Tigers Minor League Recap – April 1st, 2025
Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A)
Final: Round Rock 8, Toledo 4
Top Performers:
Cody Freeman – 3-for-3, 2HR, 4RBI
Cody Freeman isn’t considered one of Texas’s top prospects, but he had an outstanding game on Tuesday. The 24-year-old third baseman was perfect at the plate, getting help from the wind on a 332-foot home run against Matt Gage, and blasting a more legitimate 392-foot shot against Bailey Horn.
The Wind – Our unofficial tally is that the wind went 8-for-9 with four homers. See the videos below.
Honorable Mentions
Hao-Yu Lee, Jace Jung, Andrew Navigato
– Lee went just 1-for-4, but he continues to hit the ball hard. He finished with the two highest exit velocities in the game (108.7 MPH, 108.0 MPH). Jung went 0/2 with two walks and two strikeouts. Navigato went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run scored.
Emiliano Teodo – 2IP – 0H – 0R – 0BB – 4K
We’d love to mention a Mud Hen here, but Teodo was easily the most impressive pitcher in the game. He needed just 26 pitches to complete two innings, striking out the side in the 6th inning. He featured a hellacious sinker that averaged 99.3 MPH and touched 100, and he also broke out a cutter and a sweeper. He accumulated six whiffs on just eight swings. Nasty stuff.
Tyler Owens – IP – 0H – 0R – 0BB – 2K
Owens continues to look great this spring. He was the only Mud Hens pitcher who didn’t allow a baserunner, and he picked up five whiffs on ten swings.
Game Notes:
The Toledo Mud Hens made their first ever trip to Round Rock to take on the Express. That seemed like a good enough excuse for the Hens to break out their new alternate/batting practice jerseys. It was a warm, gusty night, and the wind wreaked havoc on both sides.
Round Rock sent veteran MLB hurler Dane Dunning to the mound in their home opener. But the Mud Hens got to him early, with a little bit of help from the wind, which was gusting up to 35 miles-per-hour. The jet stream helped Bligh Madris rope an RBI double over the head of Express center fielder Evan Carter. And then Tomas Nido rode the wind to a 2-run homer, putting the Mud Hens up 4-1 after two innings. Bu that was the end of the scoring for Toledo.
Tomas Nido makes it a 4-1 Toledo lead with this 2-run blast to center. This one went an estimated 417 feet. pic.twitter.com/ke2POlYy7i
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 2, 2025
Toledo went with the Johnny Wholestaff approach, sending lefty Matt Gage to the mound for 2.2 innings to begin the contest. He exited the game after 47 pitches to make way for the recently promoted southpaw Carlos Pena, who promptly gave up a wind-aided single, and a wind-aided home run. That made it a 5-4 Express advantage.
Round Rock tacked on another run, again with help from the wind. But Jace Jung, who was playing second base for the first time this year, managed to make a fine catch in the adverse conditions.
A little windy, but Jace Jung doesn’t mind 🙂↔️ pic.twitter.com/sQ4P6lTLKB
— Toledo Mud Hens (@MudHens) April 2, 2025
Toledo sent Bailey Horn to the mound to begin the 5th, their third straight lefty. But he didn’t have much more success than his predecessors. The wind gave the Mud Hens all sorts of fits. And it just kept happening.
WIND pic.twitter.com/FB89Nca28B
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 2, 2025
Andrew Chafin worked a scoreless 7th, though he did allow two hits. Then Owens came in to work a clean 8th.
Tyler Owens worked a clean 8th tonight, with two strikeouts and some kindling. pic.twitter.com/hJFh6442BJ
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 2, 2025
Up Next: The Mud Hens continue their 6-game set with the Express on Wednesday at 8:05 ET. Toledo southpaw Lael Lockhart is scheduled to make his second start of the season against veteran righty Caleb Boushley. Both teams will look to improve upon their 1-3 records.
Emily Waldon 
Rogelio Castillo