Tiger Cubs (notes on the minors)

[monkeytargets39]

Pacheco with 2 HRs tonight.  Would be a pleasant surprise if he can regain some prospect status

[chasfh]

5 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Pacheco with 2 HRs tonight.  Would be a pleasant surprise if he can regain some prospect status

He’ll have to do better than .203./297./392 at AA for that to happen.

 

[monkeytargets39]

Pacheco hits another one to give Erie the lead in the 9th.  

[Tiger337]

11 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Pacheco hits another one to give Erie the lead in the 9th.  

Can we get update on his stat line?  

 

[monkeytargets39]

4 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Can we get update on his stat line?  

 

.205/.290/.433 not good, but he got off to a bad start in April.

 

slashed .260/.360/.481 in May

and is slugging .733 in June so far.

[RedRamage]

On 6/3/2026 at 9:03 AM, RedRamage said:

Bryce Rainer seems to have taken a small step forward from April to May

In April he had roughly 81 PAs and struck out 36 times, walking 10 times. His OBP was 305 and his SLG was 338
In May he had roughly 96 PAs and struck out 34 times, walking 13 times. His OBP was 333 and his SLG was 373

So all stats went in a positive direction... only a small positive direction, but it's still positive. It's also worth noting that his April was split between Low-A and High-A while all of May was High-A, so a little stiffer competition.

Give that there was at least some hype that Rainer was the next McGonigal, there's still a LONG way for Rainer to go, but he seems to at least be trending in the right direction.

Super early in June, but so far .294/.409/.529 thru 5 games. K rate around 33%. These are all WAY better his stats line from April and May.

Now, I know this is WAY TOO EARLY talk... Right now there is no way you could even reasonably project Rainer making the MLB roster in 2027 (assuming there is a 2027 season), but this is more of a defensive question: Let's assume Rainer makes the 27 or 28 season roster. Where do you put him? Where do you put McGonigal? 

[Nate7474]

16 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

Super early in June, but so far .294/.409/.529 thru 5 games. K rate around 33%. These are all WAY better his stats line from April and May.

Now, I know this is WAY TOO EARLY talk... Right now there is no way you could even reasonably project Rainer making the MLB roster in 2027 (assuming there is a 2027 season), but this is more of a defensive question: Let's assume Rainer makes the 27 or 28 season roster. Where do you put him? Where do you put McGonigal? 

I still think McGonigle is limited at Short and would be better served to be at 2B long term due to arm strength. I still think that Rainer is still the best option with Peck also factoring in as a superior defensive option that would move Rainer to 3rd. 

[NorthWoods]

21 minutes ago, Nate7474 said:

I still think McGonigle is limited at Short and would be better served to be at 2B long term due to arm strength. I still think that Rainer is still the best option with Peck also factoring in as a superior defensive option that would move Rainer to 3rd. 

If Peck can hit that would be optimal.

[gehringer_2]

35 minutes ago, NorthWoods said:

If Peck can hit that would be optimal.

Guys hitting well is always optimal!

Edited Monday at 03:28 PM by gehringer_2

[SoCalTiger]

1 hour ago, RedRamage said:

Super early in June, but so far .294/.409/.529 thru 5 games. K rate around 33%. These are all WAY better his stats line from April and May.

Now, I know this is WAY TOO EARLY talk... Right now there is no way you could even reasonably project Rainer making the MLB roster in 2027 (assuming there is a 2027 season), but this is more of a defensive question: Let's assume Rainer makes the 27 or 28 season roster. Where do you put him? Where do you put McGonigal? 

It's easy for me. As I have been saying I see McGonigle as a third baseman and Peck as the shortstop. Too early for Rainer but he could force McGonigle to second or Peck to the bench. It would be a wonderful problem.

[gehringer_2]

notable how this discussion has written Keith right out of the picture.....

Not that I am surprised, but just a reminder how tenuous the hold of even the best prospects is on a successful MLB career.

[NorthWoods]

1 minute ago, gehringer_2 said:

notable how this discussion has written Keith right out of the picture.....

Not that I am surprised, but just a reminder how tenuous the hold of even the best prospects is on a successful MLB career.

Keith and Anderson could still be in the 2B picture.    I still like the idea of moving Greene to 1B.

[RedRamage]

10 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

notable how this discussion has written Keith right out of the picture.....

Not that I am surprised, but just a reminder how tenuous the hold of even the best prospects is on a successful MLB career.

I don't think most people are eliminating Keith as a player, just that he's not in the discussion at SS. Again in our hypothetical world where Rainer becomes major league ready offensive by 27 or 28, then you have two guys who are superior to Keith defensively. There is no way that Keith will be your regular starter at either position if you have both McG and Rainer on the roster. If you've got Peck involved too than you have three superior defensive infielders so Keith is 1st or DH at that point. (Edit to add: I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know... I just like to type stuff out sometimes so don't take this as me trying to school you on how to evaluate players.)

In my humble opinion, a better example of the tenuous nature of prospects would be Jung... who is actually now listed at 1B with the Mud Hens.

[gehringer_2]

22 minutes ago, SoCalTiger said:

It's easy for me. As I have been saying I see McGonigle as a third baseman and Peck as the shortstop. Too early for Rainer but he could force McGonigle to second or Peck to the bench. It would be a wonderful problem.

interestingly enough Rdrs loves McGonigle at both SS and 3b, though sample size is too small for that stat to tell you much yet - just that he certainly can't be outright bad and still be plus 7 even if the sample is small. On statcast, he's minus one overall (good not great) and it jumps right out that he is positive against RHB, negative against LHB at both SS and 3rd, which supports the theory that his first step or two are plenty quick but he does suffer range wise when he is left with more ground to cover and has to go farther. Also agree his throwing velo is meh, but I think he mostly makes up for that with a very quick release, so I don't see that as so much of an issue. Range limit would hurt at 2b when men are on. I'll say 3b next to a SS with + range should be the optimum for him.

