Welcome to “Five Things We Liked From Last Week”, a weekly list of… five things we liked from last week:
1. José Urquidy
Way back on March 8th, the Detroit Tigers made an under the radar move that didn’t catch much attention at the time, but could pay big dividends not only the rest of this season, but next season as well.
Just as spring training was getting into the swing of things, Detroit signed right handed starter José Urquidy to a one year deal with a club option for 2026.
Urquidy was coming off Tommy John surgery, and was expected to miss the majority of the 2025 season. Well, the majority of the 2025 season has been completed, and Urquidy is now ready to get back into game action.
José looked good in his first rehab appearance with Lakeland on Sunday, using all his pitches and getting up to 93 on the fastball and sinker, which matched his 2023 average. He ended up tossing just one inning, but allowed no runs, no hits and no walks with one strikeout. He also pitched another clean inning yesterday, allowing no runs, hits or walks, and again sitting in the 93 MPH range with the fastball and sinker.
Tiger manager A.J. Hinch is quite familiar with the 30 year old righty, as both were with the Houston Astros in 2019. The Astros reached the World Series that year with the help of Urquidy, who tossed 10 innings in the playoffs with a 0.90 ERA, after posting a 3.95 ERA in 41 regular season innings.
Urquidy’s best seasons came in 2021 and 2022, when he pitched a combined 271 innings with a 3.81 ERA / 4.35 xFIP, 20.3% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate, .232 batting average against, 1.53 HR/9 and 34.6% groundball rate.
At his best, Urquidy is a premier strike thrower who limits hard contact. He also has a wealth of postseason experience thanks to his time in Houston, and has performed pretty well when there, with a 4.08 ERA in just over 46 innings.
Between Charlie Morton, Chris Paddack, José Urquidy and the still fighting Alex Cobb, the Tigers have four veteran starting pitchers with postseason experience to hopefully not only help Detroit get through the rest of the regular season, but if all goes well, to help in the postseason as well. And as a bonus, the Tigers can also keep Urquidy for the 2026 season via the club option, where he’d give Detroit a solid veteran option in the back of the rotation.
2. Josue Briceño
Last week in this space, we discussed how the former West Michigan Big Three of Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark and Josue Briceño were handling their promotions to Double A Erie.
At the time, McGonigle and Clark were riding multiple game hit streaks, while Briceño was still getting his feet under him. And while Mac and Max have continued to perform, last Friday, The Big Fella had his coming out party in Erie, launching two home runs and raising his OPS at Erie by .155 points in the process.
Briceño followed up his two homer game with a multi-hit game on Sunday; and he hit another homer last night, as he appears to be getting more comfortable in his new surroundings.
We’ve mentioned before how the jump to Double A can be a tricky one, and Josue has the added pressure of being a catcher as well, where the defensive responsibilities are increased. For proof of concept, look no further than his teammate Thayron Liranzo, who also took a minute to settle in at Erie.
Briceño has not only made some big strides at the plate this year, but his defense behind the plate has improved as well. Rumor has it that the Pittsburgh Pirates were asking for Josue in a deal for reliever David Bednar, and while one can certainly argue that Detroit could or should have aimed higher at the deadline, holding onto the youngster could prove to be wise a year or two from now.
3. Prospect Promotions
Speaking of prospect promotions, the Tigers made a handful of noteworthy transactions earlier this week down in the minor leagues.
Outfielder Jackson Strong and starting pitcher Lucas Elissalt were promoted to West Michigan, starting pitcher Andrew Sears was promoted to Erie, and infielder Jude Warwick, starting pitcher Jatnk Diaz and reliever Eliseo Mota were promoted to Lakeland.
In 318 plate appearances for Lakeland, Strong slashed a robust .277/.382/.438, good for a 134 wRC+ that ranked 5th in the Florida State League at the time of his promotion. While the strikeouts were a little elevated at 27.4%, Jackson helped offset that with a solid 12.3% walk rate, while also providing value in the field and on the bases (18 steals).
Elissalt was a major contributor to the Lakeland pitching staff all year, posting a 2.48 ERA in just over 65 innings. While the ERA was shiny, the peripherals were just as strong: 3.21 xFIP, 28.8% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate, .181 batting average against, 38.9% groundball rate and 0.55 HR/9. As of the day of his promotion, Elissalt’s 21.3% K-BB% ranked 60th among 776 minor leaguers who had thrown at least 50 innings so far this year (92nd percentile).
Like Elissalt, Sears has been a breakout starter this year, only in West Michigan instead of Lakeland. In just over 82 innings for the Whitecaps, Sears put up a 2.95 ERA / 3.38 xFIP, with a 27.2% strikeout rate, improved 8.4% walk rate, .207 BAA, 44.3% groundball rate and 0.87 HR/9.
Warwick was a staple at the top of the order for the Complex League Tigers, hitting .262/.414/.379 (135 wRC+) in 192 plate appearances. Jude also had strong walk and strikeout rates of 13.5% and 15.6%, and stole 22 bags for good measure.
