Mark Johnson was the Erie SeaWolves pitching coach this season. Less than 24 hours after the end of the World Series, the Tigers traded for esteemed catcher Tucker Barnhart, then flung $217 million at free agent pitcher Eduardo Rodrguez and infielder Javier Bez the latter of whom, at six years and $140 million, represented Detroit's biggest free agent expenditure since Prince Fielder a decade earlier. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Metzler, 42, will lead the Tigers' amateur and international scouting efforts. With Littlefield out, current Director of Player Development, Kenny Graham, takes over running player development until a Vice-President, possibly Graham himself, is hired into the executive role, presumably under the Vice-President of Player Development title. Here are the coaching staffs for the Tigers' four main minor league affiliates. For his part, Wingenter tells the Freep that all the work to finally put this behind him has payed off heading into 2023. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Top Prospect List, MiLB. This sets up a perfect platoon situation in Detroit, since backup Eric Haase has crushed lefties (.263/.301/.555). Featuring a quality fastball and a very good changeup, Uceta has continued to struggle with control despite superb strikeout totals going back years. The Tigers have some options in the pen, but an injury or two to key guys could really blow the whole thing up. "AJ (Hinch, Tigers manager) worked with him in San Diego. A rebuild that sometimes seemed interminable finally appeared to have turned a corner in 2021, when the Tigers, following an 819 April, went 6966 the rest of the way, fueled by a young core constructed out of the wreckage of 2017-20. Prior to his time with the Padres, Elliott spent 12 years as a Scout with the MLB Scouting Bureau. AL West. After two seasons with the Marlins, Kelly announced his retirement in Spring Training and rejoined the Tigers in a baseball-operations capacity, giving him a chance to see what role best fit him. On Tuesday morning, the Tigers confirmed Metzler's hire. 0:46. So far Wisler is reported healthy, and he makes for a fairly simple evaluation. As you can see below, the Tigers have released their Player Development Staff who will lead their affiliates in 2022. Josh Kragness was hired as a senior software engineer, and Beau Hordan, Aidan Kearns and Zach Wolf were hired as analysts.Collectively, the hires continue Detroit's trend of blending scouting and analytics in an effort to build the organization around young talent. Many of these coaches have been a part of the player development staff for quite some time, signaling a pretty serious, though expected, overhaul is underway as the organization prepares to hire a new Vice President of Player Development. These five are my picks as the most likely to get back on track. Lund is a key hire as the Tigers continue developing a data-driven approach to evaluate pitcher mechanics, arm health, and fatigue levels. While speaking to reporters at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis . NL East. At the major-leaguelevel, the Tigers have promoted Steve Chase to strength and conditioning coach, replacing Chris Walter. made made major changes to their front office, Watch Eric Haase and Kerry Carpenter go yard against the Yankees. Hell probably be primarily at third base, but could fit into a lot of different spots for the Tigers. However, if theyre going to pull this off, produce a good bullpen, and hopefully more trade chips for a front office trying to turn the level of position player talent around without spending a ton in free agency, they need to find help among the huge group of relief options signed as minor league free agents in Scott Harris first offseason running the Tigers. Since 2018, Blair has been the A-ball level West Michigan Whitecaps pitching coach. GameThread: Tigers vs. Orioles, 1:05 p.m. But this roster is built around homegrown talent highlighted by a rotation featuring young-arms-on-the-rise Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal. The Padres initially drafted Wingenter in 2015 out of Auburn in the 17th round, so Connor knows him well, as does Toledo Mud Hens pitching coach Doug Bochtler, who was the Padres bullpen coach during Wingenters best years. Detroit David Littlefield, Tigers vice president of player development, was asked Tuesday if the potential delay in the start of minor-league camp would impact staffing at big-league camp. The Tigers now have three assistant general managers: Metzler, Sam Menzin and Jay Sartori. The Detroit Tigers officially announced Thursday coaching staffs for their minor league teams ahead of the 2022 season, along with introducing various newcomers to the player development. Director, Hitting - Kenny Graham Director, Pitching - Gabe Ribas Director, Coaching / Field Coordinator - Ryan Sienko Director, Performance Science - Dr. Georgia Giblin Director, Amateur