Triple-A Toledo: 1-5 vs Indianapolis 18-14 International League West
Toledo Transactions:
- Detroit Tigers recall Alex Faedo from Toledo
- LHP Andrew Magno assigned to Erie
- LHP Jake Higginbotham assigned to Toledo
The Indians carved up the Mud Hens rotation. While Justyn-Henry Malloy continues to struggle, going only 2-for-18 with 10 strikeouts, Andre Lipcius had a good week, going 6-for-17. Corey Joyce had the best week among the Mud Hens, hitting .333/.375/.733 (5-for-15) with two doubles, a triple and a home run.
The issue for Malloy seems to be that teams are starting to discover his weakness. They have been pitching inside, and he has been chasing away, thus the increase in strikeouts over the last two weeks.
With Faedo promoted to Detroit, Spencer Turnbull will get time to work on his command. Toledo begins a six-game series in Iowa starting on Tuesday.
Corey Joyce launches a solo home run to get Toledo on the board. pic.twitter.com/t7quXfQB77
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 6, 2023
Double-A Erie 4-2 vs Bowie 12-15 Eastern League Southwest
Erie Transactions:
RHP Keider Montero Assigned to Erie
Activated Dillon Dingler from the IL
Erie got a much-needed series win over Bowie as Dillon Dingler came off the IL with a vengeance. He went 9-for-18 with two home runs, a pair of doubles and putting up a slash line of .500/.591/.944. The swing changes the Tigers have him working on seem to be working well.
Erie welcomed back his ability to call a game, as Josh Crouch was struggling with framing since the start of the season. If Dingler can continue his success, he can put himself back up the prospect boards.
Another hot bat was Wenceel Perez, who has seemed to settled in nicely with the SeaWolves. He has a seven-game hitting streak going, putting up a slash line of .481/.576/.593 with an OPS 1.168. He’s 13 for his last 27.
Colt Keith had a good week, going 7-for-26 with a pair of home runs. On the pitching side, Brant Hurter turned in the best start of the week as he started in two games this week. His first start was his best one, going five innings, allowing an unearned run, three hits and striking out seven.
Erie kicks off their homestand with Richmond on Tuesday.
Dillon Dingler with a 3-run double to the right-center gap to put the @erie_seawolves up 10-2 in the 5th inning. pic.twitter.com/BGQHV67C7Z
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 7, 2023
Colt Keith smacks a 2-run bomb to left center to put the @erie_seawolves up 3-2 in the 3rd. It’s his 5th home run of the year. 🐎 pic.twitter.com/ydZBEGYylV
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 6, 2023
High-A West Michigan Whitecaps 4-2 vs Beloit. 16-11 ML East
West Michigan Transactions:
- RHP Aaron Haase assigned to West Michigan from Lakeland
- RHP Trevin Michael assigned to West Michigan from Lakeland
Carlos Pena, fresh off winning the Midwest League Pitcher of the Month, continued his strong start to the season, as the Whitecaps took the series against Beloit four games to two.
Whitecaps lead the Midwest League in ERA with 3.18 and have already tossed five shutouts this season. During the series with Beloit, Wilkel Hernandez and Williander Moreno both tossed zeros, allowing six hits between them in nine innings of work. Reliever Trevin Michael, fresh up from Lakeland, struck out five in three innings of work. What has been impressive about Michael is his spin rate. Down in Lakeland, Michael was spinning his slider around 3081RPM and his curve at 2980RPM.
As far as the offense goes this week, Danny Serretti swung the hot stick, going 9-for-19, putting up a slashline of .474/.500/.842 with a pair of home runs and driving in five. Josh Crouch, who was sent down to West Michigan when Dingler came off the IL, went 6-for-18.
Roberto Campos had a solid week, going 5-for-20 with a home run and showing off an impressive glove all week, including this sliding catch on Sunday.
Now Roberto Campos makes a terrific sliding catch of his own. pic.twitter.com/d2KOMY3AP6
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 7, 2023
Danny Serretti hits a bomb to left field to put the @wmwhitecaps back up 2-1. It’s his 3rd home run of the season. 💣 pic.twitter.com/4Ri7oXQZA2
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 7, 2023
Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers 0-6 vs Clearwater 11-16 FSL West
Lakeland Transactions:
- Place LHP Edgardo Ibarra on the 7-Day IL
- Place LHP Chris Williams Jr on the 7-Day IL
- SS Alvardo Gonzalez assigned to Lakeland from FCL Tigers
It was a tough week for the Flying Tigers as five of the six games they played they lost by one run.
Lazaro Benítez, the Cuban outfielder who got up to West Michigan in 2022, went 10-for-21 for the week with a home run and four RBI. Manuel Sequera continues to hit well, as he went 8-for-23 with a home run and a pair of doubles.
Cristian Santana looks lost at the plate as he went just 1-for-14 on the week, striking out nine times. The one hit he did get was a home run.
Right-hander Troy Melton continues to pitch well, becoming the first Lakeland starter to pitch five innings, allowing just a run over four hits.
Check out the Tigers Minor League Recap Podcast for Week 5 as we do deep dives on all the teams in the Tigers minor league system.
Chris Brown 
Jayden Hewitt