Welcome to our TMLR Year in Review series as we examine each Detroit Tigers affiliate.
We examine players who stood out at each stop, and look at prospects who could make a big leap in 2023. Our first stop is with the Lakeland Flying Tigers.
We started with the Lakeland Flying Tigers pitchers, now we move onto the hitters. For the past several seasons the biggest names among Detroit’s international signings have been hard to see. The canceled 2020 minor league season didn’t help, and then in 2021 the top young signings played in either the Florida Complex League or the Dominican Summer League. However, Roberto Campos, Cristian Santana, Manuel Sequera proved to be worth the wait. That trio, along with Izaac Pacheco and Jose De La Cruz, formed an exciting young core in Lakeland. All five were under the age of 21 and saw at least 340 plate appearances with the Flying Tigers.
INF Cristian Santana
Santana (number 11 on the Tigers MLB Pipeline list) hit the Injured List in early May and missed a month due to a hand injury. But from June 9th until the end of the season, he was an offensive machine, sporting an .810 OPS and a wRC+ of 142. He seems to have made a minor adjustment with his swing over the course of the season. His setup is about the same, but if you look at his head in this early season homer, he seems off balance.
https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1514035091533672454?s=20&t=TYk8ReNm-3BeM3GKp1yTKA
Toward the end of the season his swing appears smoother and more balanced.
Cristian Santana leads off the game with a 390-foot blast for Lakeland. It’s his 5th home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/PYoH2dfNfa
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/Tiger_Lifer/status/1567667062574563328?s=20&t=TYk8ReNm-3BeM3GKp1yTKA
Santana made eight errors in 277 innings at shortstop but showed a good arm. If he starts the season at High-A West Michigan in 2023, the cold weather and college arms will provide a good test. Overall, he lived up to the hype surrounding him this year.
OF Roberto Campos
Right behind Santana in MLB Pipeline’s list at number 12 is Campos. He had an interesting, good news/bad news stat among hitters in the Florida State League. He led the league in balls hit 95MPH+ with a launch angle of 5 degrees or lower. Hitting the ball hard is good. Hitting it into the ground is not.
https://twitter.com/growcasting/status/1576064624147169280?s=20&t=VxahabHsRw_VLrr-eQ9dvA
Campos’ swing is a work in progress, but if he can bring his launch angle up a bit in 2023 he has the raw power to produce big home run totals. Along with Sequera (104 & 106), they were the only two Flying Tigers to collect more than 100 hits. Campos is an average defender who primarily played center field in 2022, but he projects best to right field as he gets older. His overall package of skills and tools is reminiscent of former Tigers’ outfielder Avsail Garcia.
We finally have visual confirmation that Roberto Campos is a real person who plays baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization. @NterriA snapping some video for us from the tower on the backfields in Lakeland. pic.twitter.com/FMpE39k42r
— Detroit Tigers Minor League Tracker (@Tiger_Lifer) April 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/tigers/status/1511064765572993028?s=20&t=TYk8ReNm-3BeM3GKp1yTKA
INF Manuel Sequera
Last season Sequera led the Florida Complex League Tigers with 11 home runs, and this season he had 19 to lead the Flying Tigers. He was second only to Mets outfielder prospect Carlos Dominguez for the FSL lead.
The right-handed hitting Sequera just turned 20 back on September 28 has shown the ability to hit with power. He shows good bat-to-ball skills but, unlike Santana, he has not shown the same ability to walk, and does chase bad pitches out of the zone. However, in addition to the home runs he hit, he finished fifth among all Tigers minor leaguers in doubles with 28.
On the defensive side, Sequera has good range and was able to play 3rd after Izaac Pacheco was called up to West Michigan. If he continues to grow, he could slide over there permanently. There’s a good chance he will start in Lakeland again in 2023 only to be quickly promoted.
Manuel Sequera smoked this ball to the gap for his 22nd double of the season. pic.twitter.com/NVQoGaYRzb
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/Tiger_Lifer/status/1560059347157368833?s=20&t=EGT0fzczyntDVk6ufxnPrg
INF Izaac Pacheco
The last of the young Flying Tigers, Pacheco has something in common with Campos and Sequera. Since 2006, only six players in the Tigers’ system under the age of 20 have hit 20 or more doubles in Low-A in a season. Nick Castellanos, Cameron Maybin, and Gorkys Hernández did it more than a decade ago. This year Pacheco, Campos, and Sequera all joined that list.
Pacheco showed a mature approach at the plate. For his size, you quickly forget he doesn’t turn 20 until November. He hit with power, and when he was promoted to West Michigan he started going opposite field more, to the tune of 46% in a small sample size. (18 games)
If he was the reason why the Tigers passed on Marcelo Mayer, then this has the potential to be one of the bigger “smartest guys in the room” move Detroit has ever made. He certainly makes you forget about Reynaldo Rivera, who was a pick in a similar vein.
In the words of Trevor Hooth from Prospects Live “He’s a dude.”
https://twitter.com/wmwhitecaps/status/1556133128179261440?s=20&t=5QA2wVtmMd0MMGpEZQKJRg
Lakeland Flying Tigers College Bats
INF Peyton Graham
INF Danny Serretti
C Josh Crouch
Both Graham and Serretti were taken in the 2022 draft. Graham stuck around in Lakeland for 27 games and hit .270 with one home run and seven steals. He’s a bit raw for a college player, but he posses significant upside.
The switch-hitting Serretti posted a comical 248 wRC+ over 11 games in Lakeland before being promoted to High-A West Michigan, and then promoted again to Double-A Erie. There were some questions about whether a lack of power production would hold him back, but he continued to hit at each stop.
Crouch also spent just 11 games in Low-A. He stands out because in a system that lacks catchers, he can hit and play good defense. We will break down his numbers more when we get to West Michigan.
Jerry McKennan
Thanks Rogelio. It sure seems like sarcasm. But, to give Avila credit for being the smartest man in the room for passing on Lawlar or Mayer? We have no choice by to root for Jobe.
Lawlar is killing it in the AFL in just the first few games showing power, speed and hit tool. They could have had Pacheco, Lawlar and Colt Keith to battle it out in the infield.
With the new coaching staff in the minors, it seems for the first time in recent memory that the bats have come alive. There seems to finally be some progress made with position players.
Considering the dearth of position player talent recently developed by the Tigers I think that the fanbase remains skeptical.
However, one last point. Although it “appears” like there is some talent flowing starting to trickle up the system, I just don’t see any true stars that can anchor a lineup. It was supposed to be Greene and Torkelson. And it still could be. But, again, we remain skeptical.
Thank you for reading. I was being sarcastic about Rivera because I remember hearing how when he was drafted, Avila and the crew felt they had a hit. You are spot on, you should be skeptical. I am to a degree but for how long I have been paying attention to the minors now, to see some of the numbers at the lower levels based on age, it is a positive sign.