The Flying Tigers pitching staff had a few standout pitchers.

Welcome to our “TMLR Year in Review” series as we examine each affiliate across the Detroit Tigers system. We look at the prospects who stood out at each stop, and what future prospects could we see make a big leap in 2023. We start with the Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Over the last decade, international signings have become a larger point of focus for all baseball organizations. With the amount of international signings who have become superstars like Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna, the pressure to have some sort of success with signings is much more important.

For the Tigers, it has been mainly on the pitching side in which we have seen production. If you include Willy Adames and Eugenio Suárez, well, that was the price to keep the team competitive or lack of patience, however you want to see it.

Detroit has seen a few positional players make contributions to the team in the past. Ramon Santiago and Omar Infante come to mind, but if you think of franchise or cornerstone positional players, there has not been anyone homegrown. However, that may change based on a few players down in Lakeland.

But that is just one part of the story of the Flying Tigers in 2022. Let’s look at a few players who started the trek in Lakeland and made themselves known throughout the season. In part one, we are going to focus on the pitchers.

Lakeland Flying Tigers Pitchers

This list features several names you are already familiar with and a few you should get to know.

RHP Jackson Jobe:

Jobe struggled earlier in the season as he was trying to establish himself as a professional. But as time went on, Jobe figured out his command. Since he has been only pitching for just one season in high school, the Tigers worked with him essentially how to pitch.

"For me, it really fuels me on the fact I do better, I like having that pressure on me, it was a lot of fun and to be able to perform makes even better"

Jackson Jobe on his first West Michigan start in front of one of the largest crowds of the season. pic.twitter.com/Rwv2sNg4UF

— Rogelio Castillo (@rogcastbaseball) August 30, 2022

By looking at his stat line, it does not paint a complete pitcher of Jobe. If you dig deeper into the advanced data, the potential in his arm and what he was able to do this season emerges. His curve and spin rates were among the highest in the Florida State League in 2022. In 61.2 innings pitched, he struck out 71 in Lakeland. Jobe got the opportunity to move up to West Michigan and put together a few impressive starts at High-A. He is the number one prospect in Detroit’s system according to MLB Pipeline.

https://twitter.com/growcasting/status/1576064617155301376?s=20&t=H9tLJjGpErg6MOMScf_5yg

The hope in 2023 is that he can miss more bats with his fastball.  But for now, there is progress.

LHP Brant Hurter:

Hurter was drafted in the 7th round in the 2021 draft out of Georgia Tech. He was one of a few prospects who started the season in Lakeland and made it all the way to Double-A Erie. Hurter throws a fastball that touches the low 90s, a slider, which is his best pitch, and a changeup. In 42.1 innings of work with Lakeland he struck out 57, walked 6, and allowed 14 earned runs over 34 hits. He sported a solid 2.42 FIP.

The Tigers system coming into 2022 lacked left-handed starters. Hurter’s K/9 in Lakeland was just over 9, but when he got to West Michigan it jumped to 11. Hurter’s future could be the back end of a rotation. His numbers in Erie are too small of a sample size, but he will need to continue to miss bats in order to reach his ceiling. A slight bump in his velocity would also help his cause.

34 pitchers had a K-rate above 30% this season (Min. 100 IP). Only 6 pitchers finished with a K-rate above 30% and a BB-rate below 6% — Brandon Pfaadt (ARI), Brant Hurter (DET), Tanner Bibee (CLE), Wilmer Flores (DET), Jack Leftwich (CLE), and Brent Headrick (MIN) 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6E7N563dsx

— Down on the Farm (@downonthefarm12) September 28, 2022

RHP Jack Anderson

You are going to sense a theme when it comes to the pitching and that is that the 2021 draft class was well represented. That theme continues with Jack Anderson, a reliever out of Florida State University, who the Tigers selected in the 16th round.

I wrote him up originally at Motor City Bengals, as he saw an increase in velocity towards the end of his college career. He throws a fastball, changeup, and a slider, or what has been considered a cutter according to Baseball Savant. The fastball sat around 91-93 and he throws that pitch on average about 70-80% a game. He was able to limit walks during his last month in Lakeland.

Jack Anderson (@Jack_Ander99) has been lights out this month in low A. In July, he’s thrown 14 innings without allowing an earned run. 19 Ks to 3 BBs and just 6 hits allowed. Holding opponents to a .350 OPS over 50 batters faced. #DetroitRoots@FSUBaseball @JesuitBaseball pic.twitter.com/pT63gl4rig

— Brett Nevitt (@brettpn) July 28, 2022

Anderson was in Lakeland until the end of July. He put up a pretty good stat line while with the Flying Tigers, with a K/9 of 11.51 and a FIP of 2.94 in 43 innings of work. Not only that, but he would close out games with the Whitecaps, posting a 2.16 FIP in 16 innings of work. He was one of the arms selected for Arizona Fall League, so the Tigers do see something with Anderson that may continue to evolve.

RHP Tyler Mattison

Mattison was drafted in the 4th round in 2021 out of Bryant University. Originally a starter in college, Detroit put him in the Flying Tigers bullpen after starting the season on the Injured List. He mainly throws a fastball that can hit 97-98 and a changeup. He will also be joining Anderson in the AFL. Mattison was part of a Flying Tigers staff that lead the FSL in four-seam fastball average. He has the ability to be in the back end of the bullpen. His command improved in the last month of the season, with just four walks over his last 18.2 innings pitched.

We will get you caught up with clips from around the Tigers' minor league system. We start in Bradenton as here's a scoreless inning from @LkdFlyingTigers RHP Tyler Mattison. Scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts. #RoadtoDetroit pic.twitter.com/G1Sl8TX6cG

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 30, 2022

https://twitter.com/growcasting/status/1576064631449079809?s=20&t=xRQkNDW2RHAbqrRalAhg1g

Names to look out for in 2023:

Ulices Campos

Jose Diaz

Marco Jimenez

Erick Pinales

All of these names have good strikeout numbers and can throw hard, however, they still have command issues. They are also international arms, and according to Baseball America, Pinales has the best fastball in the system.

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