[Nate7474]

29 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

notable how this discussion has written Keith right out of the picture.....

Not that I am surprised, but just a reminder how tenuous the hold of even the best prospects is on a successful MLB career.

I personally like Keith a lot however for some reason the organization seems like they don’t and where has the power gone? Seems like they are not developing him or atleast if they are it’s more of a piece to be moved around. I can’t count him as part of future starters until he starts getting playing time against lefties even if he struggles. 

[monkeytargets39]

We are just inking Torkelson in as a starter at 1B?  He should be on a short leash too

[Nate7474]

4 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

We are just inking Torkelson in as a starter at 1B?  He should be on a short leash too

I think Tork will be replaced as he gets more expensive. Unfortunately he just hasn’t developed more and unless he really picks it up this year I don’t see him in the long term plans. 

[Tiger337]

14 minutes ago, Nate7474 said:

I personally like Keith a lot however for some reason the organization seems like they don’t and where has the power gone? Seems like they are not developing him or atleast if they are it’s more of a piece to be moved around. I can’t count him as part of future starters until he starts getting playing time against lefties even if he struggles. 

It seems to me as if they really liked him at one point since they offered him a long-term deal.  My guess is that they are not using him against LHP until he masters RHP.  Perhaps, they think he'll need a different approach versus LHP and they don't want to mess him up.  I think the bigger problem is his lack of power.  He's not a good fielder, so he is not going to be a regular if he isn't a plus hitter including power.    

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

It seems to me as if they really liked him at one point since they offered him a long-term deal.  My guess is that they are not using him against LHP until he masters RHP.  Perhaps, they think he'll need a different approach versus LHP and they don't want to mess him up.  I think the bigger problem is his lack of power.  He's not a good fielder, so he is not going to be a regular if he isn't a plus hitter including power.    

Does anyone know if Keith made the off season change in his setup on his own, or with a consultant, or with team guidance? He's now the poster child for the risk of trying to make changes in the way you hit in the off-season. Even with Traject machines and whole nine yards of tech there is apparently still no way to be sure if what you worked on/committed to, is going to work against MLB pitching.

FWIW, without finding video to compare, it looks to me like he has already moved back to a somewhat higher bat position than he started out the season, but without much result so far.

Edited Monday at 04:31 PM by gehringer_2

[Tenacious D]

I believe this is why Harris avoided Bergman and Bichette this past offseason.  We have legitimate infield options in Keith, McGonigle, Lee, Anderson, Peck, Jung and Rainer.  Potentially Yost, too. Maybe none will be Berg or Bichette in their prime, but that is not what we would have been paying for.

Keith’s performance has been a huge letdown—hopefully he can turn the corner in the second half, but his team friendly contract will keep him in the mix for years.  I’ve been one of Tork’s biggest supporters, but I think we’re seeing what he is.  I think the team will move on from him next season—he might have appeal to a team like the Reds or Rockies.

Barring a trade deadline sell-off, I can see next season’s infield like this:

1B: Keith/Tork

2B: Anderson/Lee

SS: McGonigle/Baez

3B Keith/Anderson/Lee

If Peck is ready, he probably gets SS with Kevin moving to 2B or 3B.

And if we sell at the deadline, I would anticipate the Tigers prioritizing OF and starting pitchers in return.

Edited Monday at 05:34 PM by Tenacious D

[gehringer_2]

10 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

I’ve been one of Tork’s biggest supporters, but I think we’re seeing what he is.

after looking at this logs I'm a bit less worried about Torkelson. He got to the start of May looking pretty normal but then had a 6/71 stretch arcross 15 games when he was seriously off his feed. But in the 70PA since that two week stretch, he's back to 250/300/469 - ie. pretty normal. Of course you remove any player's worst stretch and they look better so we'll see if he can keep the OPS at least over 750 the rest of the way.

[RedRamage]

If you listen to Locked on Tigers, you know why I'm asking this question now.

Thoughts on Ben Malgeri? He's got an OPS just over 900 in Toledo. He supposedly is good defensively, and a right handed hitter. Obviously he's untested in the majors, but Perez doesn't seem to be doing much.

[Tigermojo]

5 hours ago, RedRamage said:

If you listen to Locked on Tigers, you know why I'm asking this question now.

Thoughts on Ben Malgeri? He's got an OPS just over 900 in Toledo. He supposedly is good defensively, and a right handed hitter. Obviously he's untested in the majors, but Perez doesn't seem to be doing much.

Not a top 30 prospect. Unsustainable. 390 BABIP. Lower OPS than Gage Workman and we all saw how his stats translated from AAA to MLB. Last but not least, he's not on the 40 man roster.

[Edman85]

10 hours ago, RedRamage said:

If you listen to Locked on Tigers, you know why I'm asking this question now.

Thoughts on Ben Malgeri? He's got an OPS just over 900 in Toledo. He supposedly is good defensively, and a right handed hitter. Obviously he's untested in the majors, but Perez doesn't seem to be doing much.

The only place i can find defensive metrics for the minors is BP, and their numbers are not very kind to him. The BABIP luck has been brought up. I'm not sure he's an upgrade on Perez.