Welcome to our first in a series of four articles about Detroit Tigers minor leaguers who didn’t make our Top 25 prospects list.
At TMLR we are pretty proud of our prospect list. We went to dozens of games in person, and watched hundreds more on the MiLB app. We talked to minor-league coaches, and players, and scouts, and team personnel. At the risk of sounding arrogant, we think it’s the best Tigers prospect list available, and we encourage you to read our full scouting reports.
But we also know we won’t be right about everything. Some of our top prospects won’t work out, and players who didn’t make our list will go on to have big-league careers. The is the Tigers Minor League Report, not the Tigers Prospect Report, and we want to give some attention to the many quality ballplayers we’ve seen over the past few seasons.
There are more than 40 players in all, so we’ve split this list into multiple parts, and we’re listing the players alphabetically. Enjoy!
Eliezer Alfonzo – C
Alfonzo comes from a baseball family, so maybe it’s not surprising that his skills are more apparent than his tools. Offensively, he shows well above-average bat-to-ball skills and a great idea of the strike zone from both sides of the plate. He doesn’t offer much in the way of power, but he did learn to turn on balls late in 2021. Alfonzo has worked to make himself close to an average receiver, but he has a fringy arm, and the overall defensive package is a little bit light. He’s the sort of catcher who shows up in the big leagues, but probably not for another three years, and probably not in this organization.
Abel Bastidas – SS
Bastidas might have sneaked onto our list if we extended it to 30. He gets overshadowed a bit by his international classmate Christian Santana, but Bastidas may have just as much upside. He’s a more natural shortstop than Santana, and while he doesn’t currently boast the kind of in-game power Santana does right now, Bastidas has a larger frame that may allow him to get to average pop once he fills out completely. He has advanced pitch recognition skills and a good idea of the strike zone, and in 2022 he showed improved pure bat-to-ball skills from both sides of the plate. There’s enough here already to suggest a potential future as a big-league utility infielder. And if he can thread that needle where he gains power while maintaining enough mobility to stick at shortstop, he could easily move into the Tigers top 20 prospects.
Austin Bergner – RHP
Bergner saw his velocity tick down last year, to the point where he was sitting 88-91 MPH in most starts. Counterintuitively, his performance also took a giant leap forward — at least until he reached Triple-A, where he got hit hard. He has a starter’s arsenal, with his fastball shape leading to a few more swings and misses than his velocity would suggest. He backs it up with a fringy slider with cutter-like movement in the low-80s, a mid-70s curve with a little more depth, and average change in the low-80s. Bergner has a fairly pronounced arm stab in his delivery and he lacks the command to really project to the rotation with his current stuff. Unless his velocity comes back, it’s hard to picture him being anything more than a long reliever.
Garrett Burhenn – RHP
Part of the Tigers’ big pitching draft class of 2021, Garrett Burhenn got a little bit lost in the shuffle last year. He was forced to stay in Low-A Lakeland for most of the season, despite being far too advanced for the level. He has a starter’s arsenal, including a 4-seamer and a sinker in the low 90s, a decent slider, and an above-average changeup. His delivery is a bit herky-jerky, though, and he lands on a stiff front leg with some post-release violence that seems to affect his command. He wasn’t nearly as effective in his four-game stint in High-A, with one disastrous outing. But he was also approaching his innings limit at the end of his first pro season. The Tigers will likely continue to use him as a starter, but he might be an interesting bullpen conversion candidate.
Daniel Cabrera – OF
Cabrera was a fairly highly regarded prospect coming out of college because of his hitting ability. But so far he just hasn’t hit in pro ball. It’s not an issue of swinging and missing too much, as he has kept his strikeout rate manageable while walking at an average clip. He just seems to have pitch recognition issues, and he struggles to find the barrel. He’s a decent defender in an outfield corner, with average speed, but if he can’t find a way to make more quality contact it will be hard for him to carve out a career in pro ball. We’re not closing the door on him yet though. Wenceel Perez and Parker Meadows were in similar boats before last season, and both made adjustments to become quality prospects again.
