Five Pitchers to Watch in Detroit for 2024

For long-suffering fans of the Detroit Tigers, there’s been little to cheer about during a prolonged rebuilding phase. However, one area of consistent promise has been the team’s pitching prospects.

In past years, names like Jonathan Crawford, Jacob Turner and Ryan Perry would surface briefly before fizzling out. These days, however, the story is different. Detroit is churning out pitching talent from first-round picks to undrafted free agents, a significant shift as the role of pitcher has become increasingly susceptible to injuries.

5. Jack O’Loughlin

The Australian left-hander signed with the Tigers in 2016 at age 16 and has slowly worked his way up. Despite struggling in Triple-A Toledo in 2023 with a 3.91 ERA and 1.435 WHIP, O’Loughlin struck out 112 batters in 115 innings. His ability to limit home runs—just eight this season—could make him an asset in Detroit’s expansive outfield.

4. Brant Hurter

Hurter is a 2021 7th round pick out of Georgia Tech. The side arming lefty has pitched all of 2023 in Double-A Erie. He has a 3.39 ERA this season in 114 innings with a 26.7 K% along with a 6.8 BB%. Hurter is also 25 years old and has an advantage of being a lefty. At some point next year the Tigers are going to need a left-handed pitcher, whether it is in the bullpen as a long relief role, a specialist, or maybe he can throw a few starts. His slider will definitely play in the big leagues next year as a reliever, but his permanent role depends on how his fastball and changeup play out.

3. Keider Montero

Montero is going to throw some meaningful innings in Detroit next year. He can possibly start some games, but with some help with the development staff, he can be a dominant reliever. He throws a hard fastball that works well up in the zone, along with two nice breaking balls. Montero started the year in West Michigan and made a stop in Erie before stopping in Toledo. He has had a lackluster 4.87 ERA across all affiliates this season, but his 11.4 K/9 can’t be ignored. He has good stuff that will play at the major league level in some capacity. Montero can be a dark horse bullpen candidate out of Spring Training come 2024 depending on his performance.

2. Wilmer Flores

Undrafted in 2020, Flores has risen quickly. He has a 3.93 ERA and a 3.54 FIP in Erie this season, and all his pitches are considered “plus” with room for improvement in command. Flores is the first guy on this list that is widely viewed as a future part of the Tigers rotation. Every one of his pitches are characterized as “plus pitches” with decent command that can be heavily improved with the magic of the Detroit Tigers development staff. Flores has a 3.93 ERA in Erie this season while posting a 3.54 FIP. The 22-year-old should have all eyes on him next season as he looks to appear in Detroit next season.

Honorable Mentions

• Jackson Jobe (West Michigan A+)
• Troy Melton (West Michigan A+)
• Dylan Smith (West Michigan A+)

1. Ty Madden

The 23-year-old 2021 first-round pick has impressed with a 3.55 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 114 innings at Double-A Erie. Madden is expected to start 2024 in Toledo and could join the major league squad by June. The 23-year-old has spent the entire season in Double-A Erie and has struck out 140 batters over 114 innings while maintaining a 3.55 ERA. His ability to miss bats while keeping runs to a minimum is not an easy task. Madden has thrown 5 or more innings in 60% of his starts while being held to some sort of pitch limit. We should see Madden start 2024 in Toledo and be up around June barring no injuries. Madden is a keystone part of this organization’s future and should be viewed as such.

Recap

Minor league box scores can only say so much. They don’t show how well pitchers are developing their pitches or what limitations are put on them. Earned run average is in many cases all we have in terms of stats to evaluate minor league pitchers, but that doesn’t matter if pitchers aren’t missing bats. What we need to see of these young guns is swings and misses from their pitches, good pitch sequencing, and strikeouts.

Pitchers “stuff” is hard to teach, as long as they have it any command or hard contact issues can be solved in Detroit by pitching wizards like Chris Fetter and Juan Nieves. We have seen this case in the past few years with guys like Reese Olson and Matt Manning. Reese Olson gave up many runs in Toledo, but his stuff was major league ready, and we have seen that so far. Matt Manning’s off speed was heavily underdeveloped in the minor leagues and is currently being fixed in Detroit.

The minor leagues are for pitch development and not all about limiting runs. Scott Harris and company most definitely understand this, and they are getting doing their best and getting the most out of each and every pitcher, no matter how they get into the system and their background.