Tigers: Three Things To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Tigers were the WORST team in all of Major League Baseball last season, but even on Thanksgiving, fans can take some time to be thankful for a couple of things within the organization.
In 2019, the Detroit Tigers finished 47-114, dead last in all of the MLB while successfully clinching the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Amateur First-Year Player Draft. The team is a mess, the young players are being held in the minor leagues taking longer to develop than it may have been expected, injuries had kept Michael Fulmer from being the pitcher he was when he first arrived.
Matt Boyd struggled through the end of the 2019 season. The Tigers may not have the best situation right now, just like all four of the other Detroit sports teams, but there are still some things that all fans can rejoice and be thankful are. Take a look at some of the things that Tigers fans should be grateful for.
Reason #1: Basically, the entire Double-A Erie Seawolves pitching staff from the 2019 season
Every Tigers fan knows the name Casey Mize, and everyone knows how dominant he was on the mound until being shut down later in the year. The Double-A affiliate, Erie Seawolves, had arguably one of the best prospect filled rotations in the MiLB. Besides Mize, the Seawolves also had Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal, Joey Wentz, and Alex Faedo on the pitching staff, which was incredible.
Some of the Tigers’ best pitching prospects were pitching in Erie this season, and fans should be thankful that these players are developing and going to get the chance to move to the next level. Though injuries hampered Mize’s end of the season, he is still arguably one of the top prospects in the game and will be something special for this Tigers team.
Most fans knew about Mize and Manning coming into 2019, and also the struggles that Faedo had to begin the season, but things changed. Faedo would finish the season with electric performances on the mound, and Skubal has emerged as a solid left-handed prospect who adjusted well during his jump from Single-A to Double-A last season.
The Tigers acquired Wentz at the trade deadline, and he immediately jumped into the Tigers top thirty prospects and was stationed in Erie with the Seawolves. Fans should be thankful for the health of this pitching staff’s future. Hopefully, some of these guys will make moves up to Triple-A and continue their dominance on the hill and keep the dominance of the Tigers’ future pitching staff intact.