Trei Cruz – IF
Another member of the 2020 draft class, Trei Cruz has some decent tools and the sort of advanced approach at the plate one might expect from a multi-generational baseball player. Right now there seem to be too many moving parts in his swing, making it hard for him to catch up to premium velocity, but he does have the raw power to drive the ball when he connects. He’s also a solid-average runner with good base running instincts. Cruz has played the left side of the infield, but he’s stretched a bit there and probably fits best at second base. In 2022 he played with a nonchalance that bordered on indifference, and it ultimately appeared to get him benched in Erie for their playoff stretch. He’ll need to make some adjustments to his swing and his approach to the game to carve out a role in the future.
Dario Gardea – RHP
There’s not a whole lot that jumps off the page with Dario Gardea. He’s thicker than his listed 6-foot-2, 210 pound frame, and he’s a pure reliever who relies on essentially two pitches. His sinker sits in the 92-94 mph range, and he’ll throw the occasional 4-seamer in the same range. But his best pitch is his slider, which generally sits around 83-84 mph and gets him plenty of swings and misses. He used it to dominate in High-A, but hitters in Double-A didn’t have nearly as much trouble. He looks like a solid organizational reliever, but he’s unlikely to reach the majors unless he develops another pitch or his fastball jumps up a few grades.
https://twitter.com/charrosbeisbol/status/1630598840649920512?s=20
Sawyer Gipson-Long – RHP
Gibson-Long came to the Tigers in the Michael Fulmer trade at the 2022 deadline. He’s a solid arm who throws plenty of strikes with a sinking fastball in the 90-94 MPH range, and he complements it with an above-average slider and a fringy changeup. He’s big and sturdy, he throws more than enough strikes to start, and he commands his fastball and slider decently well, but there doesn’t appear to be a ton of upside here. He provides solid organizational starting pitcher depth, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him transition into more of a swingman or long reliever role depending on how the Toledo rotation takes shape in 2023.
Luke Gold – 2B
Gold became kind of the forgotten man of Detroit’s infielder-heavy 2022 draft class. Jace Jung got most of the publicity because he was the first rounder, Peyton Graham was the high upside play, and Danny Serretti, who was drafted one round after Gold, had the best pro debut. But Gold remains an interesting, bat-first prospect with physicality and power potential, though he’s unlikely to be be more than an average second baseman.
Max Green – LHP
Green is one of just a handful of players from the 2017 draft still in Detroit’s system. He hasn’t pitched since July of 2021 and underwent Tommy John surgery, but he is reportedly on track to pitch in 2023. Green is a terrific athlete, and when healthy the southpaw can reach the upper-90s with his fastball. He was working on developing more consistent secondary stuff before his injury, and Detroit’s modernized pitch design process should help him with that. He turns 27 in May, so he so he’ll have to hope his control returns quickly, but there’s always a market for lefties who throw hard. If he can demonstrate he still has the arm strength, he may still find a role in this organization.
Carlos Guzman – RHP
A converted infielder, Carlos Guzman has always been a plus athlete on the mound with a good fastball and a promising changeup. He has had difficulty maintaining his velocity and finding consistent results as a starter though. Last year he struggled mightily for the first three months of the year in High-A, but then something seemed to click and he compiled a 1.89 ERA over his final 52 1/3 innings. That earned him a late-season promotion to Double-A, where he worked out of the bullpen during Erie’s playoff run. He even earned a series-clinching win in the playoffs. He probably fits best in a relief role, though the Tigers may continue to use him as a starter.
Terrific outing from Carlos Guzman for the West Michigan Whitecaps today.
4IP H ER 0BB 8K pic.twitter.com/Yerx9Gn73J— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 9, 2022
Check back soon for Part Two!
Jayden Hewitt