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West Michigan Whitecaps April Mailbag

By Emily Waldon #Detroit Tigers, #West Michigan Whitecaps
West Michigan Whitecaps
Kevin McGonigle, Jim Jarvis, Max Clark, and Brett Callahan talk before a West Michigan Whitecaps game.

Currently sitting atop the 12-team Midwest League, it’s no secret that the West Michigan Whitecaps have one of the most feared rosters in the league this season. Today, we are diving into a handful of your questions about who to watch, timelines to consider, and, of course, where to eat.

This is a great question and a lot more common than you might think. The organization is comprised of four full-season affiliates. Triple-A Toledo, located in the International League, Double-A Erie, located in the Eastern League, High-A West Michigan, located in the Midwest League, and Class A (Or Low-A, depending on who you ask) Lakeland in the Florida State League.
While Lakeland used to be the Tigers’ High-A affiliate, a restructuring of the minor league system ultimately led to a flip in designations and a shift of West Michigan to a higher level. The Florida Complex League rosters are focused on rehabilitation and extended Spring Training, and also serve as an introduction to professional baseball for international signings and stateside draft picks.

Kenny is a perfect example of how a blanket timeline can’t apply to everyone. I spoke with him about this, and he laughed and said it comes up a lot. His official start wasn’t exactly orthodox, but the Tigers aren’t looking to expedite him too quickly. He threw against Double-A and Triple-A level hitters in Spring Training and said he enjoyed the challenge. Intentionality about player moves for Detroit has been a big focus, and I believe Kenny’s situation is no different.

Despite being selected as the Tigers’ second-round draft pick in 2022, an uphill battle with injury has made it difficult for Graham to show what he could develop into. At 24, this is a must-prove year for him, especially with the infield bottleneck beginning to build up across the farm system. Defensively, Graham knows his body, which is valuable, but the thing to watch is how quickly he can adapt enough to be considered for promotion. Graham’s play has been promising to start the year, but there is definitely some extra ground to make up for.

In the coming months, yes, very likely. The Tigers have tasked Clark with specific areas of growth, and not one to shy from a challenge, Clark is facing them head-on. For Clark, it’s not a matter of if he’s going to move up, it’s when. Just don’t expect it to be as quickly as you might want.

This has been one of the biggest questions surrounding Briceño. Offensively, there is no doubt as to what he could and is already developing into, but defensively, the Tigers are keeping his options open. In speaking with the front office, their approach is defensive diversity to keep Briceño versatile. At first base, Briceño looks comfortable, but his role behind the plate is a work in progress. His game-calling has been very impressive, especially with the fact that he won’t turn 21 until September.

Currently, the West Michigan staff is keeping him in a semi-regular rotation between first base, catching, and being a designated hitter. A future at first base makes the most sense to me, especially with his size, but the Tigers are not close to writing him off behind the plate just yet.

With the Tigers looking to test Kenny Serwa, movement for him will happen before then. While Josue Briceño is young, I think you reach a point where when we’re talking about grand slams in plural form 14 games into the season, as a certain point, he’ll need to get stretched against a higher level of pitching. Izaac Pacheco and Kevin McGonigle will both need to get healthy first and if Seth Stephenson can continue to hit the way he is, his elite speed and defense shouldn’t be too far removed from jumping to the Eastern League.

Grand Rapids has a fantastic food scene. It’s hard to give a concrete list with so many options, but I’ll give it a go. For a great Old Fashioned, check out Scholar on Ionia. One of my favorites for Mexican food is Donkey Taqueria on Wealthy; you MUST order the guacamole. One Bourbon on Bridge has a fantastic steak, and their drink menu is endless. Also, get the carrot cake at One Twenty Three Tavern on Ionia.


Without question, Kenny Serwa. This is due to knuckleball pitchers being such a rare breed, and to have the versatility he has makes him that much more interesting. Not only is the pitch itself rare, but the ability to run up the velocity as high as he does makes him even that much more of a unicorn.

I would go with Brett Callahan on this for a few reasons. As we know, a later draft slot tends to push you a bit further off the radar without the fanfare of being a top selection. As a 13th-rounder in 2023 and also dealing with some injury last season, this has been a fresh opportunity for Callahan to show what he’s capable of. With five multi-hit games and a two-home run game already under his belt, I think that progression will only continue.


Cole has been one of the most perplexing stories, from a developmental standpoint. Originally drafted as Cleveland’s 34th-round pick in 2017, Turney didn’t arrive with the Tigers until 2023, signing with Detroit as a free agent in 2023. Unfortunately, Turney has been on and off the Injured List ever since. Despite only seeing five games, Turney posted five doubles, showing off an impressive offensive skill set. Set to turn 27 next year, for Turney to receive an opportunity to advance, he’ll need a consistent clean bill of health.

While I have yet to see Rainer personally, I’ve spoken to several scouts about him and have heard the name of Corey Seager thrown around. Both at 6’3 and both lefty bats. Now that Rainer is back in the lineup and seemingly healthy, we’ll get a better idea of his developmental progression and see more of what made him so attractive in the draft to begin with. Youth projectability is always a gamble, but Rainer’s resume makes it a lot of fun to dream on.

I spoke with several scouts over the last few weeks about Stephenson and all see him with an opportunity to advance. His selling tool is his elite speed, arguably viewed as the highest in the entire organization. This led to 170 combined stolen bases between 2023-2024, both landing as a Florida State League and Midwest League best. Stephenson’s speed also feeds into his defensive skill set, and he’s shown no trouble navigating the outfield. Stephenson shared that his choice to maximize his frame, as opposed to trying to hit for power every at-bat, has given him a much better sense of identity as a hitter. Knowing his value on the base path, he’s working to set up hitters after him, while mixing in some power, as he showed through his first home run of the season.

Brett Callahan has been one of the most intriguing offensive stories so far this season with West Michigan. Before this season, Callahan posted a combined eight home runs over 93 games between 2023-2024, so we knew the power was there.

Through 15 games, Callahan is already at the halfway point with four home runs, and his ISO of .259 is a career-high. His strikeout rate is still about 20%, so trimming that back a bit should only benefit him. Defensively, Callahan is a fluid outfielder, and if the bat continues to play, he could see Erie sooner rather than later.

 

By Emily Waldon

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