Scouting - Mark Conner Director, Minor League & Scouting Administration - Cheryl Evans Director, International Operations - Tom Moore He joined the Rays in 2008 as a baseball operations intern without a traditional scouting background, rising from the administrative and front office side of the game. The low release point and snappy, late release helps it play up a lot when hes spotting it. Rob's track record of success with the Rays speaks for itself, and his innovative approach to talent acquisition will help us achieve one of our main goals: to acquire, develop and retain young talent in Detroit.". Sager became the organizations roving pitching instructor way back in 2013. On the scouting side in particular, the latest hires are a mix of veteran experience with potential.The 37-year-old Wilson played pro baseball for 17 years, including parts of eight seasons in the Majors, before retiring last year. That followed the trades of ace Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros and outfielder Justin Upton to the Los Angeles Angels earlier this month. If hes throwing the sharper slider back in the low-80s and commanding it well? Coaching vacancies will allow their new VP of Player Development to build his own staff once the Tigers make a hire there. Bohorquez, who coached at now-unaffiliated Norwich (Connecticut) last season, replaces Jorge Cordova, who was promoted to assistant pitching coordinator. Wisler is well known and likely had plenty of interested teams. Still, he rarely faced left-handed pitching in Cincinnati. Im going to expect to be in that major-league bullpen all year and compete for leverage innings, but it just feels good to be healthy again, not in pain and able to compete at the highest level I can.. Worth the risk Bez doesn't come without some baggage. ", MORE TIGERS:Examining Riley Greene's rookie season, Super Two status and future with Detroit, GETTING ABs: After Year 2, Eric Haase hopes consistent playing time continues with Tigers. Hell get his whiffs above the zone, but the misses get hit harder now as hes lost a bit of velocity. Now 30 years old, the former starter was drafted in the seventh round way back in 2011 by the San Diego Padres. The additions in scouting are important for us in our search for impact-type players to bring into our organization. Henry's scouting work included top pick Casey Mize last year. Team Physician (Orthopedic) - Stephen Lemos, M.D. Among the overlooked bits of news from last month's moves, manager A.J. While other pickups like Zach Logue, Jace Fry, and Tyler Holton could help fill the gap, Shreve is the Tigers best bet for a strong lefty presence to add to a right-hand dominant bullpen. Sam Menzin, formerly Tigers Director of Baseball Operations and Professional Scouting, was also promoted to Vice-President and Assistant General Manager. If the Tigers are going to challenge the White Sox for supremacy in the AL Central this year, those newcomers are likely to play huge roles. "Both of those guys (Pena and Graham) are strong leaders and they do an excellent job of not only leading the staff and leading the players, but they are quality representatives for the Tigers in those communities. A season later, his velocity dipped and his control faltered. Shreve mainly uses it against lefties, but rather than sweeping across the plate away and down from hitters, it tends to stay straighter over the plate and simply dives straight down. GameThread: Tigers vs. Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m. Four Tigers prospects make FanGraphs new top 100 prospect list. He's a safe bet to lead the league in strikeouts again. parts of eight seasons in the big leagues. The Tigers coaches may look to add another wrinkle, but thats the baseline to look for in Wislers case. Five minor league signings that could impact the Tigers bullpen, 2023 Tigers player preview: Nick Matons a pretty versatile guy. "We're not 100% sure. August 18, 2021. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. As a result, the Detroit Tigers revamped front office is already making moves in terms of their organizational coaching staff. Either way it should be somewhat interesting to see how the Tigers try to tweak the stuff and pitch patterns of a long tenured major league reliever. / CBS Detroit. Veteran scout Dave Lottsfeldt was also hired as a regional crosschecker. The reason I'm here in Detroit is to bring that same energy, passion and innovative spirit, culminating with winning baseball on the field at Comerica Park for years to come. The Tigers will have their work cut out for them on that front. If all goes as planned, they will help try and push the Tigers to the playoffs for the first time since 2014. After six years in Detroit as a super-utility player and a post-retirement tryout as a scout and instructor, Kelly has been promoted to the Tigers' Major League scouting staff. FILE - In this June 25, 2018, file photo, Detroit Tigers first overall pick