Tigers Minor League Recap – 9/3

Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A)

Final: Leigh Valley 8 – Toledo 7

Top Performer(s):

Trei Cruz, SS — 1-for-3, R, BB
Hao-Yu Lee, 2B — 2-for-4, 2B, BB
Gage Workman, RF — 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI

Codi Heuer — 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. 2 IP Codi was the only Mud Hens pitcher tonight to not give up a run. He had some battles (threw 17 pitches) and his slider once again got a high Whiff%.

Game notes:

Back and forth these two teams went. The 2nd and 8th were the only innings to not see a run scored at all. Down 4-1 after 3 innings, the Mud Hens wouldn’t be stopped. Akil Baddoo would hit a solo HR in the 4th to cut the deficit to 2 and then a since in the 5th to again cut the deficit to 2 after Leigh Valley responded in the 4th with a run themselves. Gage Workman would tie the game up in the 6th with a 2-run HR, making it a 5-5 game. 2 batters later, Parker Meadows would give the Mud Hens their first lead of the game since the they scored in the top of the 1st on a single. Akil Baddoo would drive in the 4th run of the innings, his 3rd RBI of the night, on a sacrifice fly. It wouldn’t be enough though as Leigh Valley would score 3 unanswered runs to get the win.

Parker Meadows smokes an RBI single off Andrew Painter to give the Mud Hens a 6-5 lead in the 6th. pic.twitter.com/MltSz1xCUP

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 4, 2025

Pitching as a whole struggled tonight. 7:5 K:BB ratio for the staff and 14 hits allowed and 12 hard hit balls.

Side note: Trei Cruz has not slowed down one bit since joining Toledo. He was on base twice tonight and raised his OPS to .911 while playing all sorts of defensive positions.

Tomorrow’s projected starters:

TBD vs Gabe Mosser (3-4, 5.66 ERA)

Erie SeaWolves (Double-A)

Final: Portland 3 – Erie 10

Top Performer(s):

John Peck, SS — 3-for-6, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R
Max Clark, CF — 2-for-4, HR, 2 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI
Jake Holton, 1B — 2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, R

Max Alba — 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. Max got the start tonight and it took him 59 pitches to get through his 4 innings. Gave up just the 1 run in the 3rd and 3 of the 4 base runners would get on in that same inning. Good outing for Max.

Game Notes:

Erie got to double digit run totals tonight thanks to some power. John Peck, Max Clark, and Jake Holton each had HRs tonight. John Peck’s HR came early on he connected for a 2-run shot in the bottom of the first. The Seawolves offense would go quiet for the next 2 innings before scoring 4 more runs in the top of the 4th as they batted around. John Peck would drive in another run in the 5th on his 2nd XBH of the night.

John Peck picks up his 3rd hit and 4th RBI of the game with this sharp double to right center. pic.twitter.com/rDGW2ZK0ah

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 3, 2025

Jake Holton’s solo shot in the 8th and Max Clark’s 2-run shot in the 9th would score the last 3 runs.

Max Clark launches a 2-run moonshot to right to put Erie up 10-2. It’s his 6th home run with the SeaWolves, and his 13th on the season. pic.twitter.com/aEUXwfxIHp

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 4, 2025

Jake Holton smashes his 18th home run of the year. pic.twitter.com/a3GYDQCYSq

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 4, 2025

Despite Max Alba getting the start tonight, Carlos Peña would get the bulk of the innings. Coming in relief in the 5th and then finishing the game, he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk, striking out 3. Peña’s outing was even better than that until the bottom of the 9th, where Portland would score 2 more runs.

Tomorrow’s projected starters:

Kenny Serwa (5-5, 3.88 ERA) vs TBD

West Michigan Whitecaps (High-A)

Final: Fort Wayne 4 – West Michigan 8

Top Performer(s):

Jack Penney, SS — 0-for-3, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, SB
Austin Murr, RF — 3-for-5, 3B, R, 3 RBI, SB
Garrett Pennington, 1B — 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R

Dylan Smith — 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. Continuing his rehab, Dylan had yet another good outing for the Whitecaps tonight. Got 3 Ks and allowed 2 base runners, kept Fort Wayne off the score board.

Game Notes:

The always dominate Whitecaps would score all the runs they would need to in the first 2 innings tonight scoring 3 in each to be up 6-1. Austin Murr would start the scoring off by hitting a 2 run triple in the 1st and then score on a Brett Callahan single. An error in the 2nd would let 2 more runs score in the 2nd and a Garrett Pennington double would drive in run number 3 of the inning. Just to be safe though, Austin Murr and Garrett Pennington would each drive in one more run.

Garrett Pennington yanks an RBI double into the left corner to make it 6-1. @ThatDanHasty calls it. pic.twitter.com/cnjKkZVK3M

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 4, 2025

Austin Murr gives West Michigan an early 2-0 advantage with this 2-run triple to left center. pic.twitter.com/ZQZcXGGrns

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 4, 2025

The staff had themselves a pretty good outing. They gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks, but there wasn’t a big scoring inning. Combined they were able to get 15 Ks. Dylan Smith, who is still working on coming back from injury, would get the win.

Tomorrow’s projected starters:

Hayden Minton (6-2, 3.92 ERA) vs TBD

Lakeland Flying Tigers (Single-A)

Final: Jupiter 7 – Lakeland 6

Top Performer(s):

Juan Hernandez, 2B — 1-for-4, 2 RBI, BB
Cristian Santana, DH — 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
Jude Warwick, SS — 1-for-5, 2 RBI

Gabriel Reyes — 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. Great to see Reyes start here after getting knocked out early his last start on a comeback. Wasn’t quite as sharp, giving up 4 BBs, but still was able to get a 30% Whiff% and a 32% CSW% tonight.

Game Notes:

The offense wasn’t very happy about nearly being no-hit yesterday it seemed. So they decided to instead score 5 runs in the 1st inning, which included Zach MacDonald getting up to the plate 2 times and getting hit by 2 pitches. The offense would add their 6th run in the 3rd inning on the Cristian Santana solo HR and look to be sitting comfortably with a 6-2 lead.

Jude Warwick brings home two runs with a soft liner just past the third baseman, and Lakeland takes a 3-1 lead in the first. @ZachSurdenik on the call. pic.twitter.com/mXxaGNY7ET

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 3, 2025

The bullpen would struggle though. There would be 4 bullpen arms used and all of them would give up a run (Jorger Petri’s was unearned) as they allowed 5 hits, 5 BBs, and struck out just 1 in their 5 IP. And that 5th run would be what Jupiter needed to take the lead in 9th inning and pull out of the victory.

Looking Jesus Pinto’s 41 PA this season in Lakeland, he’s striking out a bit much and his .571 OPS isn’t very good. But he’s still just 18 and now has a 42.3% Hard Hit%. He’s a guy to keep an eye on in 2026 to see if he can take any steps forward.

Juan Hernandez is another one, though his a much smaller sample size. He’s walked almost as much as he’s struck out and is sporting a .779 OPS as a 19 year old.

Juan Hernandez drives in two with this RBI single to right pic.twitter.com/VOQqFwi2Rc

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 3, 2025

Tomorrow’s projected starters: TBD vs TBD

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