Diaz was Warwick’s teammate down in the Complex League, and was one of the team’s best starting pitchers. In 49 innings, he posted a 3.49 ERA / 3.94 xFIP, with a 21.2% strikeout rate, much improved 9.1% walk rate, .238 BAA, 47.8% groundball rate and 0.73 HR/9.
Finally, Mota was a steady presence for the Complex League Tigers bullpen prior to his promotion, tossing 33 innings with a 2.45 ERA / 4.77 xFIP, 14.9% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, .211 BAA, 43.2% groundball rate and no home runs allowed.
Starting pitching depth in the minor leagues has been a bit of an issue for Detroit in 2025, but Elissalt, Sears and Diaz have performed very well this season, raising their stock in the organization. Outfield depth is a similar issue throughout the org, and with a solid showing so far in 2025, Strong has similarly worked his way up the pecking order. As we’ve seen this year, big league teams always need relievers, and Mota has shown he’s worth a look at a higher level with a strong performance this season. And while middle infield depth is a strength in the Tigers system, it never hurts to have more, and Warwick has proven that he’s a big part of that depth.
Like with all promotions, it will be interesting to track all of these players’ progress throughout the rest of the minor league season, as the Tigers get a sneak peak at how they perform against improved competition.
4. Kelvis Salcedo
Two months ago in this space, we highlighted a pair of pitchers performing well in the rookie-level Complex League: Eddy Felix and Kelvis Salcedo. Let’s take a minute to check back in.
Felix’s year unfortunately ended a few days prior to the end of the Complex League season, as he was placed on the injured list. While the severity of the injury is unknown, what is known is that Eddy had a very strong season for the FCL Tigers.
In just over 32 innings, he posted a 2.51 ERA / 2.05 xFIP, with a 33.1% strikeout rate, 4.7% walk rate, .273 batting average against, 1.39 HR/9 and 50.6% groundball rate. His 28.3 K-BB% ranked 29th among over 2,100 minor league pitchers that tossed at least 30 innings this year, which ranks in the 98th percentile.
As long as the injury isn’t too serious, there’s a good chance that Felix starts next year in full season ball at Low A, where he’d likely be joined by several other interesting young pitchers in the Tigers system.
One of those interesting pitchers is his former teammate Kelvis Salcedo, who after a similarly strong performance with the FCL Tigers, was promoted to Low A this past week to finish out the 2025 season.
Prior to his promotion, Kelvis tossed just over 45 innings in the Complex League, and put up a 1.99 ERA / 3.08 xFIP, with a 30.8% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate, tiny .146 BAA, also tiny 0.20 HR/9 and 52.1% groundball rate.
Salcedo made his Low A debut on Saturday, and was electric: three innings, no runs, zero hits, one walk and five strikeouts. His fastball averaged 97 and touched 98.5.
As mentioned, the Tigers have a slew of promising young potential starting pitching prospects in the lower levels of the minor leagues, including Felix, Salcedo, Jhonan Coba, Anderson Diaz, Miguel Molina, Jatnk Diaz, Wuilberth Mendez, Gabriel Reyes, Rayner Castillo, Lucas Elissalt, Blake Dickerson, Andrew Dunford, Ethan Schiefelbein, Zach Swanson, Owen Hall and Paul Wilson, among others. The final six on that list have dealt with injuries most of the year, but the Tigers hope that they’ll get healthy during the offseason.
Along with that group, Detroit also added several very intriguing pitching prospects in the 2025 draft, including Malachi Witherspoon, Ben Jacobs, Caleb Leys, Ryan Hall, Grayson Grinsell, Cale Wetwiska, Trevor Heishman, River Hamilton, Cash Kuiper, Charlie Christensen, Joe Ruzicka, Kameron Douglas and Joey Wimpelberg.
Add it all up, and that’s almost 30 interesting pitchers that Detroit will be sorting out between the Complex League, Low A and High A next year. The Tigers will hope for better health from their young pitchers in 2026, and due to the sheer volume and talent level, there should be several breakout candidates among that group.
5. Angel De Los Santos
During the 2024-2025 international free agent period, Detroit signed outfielder Cris Rodriguez to a team record $3.2 million signing bonus, and based on first impressions, there’s a lot to be excited about with the youngster.
As of Friday, he was hitting .312/.333/.545 in 165 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League, showing the promise the Tigers saw in him in offering that large signing bonus.
A few other members of the class have shown potential in the DSL this season, including catcher Carlos Benavides, pitcher Anderson Diaz, infielder Enny Rodriguez and outfielder Jose Ramirez.
The Tigers also signed a young 17 year old shortstop named Angel De Los Santos to a bonus of just under $400,000, and despite a late start to the year, De Los Santos has been coming on very strong to finish out the DSL season.
In 22 games and 76 plate appearances, Angel is slashing a cool .450/.539/.683, with a 13.2% walk rate and 15.8% strikeout rate. He also has 11 extra base hits already to go along with 5 steals.
De Los Santos has a smooth, powerful right handed swing, and while it’s early, he’s flashing some pop and plate discipline that is advanced for his age.
TMLR’s Rogelio Castillo recently detailed the struggles the Tigers have historically had in their international program, but the hope is that players like Rodriguez, De Los Santos and others will soon start to change that narrative.
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Rogelio Castillo 
Jerry McKennan