Tigers Minor League Baseball Blog

Andrew Miller had some better luck in his second rehab start despite the Hens not winning.  He gave up just one run on one hit with five strikeouts in three innings to start the game.  Yorman Bazardo threw six solid frames but Jose Capellan gave up three runs in the top of the ninth as the Hens lost it 6-3.

Timo Perez doubled and drove in two runs in the loss.  Brent Clevlen went two for four with a triple and a run.

Andrew Miller threw three tough innings as he started his rehab assignment with the Hens.  He gave up five runs on five hits and five walks with four strikeouts in just three innings.  He reached his pitch count pretty quickly and those three pretty poor innings were all he could manage.  Joel Zumaya threw better with a shutout eight.  He didn’t strike anyone out but he also didn’t give up a base runner.

All of the scoring in this 8-7 win came prior to the sixth inning.  Mike Hessman homered and drove in four runs while Timo Perez went three for four with a triple, two RBIs and two runs.

Dallas Trahern had established himself as one of the top pitching prospects for the Tigers right after Andrew Miller but he took a step back in a pretty rough start against the River Cats.  He was tagged for eight runs on twelve hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Mike Hollimon was the hitting star in the 8-4 loss.  He went four for five with two doubles, two RBIs and a run.

Andrew Miller did it again.  He gave just seven hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in 7 2/3 shutout innings.  He’s now given up just two earned runs (three total runs) in 30 2/3 innings and he’s struck out 24.  He’s thrown at least seven innings in each of his four Erie starts and he hasn’t give up more then one earned run in any of them.

Andres Torres singled twice and he drove in two.  Erick Almonte doubled twice, drove in two and scored a run while Joel Roa went two for four with a homerun, two RBIs and two runs.

Andrew Miller got the job done on the mound in Erie’s 8-1 win over Harrisburg.  He gave up one run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in seven quality innings.

Erick Almonte was the hitting star.  He went three for four with two RBIs and a run.  Clete Thomas went two for four with a double and two runs.

The Seawolves put only one run on the board and a terrific start by Andrew Miller went to waste in a 2-1 loss.  Miller gave up one run on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts in eight innings.  Matthew Righter gave up two walks and a hit in the ninth inning and he took the loss.

Kody Kirkland drove in the only Seawolve run.  He went two for four with a solo homerun.

James Skelton continued his terrific season with four more hits in the White Caps 12-5 win over the Loons.  He doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored one and he’s now hitting .366 on the season.  Ironically, the White Caps got it done against Dodgers top prospect Clayton Kershaw, who along with Andrew Miller, is considered one of the best left handed pitching prospects in baseball.

Jonah Nickerson picked up the win despite a poor outing.  He gave up five runs on five hits and three walks with one strikeout in six innings and the win improved his record to 3-3.

A very nice start by Andrew Miller went to waste as the bullpen gave up five late runs in Lakeland’s 5-4 loss to Dunedin.  Miller gave up five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.  Gabriel Bentitez gave up three runs in an inning and Ricky Steik gave up the tying and go ahead run in the eighth as he took the loss.

Michael Hernandez belted his fourth homerun of the season and he drove in two runs.  Cameron Maybin singled twice and scored a run in the 5-4 loss.

Cameron Maybin was out of the lineup and I’ve been looking for a reason why.  Haven’t found anything but when I do, I’ll let you know.  Anyway, the Flying Tigers were held to just one run on four hits and Wilkin Ramirez scored that one run in the second inning.

Andrew Miller was hit hard again and he gave up eight runs on ten hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.  It’s his second tough start in a row and the third time he’s been roughed up this season.

Andrew Miller had a tough time against Dunedin today.  He gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings. 

The lone Lakeland run was driven in by Justin Justice.  Cameron Maybin doubled, drew a walk and scored the only run in the 8-1 loss.

Andrew Miller got it done today for Lakeland but the hitters didn’t get it done as they lost 1-0 to Fort Myers.  Miller threw a complete game and he gave up just one unearned run on three hits and no walks with six strikeouts.

Cameron Maybin had two more hits and he’s now pulled his batting average up to .286.  He was the only hitter with more then one hit.

