Detroit Tigers: Top 10 Rookie-Eligible Prospects for 2018
10. Gregory Soto, LHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 2/11/1995 (23)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A West Michigan Whitecaps, high-A Lakeland Flying Tigers
2017 Stats: 23 GS, 124 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 12.5% BB, 27.8% K
Info: Signed out of the Dominican ahead of the 2013 season, Soto has taken time working his way to full season ball, but he finally got there in 2017. He certainly didn’t disappoint for the wait.
Soto may have a future reliever profile, but he had such success as a starter in 2017 that it makes sense to keep pushing him forward in the rotation until he forces his way out. The biggest concern was his struggle with control, and a lot has to do with his high leg kick, from which he sometimes has inconsistent landing, getting his upper body ahead of his lower body due to the high kick and seeing his control suffer due to this.
Soto may have a future reliever profile, but (…) it makes sense to keep pushing him forward in the rotation
Soto works with a fastball that works into the upper 90s, with one report of triple digits in two starts, but most topping out at 98-99. He tends to sit in the mid-90s with his fastball with late life on the pitch that gets the ball off the barrel of the bat and get weak contact.
Soto mixes in two breaking pitches, a curve that works in a 1-7 movement with some hard bite. He struggles with getting behind the pitch rather than on top of it when he is ahead of his lower half in his delivery. His slider is still something he’s working on, but he showed some flashes due to the similarity out of hand to the fastball of having his slider be an effective pitch.
Soto certainly needs a second fastball grip or a change to give hitters a second look that keep them off his fastball, but the biggest thing for him will be managing his delivery. He’s physically filled out at 6’1″ and roughly 200-210 (listed at 180, but he’s certainly more than that), so he can work in his mature frame at this point.
The Tigers could open Soto back in high-A as he only made 5 starts at the level in 2017, but at 23 years old already, they could also push him up to AA in 2018. A lot will depend on how he performs this spring.
9. Kyle Funkhouser, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 3/16/1994 (24)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A West Michigan Whitecaps, high-A Lakeland Flying Tigers
2017 Stats: 12 GS, 62 2/3 IP, 2.44 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 7.5% BB, 32.5% K
Info: Before his season was shut down by elbow inflammation, Funkhouser was on pace to feature near the top of this list with the season he was having.
As it sits, the Detroit Tigers’ 2016 4th round selection is now entering his age-24 season, and he’s never pitched in the upper minors and hasn’t thrown 100 innings in a pro season yet. He’ll likely get the opportunity to check off both things in 2018, but he’ll have to see how he responds once the season begins.
Funkhouser has the build and stuff to be a solid mid-rotation option with a fastball that sits 91-93 and can touch 96. He has an excellent slider with very good late bite, albeit without a lot of tilt. He throws a power curve that doesn’t get a ton of depth, but it does generate a good amount of worm burners. He also has a change that is below-average. It could be a good idea to drop the change in favor of a cutter or a split finger.
Funkhouser will likely open with AA, but he will need to show success this season to establish himself, but he’s got a fairly high baseball IQ as a pitcher and could be a quality back-end starter if he can’t make mid-rotation work.
Next: #7 and #8