Five Things We Liked From Last Week, June 27th

Welcome to “Five Things We Liked From Last Week”, a weekly list of… five things we liked from last week:

1. Dietrich Enns

My son turned three and a half recently, and what a ride it’s been.

Like any baby, he started off as a tiny, delicate human that slept most of the day and relied on me to meet his every need. After nine months, he started crawling, and three months later, he was walking on his own. A few months after that, he was able to jog, and a few months after that, he was able to run.

Once he hit full speed, he started gaining more independence, including feeding himself, going to the bathroom on his own, and holding very interesting conversations with others.

Now, he’s a full on tank, standing 3’6” and weighing close to 40 pounds.

The point is that a lot has happened in those three and a half years, and it’s been a long but amazing journey. It’s crazy to think of how much he’s grown in his 1,300 days on earth.

What does this have to do with Detroit Tigers pitcher Dietrich Enns? Well, Enns last appearance in the big leagues before yesterday is older than my son.

Enns has had an amazing career, with enough twists and turns that his story would be fitting for a sequel to The Rookie.

We won’t rehash the 34 year old’s journey back to the big leagues here, as several others have done that already. But if you’re not familiar, the TLDR is that he debuted in 2017, didn’t make it back to the majors until 2021, and then again didn’t make it back to the majors until 2025. Like the Olympics, he pops up every 4 years.

The Tigers signed Enns to a minor league deal this past offseason, after he put up fairly impressive numbers in Korea in 2024. Dietrich then had an outside shot at cracking the roster out of spring training, but was ultimately sent down to AAA, where he was more than impressive: 62.1 IP, 2.89 ERA / 3.70 xFIP, with a 26.7% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate.

With the Tigers needing help in the rotation until Reese Olson returns, they called upon Enns to start yesterday’s game, marking his first appearance in the big leagues in 4 years. And all he did was toss 5 innings of no run ball.

Stories like there are some of the best in baseball, and it appears that Enns has earned a shot to stick with the Tigers according to manager A.J. Hinch. It may be time to start casting for his biopic.

2. Wenceel Pérez

Just under a month ago, as Wenceel Pérez was coming off the injured list, we discussed his return to the lineup in our “Five Things” column. In it, we mentioned that he’d provide “solid depth” for the Detroit Tigers.

It’s now fair to say that that was an understatement.

Wenceel has absolutely been on one since returning to Detroit on May 27^th. He hit a home run in his first at-bat of the season, and has been tearing the cover off the ball ever since. In 90 PAs since returning to the lineup, Pérez is hitting .301/.344/.639(!), and advanced metrics are saying it’s not necessarily a fluke. If he had enough at bats to qualify, he’d currently be in the 85^th percentile or higher in expected wOBA, expected batting average, expected slugging, barrel %, and launch angle sweet spot % per Statcast.

Heading into Sunday’s game against the suddenly red hot Tampa Bay Rays, the Tigers had lost three in a row for only the second time all season. And with the scored tied 1-1 in the top of the 7^th, it looked like that losing streak could reach four. That was until Wenceel stepped to the plate with a runner on first, and launched a go-ahead two run home run to right field, propelling the Tigers to a 9-3 victory.

As an encore, in Detroit’s next game on Tuesday, with the Tigers down 4-2 to the Oakland / Sacramento / Las Vegas Athletics, Pérez hit a game tying two run double to right field that shifted the momentum back to Detroit.

But that wasn’t all. In the top of the 7^th, with the Athletics down 7-4, A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hit a should’ve been double over Wenceel’s head in right. We say “should’ve been”, because Pérez fired a strike to second base before Soderstrom could get there, for the first out of the inning. The next batter reached base, and when A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson followed up with a base knock to right, a potential comeback was in the works. But the Athletics didn’t learn their lesson, and when Wilson tried to stretch the single into a double, Wenceel again came up firing, and cut down Wilson at second base for his second assist of the inning.

Since coming off the injured list in late May, Pérez has been one of the Tigers most valuable players. Solid depth indeed.

3. Max Anderson

The one constant of the Tigers minor league system so far this year has been Max Anderson just smoking baseballs.

Anderson was the Tigers 2^nd round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, and after a solid debut in 2023, Max’s 2024 was more good than great, splitting time between High A and AA and hitting a combined .266/.315/.387 for a 108 wRC+.

Back at AA for 2025, Anderson has been the driving force behind Erie’s league leading offense this season.

After a bit of a tepid start to the season, Anderson finished April with a .349/.393/.614 slash. May was Anderson’s “worst” month of the season so far, in which he had a 17 game hitting streak and finished the month with a .329/.363/.494 line.

In June, Max has gone nuclear, with 11 multi-hit games so far and 15 extra base hits; equating to a .379/.426/.667 slash for the month.

Put it all together, and Anderson’s season long 183 wRC+ currently ranks 3^rd in all of affiliate baseball among qualified hitters.

