s not leave out Ty Madden, a quality pitching prospect in his own right who throws hard, up to 99 mph this spring, packs a really good slider, and has been a durable strike thrower the past few years. He’s got six pitches, but he just hasn’t found a consistent counterpoint for his fourseam/slider combo that remains the bread and butter. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him find a strategy to deal with left-handed hitters this season and take the leap. I just think Melton has the higher ceiling.

On the position player side, things aren’t nearly as good. Second baseman Hao-Yu Lee and center fielder and sometime shortstop Trei Cruz lead the group. Gage Workman’s prospect status is hanging by a thread, but he’s still a fine defender who can play all over and contribute some speed and some pop. Chris Meyers and Jake Holton are both very solid hitters with power at this level even if they aren’t projected to go that much farther. Corey Joyce is a solid defensive shortstop with some contact ability. They aren’t an impressive group in prospect terms, but for the level it’s an experienced group who should make for a solid offense. But it’s really all about the starting pitching.

Stephen Scott, a 26-year-old left-handed hitting catcher, was acquired on Friday after being released by the Boston Red Sox. He and Eliezer Alfonzo should be a quality duo for this level. They’ll miss Dillon Dingler to a degree, but defensively they should be pretty good.

West Michigan Whitecaps

At least to start the season, the Whitecaps are going to be one of the lighter rosters until Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle, and Josue Briceno move up. Probably that isn’t going to take too long, or things aren’t going to plan. It should be a fun summer in West Michigan. Here’s a link to the full starting roster.

There are really only four players we’re keenly interested in to begin the year. 2022 and 2023 second round draft picks Max Anderson and Peyton Graham are the featured attraction in the infield as the regular double play combo.

Graham was picked in 2022 out of Oklahoma. The reedy shortstop can do some eye-popping things at the shortstop position with good range and a strong arm, but the swing and miss in his all or nothing swing led to a disappointing full season. Oblique trouble kind of sank his season right as he started to get it going again, and he enters year three really needing to make some progress. We ranked him 13th on our preseason prospect list, and I think most are more pessimistic than that. It’s mostly my doing, however that turns out.

Anderson is a right-handed hitting second baseman out of Nebraska who has above average power and a disciplined approach. There’s enough swing and miss, and not enough defensive value, to remain a little skeptical, but Anderson is a pretty polished college hitter and could move really quickly as well.

Right-hander Dylan Smith has fallen off the radar, but he had only recently turned 21 when the Tigers selected him with their third round pick out of Alabama in 2021. He’s always had a good slider, and some feel for a changeup, but Smith came to the Tigers averaging 92-93 mph with mediocre movement, extension, and angles. Scouting chief Scott Pleis and GM Al Avila bet on Smith’s projectible frame, coachability, and the advanced breaking ball.

Dylan Smith’s full season debut at West Michigan went really well, though his fastball didn’t develop all that much in 2022. Injuries limited him to just 38 ¹⁄₃ regular season innings in 2023, and a few of those were rehab outings. However, Smith put that rehab time to work and continues to build up his 6’3” frame. He was pretty wild in the Arizona Fall League, but he hadn’t pitched in almost six weeks when he got to Scottsdale. What was notable were the handful of 96-98 mph fastballs that came out of his hand. It wasn’t steady even in his short outings, but some of the potential seemed to be coming together for him.

The ceiling is still probably a backend starter unless something major changes, but Smith definitely has a good chance to get back on the radar this season. It’s getting easier to be confident in the Tigers pitching development as well.

Finally, we have two young hitters with plenty of raw power who haven’t been capable of showing much of it in their careers to date. Outfielder Roberto Campos was probably Avila’s most hyped international free agent acquisition back in July of 2019. The Cuban outfielder had defected to the Dominican Republic as a boy and at 16 already flashed major league average power. Campos has turned into a decent hitter in terms of putting the ball in play enough and showing some plate discipline, but the power just hasn’t shown up at all. Most of his hard hit balls are on the ground or on a line, and there aren’t enough of them to begin with. He won’t turn 21 for a few months, but he’s in a similar place to where Parker Meadows was in 2021. Major changes are going to be required if he’s going to get more out of his physical ability.

That remains even more true for third baseman Izaac Pacheco, who continues to struggle in all facets of the game. The contact ability and plate discipline just haven’t developed and Pacheco continues to show a very long, grooved swing that occasionally produces a tape measure shot, but isn’t going to get it done against higher level pitching. He has the arm and enough range at third base, but he still mis-handles too many balls to think he’ll provide any value defensively either.

So, it’s not a real compelling group just yet.

