Tigers minor-league report: Tyler Collins swinging hot stick
Who’s hot …
Tyler Collins, OF: He’ll be joining the Tigers in September, almost assuredly. And he should: .341 in his last 10 games. Collins on the year at Toledo is batting .281, with an .801 OPS. He’s all of 27.
Bryan Garcia, RH reliever: Eight games into his Toledo promotion, Garcia is up to old tricks: 81/3 innings, four hits, 10 strikeouts. He’s walked six batters, and his control still needs some polishing, but he has the stuff to help the Tigers at some point in 2018. Garcia was a sixth-round pick in 2015 (University of Miami).
Anthony Vasquez, LH starter: Tigers signed him as a minor-league free agent after his years in the Mariners system and he’s been solid, particularly of late: 2.38 ERA in his last seven starts. He’s 30, had seven starts for the Mariners in 2011, and pitched at Southern Cal before Seattle made him an 18th-round pick.
Blaine Hardy, LH reliever: Say hello to Hardy, again, as he’s destined to return to Detroit in a couple of weeks. In his last 10 games: 1.69 ERA.
Zac Reininger, RH reliever: A year past Tommy John surgery and in the eight Mud Hens games since he was promoted from Double A Erie: 1.74 ERA, 1.06 WHIP. Reininger throws high-rpm stuff and is a former eighth-round pick (2013) from Hill College.
And who’s not …
Dominic Ficociello, 1B: A little rougher time for Ficociello since he was moved from Erie to Toledo: .176 in his last 10 games.
Will Tigers' Derek Hill ever make the bigs? The bat will tell
Double A Erie
Who’s hot …
Harold Castro, 2B: Castro is only 23, always had heavy upside, and is batting .400 in his last 10 games, .346 in the season’s second half, and overall is hitting .301 with a .336 on-base percentage.
Mike Gerber, OF: On the year, he’s .292, with a .370 on-base average, and .826 OPS. Gerber, who can play all outfield positions, is 25, bats left-handed, and was likely a 15th-round steal from Creighton in 2014.
Paul Voelker, RH reliever: He’s back after his 50-game sentence for using amphetamines, and is back on track as a prospect to watch: 1.86 ERA in his last 10 games, 2.52 in 23 outings with the SeaWolves, with an 0.96 WHIP. He’s 25 and was a 10th-round grab in 2014 out of Dallas Baptist.
And who’s not …
Christin Stewart, OF: This is a relative demerit since Stewart on Sunday also cracked his 26th home run of the season. But he’s hitting .225 in his last 10 games and .259 on the year. He’ll need some time at Toledo, for sure, in 2018.
Single A Lakeland
Who’s hot …
Cam Gibson,OF: .364 in his last 10 games, including one trophy-case outing when he hit for the cycle. In the 36 games since he was bumped to Lakeland from West Michigan, Gibson, 23, is batting .261, with a .371 on-base average and .841 OPS. He bats left-handed, is 6-1, 195, and was the Tigers’ fifth-round choice in 2015 (Michigan State).
Sandy Baez, RH starter: His last start is reflective of the work he’s been doing at Lakeland: 72/3 innings, four hits, no runs, one walk, 11 strikeouts. In his last 10 starts, Baez, 23, has a 2.41 ERA (six runs in one start), with 63 strikeouts in 56 innings. He is from Juan Baron, Dominican Republic.
Gregory Soto, LH starter: Blew away hitters at West Michigan and was ripe for a ticket to Lakeland, where he’s been pretty much following his old script: 2.04 ERA in three starts, with 16 strikeouts in 17⅔ innings. Soto, 22, 6-1, 180, was signed out of Haina, Dominican Republic.
And who’s not …
Jake Robson, OF: He has been sinking in August: .158 in his last 10 games, and .183 for the month, as a first full season of professional ball grinds down a player, which is often the case for newly signed prospects. He was an eighth-round pick in 2016 (Mississippi State).
Single A West Michigan
Who’s hot …
John Schreiber, RH reliever: Hard to beat this Wyandotte native’s stats in his last 10 games: zero runs in 20⅔ innings, with a whopping 33 strikeouts and two walks. Schreiber, who pitched a year at Henry Ford Community College before migrating to Northwestern Ohio University, has an 0.64 ERA in 22 games, an 0.66 WHIP, and a .140 opposing batting average. He has struck out 60 and unintentionally walked seven in 421/3 innings. He is 6-3, 215, and was a 15th-round pick in 2016.
Danny Pinero, SS/2B: He’s batting .378 in his last 10 games and .312 for the season’s second half a year after the Tigers got him in the ninth round (University of Virginia). Pinero is 6-5, 210, and bats right-handed.
Danny Woodrow, OF: He’s hitting .276. He’s also along the lines of Erie’s Mike Gerber, in that Woodrow, too, is a Creighton man. The Tigers got Woodrow, a left-handed batter, in the 12th round of the 2016 draft.
And who’s not …
Zac Shepherd, 3B: Just an overall miserable year for Shepherd, who was moved to Single A Lakeland, didn’t hit, and hasn’t fared much better since returning to the Whitecaps: .150 in his last 10 games.
Single A Connecticut
Who’s hot …
Will Vest, RH reliever: Tigers got him in the 12th round of June’s draft (Stephen F. Austin) and he’s been better than good in 15 games: 2-0, with a 1.77 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and .147 enemy batting average. He has struck out 22 in 201/3 innings, while allowing only 10 hits. He’s 6-foot, 180.
Drew Carlton, RH reliever: Good stuff from a 32nd-round pick (Florida State) in June: eight relief shifts, 82/3 innings, six hits, one walk, 11 strikeouts. He’s 6-1, 197, and grew up not far from the Tigertown complex in Lakeland, Fla.
And who’s not …
Reynado Rivera, OF: He’s batting only .194 in his last 10 games and .200 since the Tigers made him their second-round pick in June. But among those who have worked recently with Rivera, Tigers minor-league batting instructor Bruce Fields says he’s not worried. Rivera’s upside is apparent, Fields says, as a 6-foot-6, 250-pound, left-handed hitting prospect adjusts, in rough fashion, to his first taste of professional baseball.
Gulf Coast League East
Who’s hot …
Gresuan Silverio, C: He’s 18 and was signed two years ago out of the Dominican Republic. The Tigers are pleased with what they’re thus far seeing from a switch-hitting catcher who has a .304 average and .805 OPS in his two, short minor-league seasons. Silverio is batting .394 in his last 10 games. He is 6-foot, 175 pounds.
And who’s not …
Mike Torres, 3B: .136 in his last 10 games for this 19-year-old Venezuelan. In the GCL, the ups and downs can often be extreme — and short-term.
Gulf Coast League West
Who’s hot …
Jose King, SS: He was one of the trade chips Detroit insisted upon in its July deal that sent J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks. King, 18, is a left-handed batter who’s been swinging to the tune of .350 in his last 10 games. He’s 6-foot, 160, and from La Romana, Dominican Republic.
And who’snot ..
Bryan Torres, C: Nowhere but up for Torres, 19, who’s batting .037 in 15 games, with a .189 OPS. The Tigers got him in the 16th round of June’s draft from the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy, a joint Puerto Rico-Florida university.