Tigers Minor League Recap – 8/20
Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A)
Game Final: Rochester 4 – Toledo 7
Top Performer(s):
Eduardo Valencia, DH — 2-for-3, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 R, BB
Max Anderson, 3B — 2-for-5, R
Trei Cruz, CF — 1-for-4, 2 R, BB
Tanner Rainey — 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. 2 IP save for Tanner tonight. He got 8 whiffs on 15 swings (53% whiff%) and 13 of his 32 pitchers were either whiffs or called strikes (41% CSW%). His fastball hit 97.1 tonight and averaged 96.0 MPH.
Game notes:
There was one reason and one reason only for the Mud Hens win: Eduardo Valencia. Down 3-0 in the top of the 6th inning, Eduardo would hit a grand slam to give them the lead. Then 2 innings later, and after Rochester would tie it up, he would hit a go ahead 3-run HR to drive in all 7 of the Toledo runs tonight. He’s now got a 1.049 OPS in 95 PA at the AAA level.
Eduardo Valencia continues to mash Triple-A pitching. He hits a grand slam to put Toledo ahead 4-3 pic.twitter.com/DjSRKzEJJW
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 21, 2025
Goodness, have a game Eduardo Valencia. He crushes a 3-run homer to left. That’s his 2nd home run of the day, and he has driven in all 7 of Toledo’s runs tonight. pic.twitter.com/4Clueto8Sv
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 21, 2025
Trei Cruz would be on-base for both HRs after getting a single and a walk and Justyn-Henry Malloy, Ryan Kreidler, and Max Anderson would also each score a run.
Pitching wise Toledo would use 6 pitchers tonight. Jose Urquidy got the rehab start. His velocity is still down from where it was pre-TJS, but his curveball had some great spin to it averaging 2732 RPMs. He got 3 whiffs on 3 swings vs his changeups and only his 4-Seamer had any hard contact against it. Codi Heuer also had a pretty good game with his slider his 2 runs allowed were both unearned thanks to a couple of errors.
Tomorrow’s projected starters:
Troy Watson (2-0, 1.31 ERA) vs Bryce Conley (2-2, 4.60 ERA)
Erie SeaWolves (Double-A)
Game 1 Final: Harrisburg 3 – Erie 0
Top Performer(s):
John Peck, SS — 2-for-3
Danny Serretti, 3B — 1-for-2
Roberto Campos, RF — 0-for-1, BB
Travis Kuhn — 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Travis Kuhn came in relief of Jaden Hamm and kept Harrisburg off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. His 2 Ks matched the number of base runners allowed
Game Notes:
3 singles and a walk. That was the offense tonight. There was not much of anything to get excited about. The offense struggled and it was one of those games for them.
Jaden Hamm got the start. It wasn’t a terrible start allowing just 3 ER in 5 IP, but he struck out no one. He touched 93 on the radar gun, which hopefully is a good sign that he might get some of his missing velocity back.
Game 2 Final: Harrisburg 4 – Erie 2
Top Performer(s):
Jake Holton, 1B — 1-for-3, 2B, R, SB
Ben Malgeri, RF — 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, R
Seth Stephenson, CF — 1-for-3, SB
Tanner Kohlhepp — 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Tanner Kohlhepp needed just 13 pitches, 8 of which were for strikes, to get his 2 Ks. He was able to pound the zone and crushed it.
Game Notes:
Game 2 was better for the offense than the first, but still not great. As Greg Gania noted, the Seawolves were getting pounded by changeups and couldn’t do much with them. Both runs would be scored in the 2nd thanks to a couple of doubles and a single.
Max Alba got the start and went 3 innings where he gave up 3 ER, all 3 in the 1st inning. Which would be all that Harrisburg would need to get the win in game 2. Ryan Boyer would allow one more run in the 5th during his 2 IP.
Really cool is that our very own Rogelio got in on the broadcast!
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 20, 2025
Tomorrow’s projected starters:
Game 1: Andrew Sears (0-1, 8.38 ERA) vs TBD
West Michigan Whitecaps (High-A)
Final: Lansing 1 – West Michigan 2
Top Performer(s):
Garrett Pennington, LF — 1-for-3, 2B
Peyton Graham, DH — 1-for-3, BB
Izaac Pacheco, 3B — 1-for-4, R
Hayden Minton — 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Despite giving up the only run to Lansing and coming in relief, he had a really good game. He collected the win in a game where he allowed just 3 base runners and got 5 Ks.