In the rotation, control artist LHP Carlos Pena will be fun to watch, and 2023 prep pick RHP Jaden Hamm will be a key attraction. Relief prospects Tanner Kohlhepp and Zack Hess are trying to find their footing after post-draft surgeries. Colin Fields high spin cutter and generally odd stuff will be worth checking in on, as will Carlos Marcano’s attempts to expand his stuff beyond a quality sinker.

Positionally, another hitter we’re interested in is second baseman Luke Gold, who has some pop and a solid, if somewhat limited approach. Infielder Danny Serretti is a steadying force for the lineup as well, while speedy outfielder Seth Stephenson will lead off and no doubt wreak havoc on inexperienced catchers on the basepaths. However, until more of the 2023 draft class gets promoted, the ‘Caps will have an experienced High-A roster for new manager Tony Cappuccilli, but not a significant slice of the club’s major league prospects.

Lakeland Flying Tigers

Over the past few years, the initially very slow work of improving the Tigers player development system has really accelerated. The organization has built on the scaffolding of the Avila years, and turned them into a far better player acquisition and development group that probably isn’t too far from the league’s best at this point. Other than in Detroit, Lakeland remains the locus of the club’s efforts to upgrade in analytics, biomechanics, strength and conditioning, coaching, and even nutrition and sleep. Rather than pushing players out rapidly to High-A, they seem more inclined to keep close tabs on their young talent in their formative year of pro ball and that’s reflective in pretty conservative assignment for many players.

Second baseman Cristian Santana is still only recently turned 20 years old, but he’ll be playing his third season with the Flying Tigers, as a key example. It feels like he’d just be pushed up as a matter of course under the previous Tigers administration, but after a really nice debut in 2022 as an 18-year-old, Santana stalled out last season and didn’t really get anything going until late in the year.

He walked and struck out a ton, and attempts to tweak his swing led to a hellish summer of pop-ups and weak choppers for him until he finally seemed to settle in late in the year. Still, he’s a solid enough prospect defensively at either second or third base. He has pretty good plate discipline and average power. And after showing his potential in 2022, he’s still young enough to get on track.

Shortstop Kevin McGonigle and catcher Josue Briceno are probably the two big surprises here. McGonigle, the Tigers competitive balance pick A in 2023, looked very comfortable in his post-draft debut straight out of high school. His contact ability and plate discipline are already good and the only big question for him is whether his compact frame will produce enough power production. He may not be a major league shortstop, but he looks like he can play there, and should be good at either second or third. Expect McGonigle to be in West Michigan by the time the cicadas arrive.

Likewise, 19-year-old catcher Josue Briceno looks just about ready to move up as well. The Maracay, Venezuela native, sharing a hometown with Miguel Cabrera, tore up the Complex League with power and a very advanced approach in 2023, and then held his own in a short look at Low-A ball. Briceno is now one of the most interesting hitting prospects in the system, but it’s hard to gauge how much chance he has of making it as a catcher. Already a large framed 6’4” catcher, his agility and throwing arm look maybe just enough, but it’s going to take a lot of development. He may turn out to be a first baseman, but the discipline, quick stroke, and serious raw power make him a good pick to move well up prospect rankings of the farm system this season.

Now we come to Max Clark. Drafted third overall last year, the centerfielder with the outgoing personality didn’t exactly thrill fans will a shaky Low-A debut in 2023, but it was quite literally 11 games. So relax. Clark is out there hitting some dingers in intersquad games and running wild on the bases, and he too should move very quickly this season. If any of the players mentioned are still in Lakeland through June, it’s not going well for some reason.

Manager Andrew Graham’s squad will have a few other points of interest in infielder Samuel Gil and John Peck. Bennett Lee is an interesting catching prospect. Still most of the rest are at the Complex League level for now.

2023 prep infielder Carson Rucker is a key name on my radar, along with 2023 pick catcher Brady Cerkownyk and infielder Reylin Perez, but they will get a tune-up on the backfields before heading over to the Flying Tigers.

What they lack, at least to start the year, is in the better pitching talent. RHP’s Donye Evans, Andrew Sears, and Hayden Minton will represent the 2023 draft class. RHP Thomas Bruss, who was just signed to a minor league deal after posting some pretty hot Rapsodo numbers in a training camp, will bear watching. Otherwise, the best pitching prospects in Lakeland will be heading for the usual first season tune-up in extended spring camp, and perhaps a bit of Complex League action before they pitch for the Flying Tigers this summer.

Those would be top lefties Paul Wilson, their prep fourth rounder last summer in the draft, and Blake Dickerson, also a good southpaw prospect in last year’s draft that the Tigers acquired from the Padres for international bonus pool money in February. They also have two right-handers we’re really interested in on the same slow track for their first full season. Jatnk Diaz and Andrew Dunford will be working on their mechanics and conditioning before they finally get turned loose as well.