Colt Keith takes home player of the week honors. Dillon Dingler sparks Erie’s offense and more on the Detroit Tigers Minor League Weekly Recap.

When the Detroit Tigers drafted Colt Keith as the last pick in the shortened 2020 MLB draft in the fifth round, it was showing a difference in how the Tigers were drafting. Detroit hadn’t drafted a high school infielder since Kelvin Smith in the 20th round back in 2018. This was a draft pick with plenty of upside and it has been showing more in 2022.

He won Midwest Player of the Week after posting a .407 batting average with 11 hits.

How good of a week did Colt Keith have?

How about 11-for-29 (.407/.448/.630) with a home run, three doubles and an OPS of 1.078. https://t.co/FyZf8SOWqA

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 9, 2022

TMLR standouts for Week 5

For our weekly recaps, we will have a “TMLR standout” as we highlight individual performances across the Detroit Tigers minor league system.

Toledo (4-2 against Worcester)

OF Daz Cameron: 7-for-21 .333 10-game hitting streak.

3B John Valente: 10-for-29 .400 8-game hitting streak.

While Valente is not a household name in prospect circles, he continues to hit at every level the Tigers have assigned him to. His career slash line of .313/.360/.762 stands out. While he lacks power, he can play multiple positions in the infield.

Erie (3-3 against Altoona)

C Dillon Dingler: 10-for-24 .455

RHP Garrett Hill 5IP, 3H, 10K 66 pitches, 45 for strikes.

Dingler has been a solid defense presence for the SeaWolves so far this season and it’s a plus to see the bat coming around.

Here’s Dillon Dingler’s double that extended his hitting streak to eight games. @Greg_Gania on the call. pic.twitter.com/OcwkszgHtq

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 6, 2022

Garrett Hill’s fifth start of the season was the second time he struck out 10 batters. So far on the season, he has 39 strikeouts over 23 innings of work.

West Michigan (2-4 against Lansing)

2B Colt Keith: 11-for-29, .407

1B Chris Meyers: 7-for-20, 6BB 1 3RBI, .350

We talked about Keith earlier, but newcomer Chris Meyers has made a quick impression. The former University of Toledo standout was just called up May 1st from Lakeland and has adjusted well to West Michigan. He has batted  .308 since arriving in the last two games against Great Lakes.

Chris Meyers hits his first home run in High-A, a opposite field shot. That gives West Michigan the 3-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/bKT7D1ZLP9

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 8, 2022

Lakeland (3-3 vs Fort Myers)

Roberto Campos: 8-for-23, 1HR .364

Garrett Burhenn: 5IP 2H 3SO

Campos had a strong showing against Fort Myers, the Twins’ affiliate. He now leads the team in hits with 25 and he also hit his first home run of the season. Cristian Santana and Izaac Pacheco both hit their third home runs of the season.

Not to be out done, @izaacpacheco1 crushed his third homer of the season that same inning! pic.twitter.com/rsvFeOJcaV

— Detroit Tigers Player Development (@RoadtoDetroit) May 8, 2022

Week 6 in the Detroit Tigers Minor League System

Toledo heads to the baseball bat capital of the world, Louisville, to take on the Bats. Elvin Rodriguez is scheduled to start the opener tonight. Later in the week, Casey Mize will throw on Thursday in a rehab assignment. Matt Manning will throw on Friday.

In Double-A, the SeaWolves travel to Akron to take on the RubberDucks. Left-hander Adam Wolf takes the mound in tonight’s opener. He is 3-0 on the season with an ERA of 1.45.

West Michigan starts a home stand against the Beloit Sky Carp and Lakeland travels to St. Lucie to take on the Mets. A rare occasion this week as all four Detroit Tigers Minor League teams will be on MILB.TV