Tigers Minor League roundup
Izaac Pacheco has now homered in three straight games. 20 years old, folks @jgoldstrass with the call. pic.twitter.com/VDJ1KuzHqe
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport)
“Not this year,” the Giants first baseman said with a smile before Sunday’s series finale at Comerica Park. “But no, he just has to go out there and pitch. I went through the same thing when I was in Double-A. Sometimes I was thinking, ‘When am I going to get called up?’ I tell him not to think about that. Just go out there and do your thing. Don’t worry about that. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
When the two brothers — there are actually four of them with the same name — talk about baseball, they talk about the developmental part, with the older brother relaying his experiences as a former top prospect. He can’t help his brother throw his changeup better, but he can talk about what makes a good changeup from a hitter’s perspective.
“Just be willing to fail,” he said. “Because you’re going to fail a lot in this game. Physically, he’s got it all. Just teach him that not every outing is going to be good. Even if you’re good, you’re not going to go out there every time and throw seven innings and dominate every outing. Just keep that in mind.
That advice seemed particularly important this week after the younger Wilmer suffered one of his roughest outings at Double-A Erie, allowing six runs on four hits over 1 2/3 innings against Altoona. All the damage came in the second inning after Flores retired the side in order in the first, including highly rated Pirates prospects Henry Davis and Liover Peguero.
Triple-A Toledo: 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy
From a pure-hitting standpoint, Malloy is owning Triple-A pitching. He entered Sunday on a nine-game hitting streak and batting .383 (18-for-47) for the season, with more walks (15) than strikeouts (11). He hasn’t hit for much power yet, with just two doubles and a home run for extra-base hits, but his 26.7 percent line-drive rate entering Saturday is the best of his pro career, according to FanGraphs.
Single-A Lakeland: Trevin Michael
The relief prospect has struck out 11 of the 17 batters he has faced over 4 2/3 scoreless innings in three outings for the Flying Tigers, including all five batters he faced Friday against Bradenton at Joker Marchant Stadium. The former University of Oklahoma closer, a 10th-round pick in last year’s MLB Draft, is old for the level at 25, but he could see a promotion to West Michigan soon.