Lakeland Flying Tigers 2025 Season Preview

Lakeland Looking For Another Playoff Berth

The Lakeland Flying Tigers had a memorable 2024 season, much like their big-league counterparts in Detroit. They were involved in two different pennant chases, they won a playoff series, and they came within one win of the Florida State League title.

The Flying Tigers will be looking to repeat, and possibly improve on that level of success in 2025. But change is constant in the minor leagues. And if Lakeland wants to win the title, they’ll have to do it with a new cast of players, a new manager, and even a new play-by-play announcer.

They kick off their season on Friday, April 5th in Tampa. It’s a short, three-game set against the Tarpons before the Flying Tigers return home for a six-game set with the St. Lucie Mets. René Rivera, who spent parts of 13 seasons in the big leagues, takes over as the skipper this year. Let’s take a look at his team, which includes 6 of our top 46 Detroit Tigers prospects.

Introducing our 2025 Opening Day Roster! 🐅🪽 pic.twitter.com/CP9W1XkPgK

— Lakeland Flying Tigers (@LkdFlyingTigers) April 4, 2025

Lakeland Flying Tigers Pitchers

Starters

This year’s Lakeland rotation features a mix of returning arms and new faces. Josh Randall (#31), last year’s 3rd-round pick, is technically a returning player, as he threw four innings at the end of 2024. But 2025 will essentially be his debut year, and he figures to anchor the rotation, at least for the first part of the season. He’ll be joined by Hayden Minton, who threw 93 innings for Lakeland last year, and Zack Lee, who tossed 82.2 innings of his own.

There’s also a bit of a youth movement this year. Paul Wilson struggled mightily with his control in the Florida Complex League last year. But he reportedly had a strong offseason, and he’s set to make his full-season debut and showcase the raw ability that made him a 3rd rounder in 2023. And then there’s Owen Hall (#17), one of Detroit’s two 2nd-rounders last year. He showed spectacular stuff over the offseason, and if he brings that to games he may be one of the best prospects in the Florida State League.

We may also see starts from Lucas Elissalt, an intriguing young arm the Tigers took in the 13th round last year.

Relievers

Thomas Bruss is a large man with a big fastball and a nasty splitter. He showed promising flashes for the Flying Tigers last year, but control and command issues led to an elevated ERA. Shay Timmer is somehow even bigger than Bruss, at 6-foot-10 and 280 pounds, and he showed an upper-90s fastball in college.

Duque Hebbert made his name in the World Baseball Classic, and he still boasts promising secondary stuff. We’ll be looking to see if his fastball ticks up this year. It’s a similar story for Ronny Chalas, who sits in the low-90s with his fastball, but will show a pretty nasty changeup.

Blair Calvo is the veteran of the staff. He reached the big leagues in 2023, but has been injured for most of the last year. He figures to move up the ladder quickly once he’s fully healthy. RJ Sales was Detroit’s 10th-round-pick, and he’s armed with a plus curveball and a fastball that can touch the mid-90s. Moises Rodriguez and Luke Stofel are the final righties on the roster, and they are both capable of going multiple innings out of the bullpen. So too are the southpaws on the roster, Ignacio Briceno, Ethan Sloan, and Chris Williams.

Lakeland Flying Tigers Offense

Catchers

Lakeland heads into the season with a trio of backstops. The Tigers acquired the switch-hitting Enderson Delgado from Tampa when they traded Alex Faedo. Delgado is mostly known for his glove, but the 20-year-old did post a 133 wRC+ in the minors last year. He’s joined by Ricardo Hurtado, who specializes in getting on base, and Sergio Tapia, who caught 40% of runners in Lakeland back in 2023.

Infield

Infielders will likely be the main attraction for prospect watchers in Lakeland this year. That group is headlined, of course, by last year’s first-rounder Bryce Rainer (#7), who will be making his official professional debut. Rainer will presumably play shortstop most days, but when he doesn’t that spot will likely be filled by our #11 prospect Franyerber Montilla. To Rainer’s right on most days figures to be Carson Rucker (#19), who is making his full-season debut after being injured early in the 2024 season.

Other infielders include Woody Hadeen, last year’s 6th-round pick, who specializes in contact, patience, and speed. Samuel Gil is likely to spend his second full season at the level and looking to improve on last year’s 85 wRC+, while Garrett Pennington will look to pick up where he left of last season, when he hit two home runs in just nine games with the Flying Tigers. We finish with the confounding Cristian Santana, who was once a top-10 prospect. This will be his fourth season in Lakeland, where he owns a career .176/.330/.332 line in 232 games.

Outfield

Lakeland begins the year with just three official outfielders, though they should have a rehabbing Akil Baddoo with them early on. Patrick Lee (#37) returns to Florida after dominating the level (168 wRC+) last year. He’s joined by Nomar Fana, a deceptively athletic outfielder with well-rounded skills. And the third outfielder on the roster Is Jackson Strong, last year’s seventh rounder. Strong offers an intriguing mix of power and speed, and he could find himself on our top prospects list by the middle of the season.