Game Notes:
Yet another Tigers offense that was silenced tonight, West Michigan was able to squeak out the low scoring win. They would take the 1-0 lead in the 5th inning after an Archer Brookman solo shot. Then it be an Austin Murr sac fly that would give them the lead and walk off the game tonight.
🚨Whitecaps Walk-Off Win🚨
Austin Murr with a sac fly to center that scores Izaac Pacheco and gives West Michigan a 2-1 victory. @ThatDanHasty on the call. pic.twitter.com/p0vQ6ZAUad
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 21, 2025
Pitching was tremendous. As a whole, they allowed 9 base runners while striking out 10. Lael Lockhart would get a rehab start going 3.2 IP and getting 5 Ks. Joe Adametz would have the easiest job needing just 2 pitches to get his out against the only batter he would face. As mentioned above, Hayden Minton would get his 6th win today.
This would be West Michigan’s 80th win on the season where they are now 45 games above .500 on the season.
Tomorrow’s projected starters:
Rayner Castillo (3-5, 5.76 ERA) vs Kyle Robinson (5-4, 3.16 ERA)
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Single-A)
Game 1 Final: Dunedin 7 – Lakeland 5
Top Performer(s):
Jude Warwick, SS — 2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI
Junion Tilien, DH — 2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI
Carson Rucker, 3B — 0-for-3, R, BB
Eliseo Mota — 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Eliseo took the bulk of the innings tonight, despite being the one who closed the game out. Both his 4-Seam and sinker touched 94-95. He didn’t generate a ton of whiffs, but he got through the game relatively unscathed.
Game Notes:
Getting off to a quick start, the Flying Tigers would score 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th thanks to 2 doubles (Junior Tilien and Jude Warwick) and a sac fly from Sergio Tapia. They wouldn’t score again until the 6th inning when David Smith would line out, but Cristian Santana would score thanks to a throwing error. In innings 2-5 though they wouldn’t get much done. A few singles and a walk would be all they could muster and they wouldn’t threaten much.
Jude Warwick narrowly misses a grand slam, but it still works as a 2-run double when he tucks this ball behind an advertisement on the wall @ZachSurdenik on the call. pic.twitter.com/4Dn7Lmpdz9
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 20, 2025
Cash Kuiper got his first start tonight. He needed just 8 pitches to get through the 1st inning, which included a strike out. He would get into the second and not record any outs while walking 4. Struggling with his command, he would get just 4 strikes out of his 20 pitches.
Here’s the first inning of Cash Kupier’s first professional start for Lakeland. pic.twitter.com/hspNdBPvaX
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 20, 2025
Ronny Chalas would come in first in relief going 2 innings, but he would give up 4 runs and get charged with the loss.
Wilmer Flores would also get an inning, which is great to see. He was sitting 90-91 with the fastball, his curveball had some good spin with it.
Game 2 Final: Dunedin 7 – Lakeland 1
Top Performer(s):
Nick Dumesnil, CF — 1-for-3, BB, R, 2 SB
Jack Goodman, SS — 1-for-4, 3B
Junior Tilien, 2B — 2-for-2, BB
Jatnk Diaz — 5.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Tied his career high in IP, Jatnk did well tonight. His fastballs were in the zone 62.7% of the time, but gave up only 2 balls hard hit in the air vs them. Despite the 4 ER, it was a good outing for him.
Game Notes:
Game 2 was not nearly as fun as game one. The offense sputtered scoring just the 1 run in the 3rd inning on a Ricardo Hurtado single. Samuel Gil and Junior Tilien both got on-base 3 times, but neither were driven in.
Ricardo Hurtado ties the game for Lakeland with this soft liner to center. pic.twitter.com/uYVoB3GXNe
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 20, 2025
Jack Goodman continues his hot start getting his first 3B of the season and he added 2 more hard hit balls.
Aside from Jatnk, Logan Berrier and Pedro Garcia got some innings in this game. Logan only got 1 out where he allowed 6 base runners and allowed 3 runs. Pedro got 1.2 innings with a bunch of 0 across the board.
Tomorrow’s projected starters: TBD vs TBD
Hey Detroit Tigers fans! If you enjoy Tigers Minor League Report and want to help us keep bringing you the latest updates and in-depth analysis, consider contributing to our efforts. We operate entirely on a volunteer basis, and every bit of support goes a long way. You can donate to us directly via our GoFundMe or become a valued member by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Or take your fandom to the next level by joining our Patreon community. Additionally, you can shop for some awesome gear at our TMLR store. Your support helps us continue our mission to provide you with quality content on all things Tigers Minor League. Thank you!
Chris Brown 
Rogelio Castillo