One name Detroit Tigers fans should know every time the season begins is potential right-hander Wilmer Flores.
When it came to early pitch development in the past for the Detroit Tigers, there weren’t many stories of a player Detroit signing on a low dollar amount and turning them into a regular rotation.
In 2020, Baseball America has identified the Tigers as the 7 best organization in the development of undrafted free agents. They mentioned pitcher Ken Hill, who went to find success elsewhere, outfielder Ron LeFlore and rescuer Joe Jiménez. Ron LeFlore’s story is quite impressive and if you haven’t heard of it, it was a good story; They made a movie out of that in the late 1970s.
The current starting rotation of insiders like Casey Mize (2018 first round), Matt Manning (2016 first round) have been drafted at a high level and are expected to join the rotation quickly.
Tark Skubal (2018 ninth round) became one of the first Tigers pitchers to enlist after the fifth round to spin and make at least 10 left-handed starts. scott aldred (16th round pick in 1986) in 1991. Skubal’s rookie season was solid, showing that Detroit could build talent beyond the first five rounds of the draft.
Enter the curve on the right Wilmer Flores
Flores is the younger brother of winger Wilmer Flores, who last played for the Giants. He arrived in the United States in 2019 from Venezuela and I only spent a season in Arizona Western, a high school. In his short time there, he pitched in six games, all as a reliever, and allowed six five-hit points, knocking out 16 in 11.2 innings pitched and walking 12.
If there’s one thing you should never do, it’s just look at the stat line. The Tigers liked what they saw in a live arm, which is 6’4 tall and weighs 225, and they signed him in 2020 as an undrafted free agent. Here is Flores launching a sample of perspectives.
Fast forward to 2021, where Flores starts the year in the Florida Complex League for the Tigers West team. He’s made two starts and seems relieved on another before getting the call to Lakeland. For anyone who has seen the Flying Tigers this season, only a handful of starting pitchers like Carlos Guzman and Jack O’Loughlin were rotation regulars, so the sight of Flores in mid-July was welcome.
The day it would make its first opening in A low would be July 16. Note that he came with only 23 innings of pitches here in the US between college and the FCL.
A reason for the crossed out numbers? A fastball that went up to 98 with a good sidearm punch, a power curve with good dart action, and a slider that didn’t throw often but had a spin speed of 2852. Combine this with a very effective cutter. against lefties and you have three solid tones.
Don’t be fooled by the above 4 ERA, he had a 2.61 FIP and a K for 9 of 12. He fits the high and powerful profile. Changes to your college clearance are present, as you can see here. He added a step before launching with a medium kick to the leg.
Sweet 16
Recently, FanGraphs Spotted Its Best Tigers Leads and ranked it 16th overall. In our list, it was simply missing, but in the list that I presented; I also had it at No. 16 because of its material, which moves everything, and its ability to wobble and crash thus far.
Our friends at Bless You Boys released their list of the Tigers’ top 30 prospects today and Brandon Day also ranked it 16th. Day’s rating with Flores is good, so Check it out.
In addition to talking to our good friend Brandon Day, I spoke to Trevor Hooth, who works at Prospects Live and BYB, to get his thoughts on Flores.
Flores is one of the most interesting weapons of the organization for me. He gets above-average spin speeds on all of his courts, as well as his great spin on his big curve ball. Between a 90 fastball and that hammer throw is a reasonable RP throw. I’d like to see it at the highest levels. It is also credited with a cutter and gearbox. Speaking purely of data, it appears that the cutter could really create a wrinkle in the arsenal if it threw more. The Tigers development system is getting better and better, so I’ll stay optimistic. I think with his 4-pitch repertoire and his spinning feel, there’s a chance the Tigers will hit him as a starter. After all, he’s only 20 years old and he certainly has the chassis to go.
Trevor makes a good comment on the improvement of the Tiger development system. The progress of round-robin picks Beau Brieske, Garrett Hill and Chavez Fernander this season has been significant and shows there is some kind of plan in place.
If Flores can work on his control, cut walks and rack up innings as a starter at High-A West Michigan this season, the $ 20,000 investment the Detroit Tigers signed him for will be a good sign for the baseball club and your ability to evaluate. talent.
While his AFL numbers, as Chris said in his just-lost piece, were high, how many times have we seen a potential Tigers candidate with only one year in the organization get a chance to play in the AFL? Go ahead and ponder that question for a bit.
There is still a long way to go before he makes it to the big leagues, but he has already shown that he has potential. The Tigers need all the help they can get to go deep as minor league starters.
A potential rotation of Ty Madden, Dylan Smith and Flores’ West Michigan Whitecaps? Yes please.