While Anderson’s 5.6% walk rate is on the low side, he helps make up for it with an equally low 14.5% strikeout rate. He’s doubled his ISO from last season, aided by hitting 8% less grounders and 7% more flyballs compared to last year. Along with that, over 6% more of those flyballs are leaving the yard compared to last season, as he’s also pulling the ball in the air more often, and going the opposite way a little less.

Anderson’s stock has continued to rise throughout the year, including on TMLR’s top prospect list, where Anderson has gone from our 32^nd ranked prospect going into the year, all the way up to #13 on our updated rankings.

There will be promotions in the minor league system soon, as the team has half a season of data to work with, and as the draft is coming up and room needs to be made for the incoming draftees. Expect Max to become a Toledo Mud Hen before too long.

4. John Peck

In baseball, the phrase “utility man” can sometimes be interpreted negatively. There are exceptions of course, but being labelled a utility man generally means that you’re not quite good enough to start at one position on a regular basis.

But take one look at the Tigers, and specifically Zach McKinstry, and you’ll see why utility men can be extremely valuable.

It’s not easy to play defense in professional baseball, and it’s even harder to play multiple positions well, especially on the infield. But that’s exactly what West Michigan Whitecaps infielder John Peck is doing.

So far in 2025, Peck has appeared in 7 games at second base, 30 games at shortstop, and 20 games at third, and his defense has been solid across the board, providing invaluable versatility for the league leading Whitecaps.

But Peck isn’t just a one trick pony. Drafted in the 7^th round of the 2023 draft, John got just 64 plate appearances in his draft year, posting a combined 94 wRC+ between the Complex Leage and Low A.

2024 was Peck’s first full year of full season ball, and he began the year back at Low A. But after hitting .249/.348/.373 (110 wRC+) in 207 PAs for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, John was promoted to High A to finish the year, where he improved his offense (despite a jump in competition) to the tune of a .286/.333/.400 slashline (118 wRC+) in 75 PAs.

As mentioned previously, Peck is back in High A for the 2025 season, and has again improved offensively. On May 25^th, John was hitting .252/.331/.364. But after a month long heater, Peck is now up to .293/.351/.431 (123 wRC+); that includes his last 10 games, in which he’s hitting .404/.417/.702 with three home runs.

Taking a look under the hood, it’s easy to see why Peck’s offensive numbers are up across the board. He’s increased his walk rate and ISO, lowered his strikeout rate, and is hitting more liners, less grounders and more flyballs.

At just 22 years old in High A, Peck has a ways to go before even thinking about becoming a Detroit Tiger. But as a versatile infielder with a solid all-around offensive game, he can get there one day with continued improvement.

5. Franyerber Montilla

Like a scorned lover, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing former Tiger GM Al Avila in this space recently.

Avila’s time in Detroit was a bit of a mixed bag, but as the dust has settled on his time in Detroit, we are starting to learn that he did accumulate some talent for the Tigers organization.

One example of this is in Al’s final international signing class. The players in that class are still in their late teens / early 20s, so their stories are still being written. But for the cool price of $800,000, Avila and the Tigers signed one Josue Briceño, who is a top five prospect in the Tigers system and a consensus top 100 prospect league-wide.

Another prospect from that class that has been opening eyes ever since he arrived in the Tigers system is infielder Franyerber Montilla.

Signed for $500,000, Franyerber began his professional career in the Dominican Summer League in 2022, slashing .210/.352/.352 in 216 plate appearances. A 28.7% strikeout rate kept his numbers down, but a 17.6% walk rate was encouraging.

He returned to the DSL for the 2023 season, and his second go-round in the league was much more impressive: .280/.394/.439, with a 13.4% walk rate and improved 17.3% strikeout rate. He also matched his home run total (three) from ’22, in 90 less plate appearances.

The Tigers brought Monty stateside for the 2024 season, and an excellent showing in the Complex League put him on prospect watcher’s radars. In 216 PAs, he hit .273/.409/.448, with a 17.6% walk rate and 18.5% strikeout rate. He also hit 6 home runs, and earned a promotion to Low A Lakeland to close out the year.

Like Max Clark before him, Montilla went through an adjustment period in his first experience with full season affiliate ball in ‘24, facing players on average two years older than him. But the experience was a valuable one, allowing Franyerber to see what he needed to work on heading into the 2025 season.

Montilla is back at Lakeland in 2025, and after a hot start in April, his numbers cooled off slightly in May and early June, as the league adjusted to him. But adjustments can go both ways, and since June 13^th, Monty has been on fire.

In 40 PAs starting on June 14^th, Franyerber is hitting a cool .470/.550/.765.

On the whole, it’s been a really nice season for the youngster, who doesn’t turn 21 until next April. He’s currently hitting .271/.374/.390 for a 123 wRC+, which ranks 20^th in the Florida State League among all qualified hitters. Combined with his strong defense up the middle and excellent baserunning (his 25 steals ranks 4^th in the FSL), Monty has been a major contributor to the Lakeland Flying Tigers having the best record in the Florida State League.

Currently ranked 9^th on TMLR’s top prospect list, there’s a decent chance that Montilla works his way up even higher on the next iteration.

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