Casey Mize, center, stands with Tigers scout Justin Henry, left, and Scott Pleis, director of amateur scouting, during a . "This was a very important hire because we had a guy in Gene Roof who was here for 35 years and was an incredible staff member," Littlefield said. Other than Wisler, right-hander Kervin Castro is my favorite project here. The Detroit Tigers announced the hiring of several new scouts on Monday, including a former executive with the Baltimore Orioles and a journeyman middle infielder. This season also will feature the arrivals of first baseman Spencer Torkelson (made Opening Day roster) and center fielder Riley Greene (should get the call after healing from a broken foot sustained during spring training), consensus top-10 prospects in all of baseball. Prospects Live Staff. Even despite balanced splits as a southpaw, Shreve has never managed to take that one step that would earn him a longer time job. Overall theres plenty of depth to the pitch but the whiff rate is mediocre and when its in the zone, hitters tend to get the bat on it. The Detroit Tigers have a new scouting director. The team added the following major league scouts: The following have been added as analysts: Kelly, who joined the front office in February after retiring from the Miami Marlins organization at the end the 2016 season, will be a full-time scout after splitting his time between player development and scouting. The Detroit Tigers midseason Top 30 update for 2021. There appears to be a mix of different coaching specialties bound for replacement here. A free-swinger with a career .307 OBP, "El Mago" ("The Magician") led the NL in strikeouts (184) and chase rate (44.5 percent) in 2021, and he also gave the infamous thumbs-down gesture that alienated Mets players from fans. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"KuEKg12CuLPvDQsfhqJw8WK.BPdz3a4aErv7mMTtgRc-43200-0"}; Wingenter averaged 97.4 mph in 2018, and 95.9 mph in 2019, has hit 100 mph plenty of times in the past, and like Castro features excellent extension to the plate. Notably, newer hires like Dan Hubbs, the Tigers Director of Pitching Development and Strategies, appears to be sticking around, so perhaps the implementation side of things is where the Tigers are looking for fresh voices well aligned with the new front offices philosophies and priorities. The fastball is low powered, and typically sits in the low-90s, though recently hes averaged more 90 mph than the 92-93 mph he had at his best. September 29, 2017 / 11:04 AM (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)ASSOCIATED PRESS. "I'd also like to thank the Tampa Bay Rays organization for an incredible 15 seasons, and I couldn't be prouder of what we accomplished. With the exception of the Triple-A International League, the minor league affiliates completed their 2021 seasons over the weekend. He spent the decade bouncing between organizations, including pitching for the Tigers in 1997, and again from 1999 through 2001. That's where those things get implemented. Mirocke has nearly three decades as a scout, spending 26 years at the MLB Scouting Bureau and the last year with the Milwaukee Brewers organization. If the occasional fastball is consistently 91-92 mph? After playing nine seasons in the Major Leagues, including six with the Tigers, Kelly joined the Tigers front office prior to the 2017 season, working in both Player Development and Scouting. "Growth in the analytics area is key in our goal of making sound, informed baseball decisions both when evaluating players, and in providing data to the big league players, manager and his coaching staff," he said in a statement. Tyler Alexander and Rony Garcia arent really high leverage material, though they can contribute as middle relief and spot starting depth. The most recent of those hires were Gabe Ribas as director of pitching and Stephanos Stroop as minor league pitching coordinator. Bochtler, who spent the last three seasons as the bullpen coach with the Padres, replaces Juan Nieves in Toledo. So, were definitely in project territory here. There's been a lot of discussion on when the minor leagues below Triple-A will start. The Detroit Tigers have a new scouting director. Right-handed slider specialist Matt Wisler is the most obvious answer. "All of us are trying to get everything together and figure out exactly what's going to take place," Littlefield said in a Zoom call. To that pitching brain trust, theyve now added former kinesiology professor and Iowa head pitching coach, Robin Lund, as well as several new affiliate pitching coaches. The Tigers claimed him off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks in January. The key is Shreves 83-84 mph splitter. He's been a Tiger as a player and was familiar with a bunch of people in our organization, including (roving pitching coordinator) A.J. Prospects Live Staff. Why Anthony Richardson won't be available for Lions at No . No doubt theres a clause where