Two games, two losses.  In the first game, Andrew Miller was roughed up and he gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.  He actually didn’t take the loss though because Fort Myers won it in the seventh with a single run off of Freddy Dolsi.  Cameron Maybin finally racked up his first hit of the season and he finished with a solid game.  He went two for three with a homerun and two runs.  Dusty Ryan homered twice and drove in three runs in the 5-4 loss.

In the second game, Cameron Maybin hit another homerun Michael Hernandez went three for three with two RBIs in the 6-4 loss.  Paul Hammond took the loss in relief and he gave up two runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Andrew Miller held the Tampa Yankees to three hits in five shutout innings tonight in a rain shortened five inning game.  He struck out three and didn’t give up a walk in a nice season debut.

Justin Justice hit a solo homerun and Michael Hernandez and Ryan Roberson both doubled and scored a run in the 3-0 win.  Cameron Maybin went 0 for 2 in his Lakeland debut.

No surprises here as MiLB.com breaks down the top prospects by position based on their major league affiliate’s division.  Both Andrew Miller (LHP) and Cameron Maybin (OF) made the cut.  And speaking of Miller, there’s already some speculation that, if he shows his stuff, he’ll be up quicker then first thought to take Kenny Rogers’ spot in the rotation.

MiLB.com recently reviewed the Tigers minor league system in their organizaton reviews.  There’s a bunch of stuff here, with the bulk of the column being on players on each stop in the Tigers minor league system.  Kyle Sleeth is profiled in the Double A section and if you haven’t gotten enough of Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, you get more here.  You also get a rundown of all the players the Tigers picked in the 2006 draft.

MiLB.com recently took a look at some of the happenings with the Tigers at spring training.  They discuss where Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin will eventually end up (which appears to be Lakeland) and there’s also a Q&A with the guy with the super slider himself.  It wraps with a discussion on Kyle Sleeth and Jair Jurrjens.  Good stuff here so check it out.

Coming in at number two, and the top pitching prospect in the Tigers’ minor league system, is the man with the wicked slider, Andrew Miller.  While the Tigers’ rotation may be set, one of those guys better look out because at some point, Miller is going to be in the there.  The only question is who’s spot is he going to take.  He can touch the high 90s, has the great slider and he keeps the ball down and gets a ton of ground balls.  He was the concensus number two prospect on all three lists and he’s very well deserving.

Miller was the best pitcher on one of the best college baseball teams (CWS runner up North Carolina) and he dropped to the Tigers because other teams were worried about how much it’d cost to sign him.  He struck out nine batters in five innings at Lakeland before getting a callup by the Tigers where he struggled with 10 walks in 10 1/3 innings.  He’ll start the season at Lakeland, but expect him to be at Erie in a couple of months.  Then in 2008, all bets are off and he very well could make the Tigers big league rotation.

Alright, the Tigers made some cuts today and none of them were big surprises.  Probably the most optimistic move was announcing that Kyle Sleeth will start at Double A.  After a solid spring, the former first round draft pick will get the promotion despite struggling last year in the minors.  Having Kyle Sleeth there will make keeping track of Erie a little more interesting.

2006 first round draft pick Andrew Miller will head to Lakeland as expected.  Virgil Vazquez and Jordan Tata were both bumped to Triple A   Jair Jurrjens, Gabe Johnson and Dusty Ryan will all report to minor league camp and their status in the Tigers’ system is still uncertain.

Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin showed up on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospect List.  Maybin comes in at number six while Miller just made the first tier and he came in at number ten.  Unfortunately that’s all that made the list but anytime you have two in the top ten, you have to be happy.

Kevin Goldstein recently released his top 100 prospect list and the Tigers had a very solid showing in the top twenty with Cameron Maybin coming at number seven and Andrew Miller finishing seventeenth.  The bad news is, those were the only two Tiger representatives on the list.   Former Tiger farmhand Humberto Sanchez came in at 65.

We all know the Tigers are top heavy right now and once you get past Maybin and Miller, it’s kind of a crap shoot.  You’ve got some guys with some potential but no other can’t miss (if there is such a thing) prospects.