Welcome to day three of our Detroit Tigers positional breakdown, where we offer a quick summary of how players performed across the system in various positions. Yesterday, we examined first baseman; today, we’re focusing on second base within the organization and how they fared in 2023.
If there is one strength of the Detroit Tigers minor league system that has come to the surface is second base. All four levels this season saw some growth at the position, including some reshuffling of players to second. Let’s start with Triple-A Toledo, as one player has the potential to see major league time in 2024.
Toledo
After starting the season at third base in Erie, Colt Keith (number one on our Top 30) saw a vast majority of time at second in Toledo (289.2 innings) over his time at third. He hit at each level for power and average, posting one of the best individual performances in the minors this year.
The organization is bullish on Keith. Despite frequent switches between third base and second base, he appears more at ease at second. With the Mud Hens, Keith executed 16 double plays and committed only one error at the position. Advanced metrics further support that Keith has little left to prove.
His isolated power (ISO) exceeded the International League average, posting a .234 compared to the league’s .176. Similarly, his hard-hit rate outperformed the average at 40%, compared to 36.4%. As far as the rest of the Mud Hens roster prospect wise goes, Wenceel Perez’s role has changed. Due to struggles at times to make clean throws to first, Perez saw more time in the outfield.
Andre Lipcius (#19 in our Top 30), who also saw plenty of time at second with Toledo, more than likely will continue to evolve as a utility player. A.J. Hinch indicated he wanted Lipcius to see more time at second when he was sent down during spring training but Lipcius’s ability to play anywhere, it better suited the organization.
Erie
Jace Jung (#8 in our Top 30) was named the best defensive second baseman by his peers in Baseball America, ($) and that continued when he got called up. Jung’s slashline in Erie was better than his time with the Whitecaps as far as batting average, hitting .284/.373/.563 with a .936 OPS. On the season, Jung hit 28 home runs and drove in 82. He also increased his walk rate from 10% to 11%.
Jung’s power was real, as several of his home runs this season were over 100 MPH exit velocity.
He’s a home run MACHINE!
MLB’s No. 68 prospect Jace Jung (@tigers) collects his fifth in his past 3 games for the @erie_seawolves: pic.twitter.com/N9wfWH0mQT
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 8, 2023
Scott Harris has said that Jung will see time at third base during the Arizona Fall League so we will see what comes of that but Jung’s season has put him in the conversation of joining a major league roster in 2024.
West Michigan
Luke Gold, promoted to West Michigan in late July, demonstrated a strong ability to get on base, recording a WRC+ of 128 in his tenure with the Whitecaps. In his most recent 17 games, Gold has shown improvement at the plate, boasting a .284 batting average and hitting four of his total six home runs during that period.
Luke Gold just clears the wall to make it 7-3 Whitecaps. It’s his 2nd home run with West Michigan, and his 8th overall. pic.twitter.com/5gqFkFBEk5
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 12, 2023
Hao-Yu Lee, who the Tigers picked up at the trade deadline in the Michael Lorenzen deal, is fully recovered from his calf injury and is seeing time in the Arizona Fall League. The Tigers like his bat a lot that has power potential. In my scouting report of Lee, he fits the motif of what the Tigers want, and that is players who control the strike zone.
Carlos Mendoza continued to be a good spark plug for the Whitecaps when he was healthy but at this point, looks like an organizational player.
Lakeland, FCL and DSL.
I spoke with Detroit Tigers propect writer Brandon Day of BlessYouBoys.com about Peyton Graham, who has been sidelined for a significant portion of the season due to injuries. Collectively, we haven’t had sufficient opportunities to observe him in action. Since Lakeland did not stream their games, video was hard to come by.
“Hard to really get a read on his season. Obviously some swing changes are in order because he wasn’t hitting anything hard in the air at all.” Brandon said.Â
Both 2023 draft picks Kevin McGonigle and Max Anderson had impressive debuts for the Flying Tigers. McGonigle went 14-for-40 (.350), splitting time between short and second base. He walked more (11) than he struck out as the 19-year-old adapted to Lakeland quickly. McGonigle’s impressive debut backed up what many publications said about him being the steal of the draft by the Tigers.
As our own Ben Kramer wrote in his scouting report on Anderson:
“Anderson is a capable fielder when he has the opportunity to make plays, but his lack of agility and arm strength limit him in the field. He’ll have to work to stick at second base, and could find himself in left field or at first base in the future.”
John Peck, the 7th round draft pick by the Tigers in the 2023 draft, saw limited time at second but made the most of it, going 7-for-25.
In the DSL, Maikol Orozco, signed by Detroit in January, posted a .256/.389/.346 batting line with a .735 OPS in his rookie season. Orozco recently turned 18; until we have more data, that’s the extent of our assessment for now.
Tomorrow, we review the shortstops in the system. If you have missed our catchers, first baseman and our pitchers, you can check them out below.
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Chris Brown