he has to be in the majors by some point in April or hell be automatically released to try his luck elsewhere. Casey Mize is gonna be the ace they need, Tarik Skubal has tremendous stuff, and there's a lot to like about Matt Manning, though he gave up too much hard contact last year. The Tigers dropped to 1-3 in Grapefruit League play. The only significant change in staffs between West Michigan and Lakeland was a swap of hitting coaches Bill Springman to West Michigan and John Murrian to Lakeland. (AP) Carlos Osorio/AP MINNEAPOLIS -- Don Kelly finally has a full-time position with the Tigers. Most of these guys are, and will remain, minor league free agents for good reasons. The paradox at this level of free agent signings is typically that the pitcher could be good again if healthy, meaning theres real potential to land an undervalued player, but the fact that they werent healthy recently leaves them at higher risk of a recurrence, and thats the only reason they were available on the cheap in the first place. Team Physician (Internal) - Michael Workings, M.D. ", More:Tigers pitchers, including Justin Verlander, accused of doctoring baseballs 'for years'. In addition, they promoted Sam Menzin to director of pro scouting in addition to his previous title as director of baseball operations.The moves continue general manager Al Avila's plan to reinvest money in baseball operations as the Tigers move away from big payrolls and free agents and try to develop more talent in their system. Detroit Tigers 2021: Scouting, Projected Lineup, Season Prediction. We feel good about how we set it up.". Toward that end, the Tigers announced a flurry of on-field and player-development staff assignments Tuesday, including the hiring of two former teammates in Detroit Doug Bochtler, who pitched for the Tigers in 1998, as their new pitching coach at Triple-A Toledo, and Kimera Bartee (1996-99) as the organization's roving outfield and baserunning instructor. DETROIT - The Tigers today announced several staff additions to the club's baseball operations department. "We just have to be prepared when we finally do get some real details as to how it's going to be rolled out.". * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). He was the Tigers utility player 2009-14. Willie Blair joined the Tigers organization back in 2015, taking over as the Double-A Erie SeaWolves pitching coach prior to the 2016 season. All rights reserved (About Us). AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. DUNEDIN, Fla. The Detroit Tigers lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4, on Tuesday at TD Ballpark. Toward that end, the Tigers announced a flurry of on-field and player-development staff assignments Tuesday, including the hiring of two former teammates in Detroit Doug Bochtler, who. The Giants couldnt get much from him and ran out of 40-man roster space, eventually designating him for assignment at the end of August. He was an assistant coach at Washington State University before that.Martinez's return to player development brings him back to his roots. The Detroit Tigers 2023 bullpen will test their nascent reputation as a pitching development hub. Still the whole rationale for wholesale changes in coaching staff in 2020, player development in 2021, and then new front office leadership under Harris last fall, was to get better in all these areas. Meet Scott Harris: New Tigers exec has impressive resume, Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris previously worked with a World Series-winning team (Cubs) and ran a 107-win team (Giants), parted ways with assistant general manager David Chadd, Examining Riley Greene's rookie season, Super Two status and future with Detroit, After Year 2, Eric Haase hopes consistent playing time continues with Tigers, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris has started the restructuring of his front office.. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. "Today's announcement is another step in the building of our infrastructure within baseball operations," said Al Avila, Tigers Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager. He was responsible for drafting Shane McClanahan, Nathaniel Lowe, Joe Ryan and Taylor Walls, among others. 