In this week’s Detroit Tigers minor league report recap for Week 7, we look at how the legend of Colt Keith continues to grow by each passing week, Reese Olson gives the Mud Hens exactly what they needed and who the new face is in West Michigan.
Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens: 2-4 versus Omaha 22-22 IL West
The Mud Hens offense struggled to put together any type of consistency with their offense against the Storm Chasers as a team but Andre Lipcius had a good week, going 10-f0r-24 with a pair of home runs Both he and Jonathan Davis hit over .400 for the week.
Andre Lipcius kicks off the 2nd inning with a home run to deep left center. It’s his 4th of the year and it gives Toledo a 1-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/V2hJnRunTJ
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 21, 2023
Another prospect who had a good week was Parker Meadows. This challenge on Saturday by Meadows extended the inning for Toledo as Phil Nevin’s RBI single drove in Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Parker Meadows works a 10-pitch walk, but it would have been a strikeout if not for his successful challenge. pic.twitter.com/2soIbmtt6D
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 21, 2023
Meadows, who has struggled hitting against lefties so far, has started to hit them with better consistency. So far this season, he is hitting .283 (13-for-24) with a pair of home runs with four walks to 11 strikeouts. To put that into context, he had just three walks to 34 strikeouts with three home runs total in 2022.
Parker Meadows gets his second home run of the season off a lefty. He’s hitting .282/.333/. 487 against lefties this season, something he was looking to improve on pic.twitter.com/CVjjpckdkJ
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 18, 2023
On the pitching side, Reese Olson turned in his best start of the season on Saturday. He struck out nine in five innings of work, allowing just one hit. He was sequencing better with his changeup and slider. The result? A 50% CSW on his changeup and generated 15 total swinges and misses. In case you misssed it, we have the start on our YouTube channel. Toledo comes home this week to host Rochester.
Double-A Erie SeaWolves: 3-3 versus Harrisburg 20-19 EL Southwest
The opening game between Erie and Harrisburg was an offensive onslaught led by 3B Colt Keith, who hit for the cycle, becoming the first SeaWolves player to do so since 2012. He completed the hard part of the cycle with a two-run home run in the first inning, and followed it up with a three-run triple in the same inning. Keith drove in five runs before Harrisburg had a chance to bat. He concluded the day with a perfect 6-for-6 performance. That effort, plus three multi-hit games, earned the Eastern League Player of the Week for the second time in a month
Here’s Colt Keith’s cycle in its entirety. #RoadtoDetroit pic.twitter.com/OSOBZVxdTB
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 17, 2023
It wasn’t just Keith who swung a hot stick for Erie. Grant Witherspoon went 10-for-20 with four doubles and two home runs.
https://twitter.com/tigersMLreport/status/1658611147510108162?s=20
Pitching wise, lefty Brant Hurtler continues to be the SeaWolves most consistent starter. He has five starts now this season in which he has not given up an earned run, allowing just four hits on Friday night. The mystery continues on the lack of consistency from the rest of the staff.
One bat that unfortunately came back down to earth this week was Dillon Dingler. He went 1-for-20 at the plate. The SeaWolves are still in the hunt for division lead, are a half-game back of Richmond for first place in the Eastern League Southwest Division. They come home to host Somerset.
High-A West Michigan: 2-4 versus Great Lakes 22-17 ML East
West Michigan faced their toughest opponent of the season, the Loons, who are sitting in first place in the Midwest League East. Izaac Pacheco bounced back after a rough past few weeks. He went 8-for-22, with five walks to five strikeouts. He, along with Chris Meyers, who went 5-for-13 with a pair of home runs and a double. Both home runs combined for 922 feet.
https://twitter.com/tigersMLreport/status/1658508226910879754?s=20
https://twitter.com/tigersMLreport/status/1660346890150375426?s=20
On the pitching side, both Garrett Burhenn and Jack O’Loughlin put together impressive starts. Burhenn struck out seven in five innings of work, allowing just two hits and walking one. O’Loughlin, who was hitting 96 on the gun, tossed another five innings without allowing an earned run. It’s the third straight start he has not allowed a run. He has an ERA of 1.45 in the month of May. The Whitecaps come home to start a six-game series on Tuesday with a new face in their starting rotation. Right-hander Troy Melton got the call-up from Lakeland and will make his Whitecaps debut on Friday.
Single-A Lakeland: 3-3 versus Fort Myers 16-23 FSL West
Both Luke Gold and Adinso Reyes turned in good weeks for the Flying Tigers. Reyes went yard twice and slugged at a .824 clip. He went 6-for-17 at the plate. Gold was 5-for-13. Peyton Graham joined in, hitting a home run and drove in two with a double. Sean Guenther continues his rehab assignment, striking out six in three innings of work. Next up for Lakeland is a trip to Daytona to take on the Reds Single-A affiliate.
https://twitter.com/tigersMLreport/status/1658972849577631745?s=20
Jerry McKennan