0:00. "We're going to hit the ground running to ensure our processes of amateur scouting at both the domestic and international levels are the best they can possibly be," Metzler said in a statement, "and search for the most comprehensive information possible to help inform our decision making. They also have a few potential relief prospects in Brendan White, Elvis Alvarado, a few others. The pitch had a 40 percent whiff rate in 2022, even as he struggled badly overall on the year. If Wingenters health problems are behind him, and as one of the tallest pitchers in the game the back issues remain the primary concern, this is likely to be a real win for the Tigers. This 25-year-old right-hander is a former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect who was converted to relief over the last two seasons. Mark Conner, who has worked for the San Diego Padres since 2010, has been hired as the Tigers' amateur . Theres no risk to the Tigers, and plenty of reward available if Wisler can put the 2022 season behind him. "The additions in scouting are important for us in our search for impact type players to bring into our organization.". If not? The walks and home runs came in bunches, and while the strikeouts continued to pile up at the Triple-A level, his 17 inning tour of the majors, his second look after debuting with the Dodgers in 2021, did not go well at all. The Cubs gave him a short look, but the velo and control problems persisted and they too designated him on September 5. Click below to see everything we have to offer. Nieves is now the assistant pitching coach under new manager AJ Hinch in Detroit. Team ranks accompanied by full scouting reports and MiLB video. The Tigers will close out their 2017 season with a three-game series at the Minnesota Twins that ends Sunday. Then theres probably an underlying issue with his arm that will be a longer term project to correct and the Tigers wont be adding him to the roster for Opening Day. Perhaps the Tigers can find something to tweak there, or even try to introduce a sinker into the mix. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. The Tigers would not confirm or deny this report. Triple-A Toledo Manager: Gary Jones Bench/development coach: Tony Cappuccilli Pitching coach: Doug Bochtler Hitting. Based out of his home in Pittsburgh, he traveled around Detroit's farm system for instruction while going on assignment during the season to bolster the scouting ranks. Cathcart, a former outfield and baserunning instructor in the Miami Marlins organization, was a former manager of the Connecticut Tigers, and was slated to manage the 2020 short season A-ball Norwich Unicorns before their season, and ultimately the New York-Penn League, was disbanded. The full release from the Tigers is here. Carlos Bohorquez is the new pitching coach at Lakeland. The changeup has a pretty standard spin angle, but deviates from it with strong horizontal action due to seam effects at 87-88 mph. Scott Harris has stockpiled a lot of depth arms, but I like these five the best. If they cant do that, then theyre still treading water despite all the new hires and technology added. Wingenters low spin, riding fourseamer is another with seam-shifted wake effects giving it extra carry and late, tailing life up in the zone. After an aggressive offseason that included signing free-agent shortstop Javier Baez to a big contract, the Tigers are hoping to take the next step towards contention. GameThread: Tigers vs. Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m. Five minor league signings that could impact the Tigers bullpen. A stint pitching for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League this offseason confirmed that the velocity was back in form, and Wingenter is now mainly trying to recapture full command of the slider this spring. Tagged: Detroit Tigers, Team Board, 2021 Detroit Tigers, scouting reports, Spencer Torkelson, Casey Mize, Riley Greene, . 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The other highly experienced major league among this group is the sole lefty, though the Tigers added numerous southpaws hoping to find someone to help a very right-handed bullpen. Little evidence of success has played out on the field over a long period of time, and its not easy to believe the new staff will rapidly turn the situation around. "We spent some time looking around, but when you have Major League experience, it's a huge asset. He and Jose Cisnero, along with Will Vest and Jason Foley, will all be expected to carry more of the load now, but theyll need plenty of help. At the minor league level, Gabe Ribas was hired away from the Dodgers to take over as Director of Pitching Development in the minor league system in the fall of 2021. Prepare full suite of scouting reports for pre-series. Tigers make major cuts in player development staff, 2023 Tigers player preview: Nick Matons a pretty versatile guy. Impact lefthander Catcher Tucker Barnhart is a former switch-hitter who gave up hitting from the right side in 2019 and now bats exclusively as a lefty. Gambling problem? They converted him to relief eventually, but he didnt finally break out until he was back in a Padres uniform for the 2019 season. Considering the loss of Chafin and Soto, the Tigers bullpen badly needs left-handed help. Hinch confirmed recently that he and the Tigers will retain the coaching staff in the same roles for next season. Now, Kelly will focus on scouting, joining a veteran crew of scouts that in many cases date back to his playing days with Detroit. The Tigers would like to see Shreve throwing 92-93 again, rather than the 90.6 mph he averaged in 2022. 3 min read. //