One of those six position bats the Tigers grabbed 13 months ago in the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft was a fifth-round pick assorted analysts thought might be a coup: Colt Keith of Biloxi (Mississippi) High.
Keith was a 6-foot-3, 200-pound, left-handed stick who looked as if he could play a variety of infield spots, or swing to the outfield.
The Tigers got him for $500,000 ($75,000 above the MLB-approved slot price), which Keith decided was enough to make him forgo his Arizona State scholarship.
Keith is 19 and now being schooled at Single-A Lakeland. And doing very well — offensively. He is batting .290, with a .728 OPS. His July report card: 15 games, .340 batting average, .444 on-base percentage, .358 slugging (.803 OPS).
“I do think he’s a little beyond expectations,” said Dave Littlefield, who oversees Tigers player development. “He’s giving some competitive at-bats, and for a first-year guy, a year out of high school — that’s always a very tough year for a prospect, his first year in pro ball. And he’s competing well.”
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In fact, players still in their teens aren’t often competing above the Florida Complex League (former, the Gulf Coast League), which in fact is where Keith was stationed until he was moved last month to the Flying Tigers roster.
Keith’s left-handed bat is his ticket. He is more of a singles hitter in 2021, with only four extra-base hits in 93 at-bats. But that’s hardly news to the Tigers, who understand power develops as a player’s body adds muscle and maturity.
The more serious issue for Keith at mid-summer is his defense. He has played mostly third base, taking occasional turns at second, and has five errors in 25 games for the FCL Tigers and for Lakeland.
“His offense is ahead of his defense right now,” Littlefield said of a man whose early fielding percentage is .909. “I think it’s just a matter of playing at the professional level. Defensively, the game’s a lot faster.”
An unspoken option remains: If the infield doesn’t work out, Keith’s arm and overall gifts should make him a nice candidate for a corner outfield spot.
“But we’re ecstatic,” Littlefield said. “He has competitive at-bats. He’s got a good stroke. He’s a competitive kid who wants it in the worst way. He’s a hard worker with tough makeup.”
Also of interest: Keith’s mixed splits against both-sides pitching: He has an .847 OPS in 19 at-bats against lefties, and a .696 OPS in his 74 duels with right-handers.
Erie’s big boys adjust
Riley Greene, 20, is an exception to baseball rules that Double A is a tough adjustment.
Greene, the Tigers’ first-round pick from 2019, got one of Erie’s three hits in a loss Sunday to Bowie. He is batting .281 with and .845 OPS as he continues his apprenticeship in center field.
Spencer Torkelson, last year’s first-overall MLB Draft choice, is hanging in as he continues with his mission to play third base: .235 average, and .871 OPS.
Dillon Dingler? He hit a home run Sunday, one of two he has slammed since moving along with Torkelson a month ago to Erie. He’s batting .209 and .604.
Dingler’s defense delights a front office that understands a catching prospect a year out of college, even if at a sophisticated level (Dingler played at Ohio State), has enough to learn about professional baseball’s version of defense, let alone about swinging a consistent bat.
Which is why there will be no move soon to do anything but let Dingler simmer and season at Erie, and Torkelson, as well.
Greene’s another matter. The Tigers say they’re in no rush to move Greene to Triple A. But urges can become more acute when a player is as blessed as Greene, which is why, especially as promotions to Detroit are now in vogue among Toledo’s Triple A cast, the Tigers could be contemplating future scenarios for their No. 1 prospect.
Down Under up-and-comer
Five years ago, the Tigers signed a 16-year-old pitcher from Adelaide, Australia. Jack O’Laughlin’s 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame and high-horsepower left arm suggested he might be something special.
O’Laughlin is now 21 and, after some physical issues is pitching for low-A Lakeland.
He is old for his league. He lacks a distinctive past pitching portfolio. Why, then, the organizational intrigue in one, fairly nondescript lefty?
O’Laughlin does not toss lightning bolts. His fastball is 89-92. But his height and that left arm are hinting at a pitcher who could find work in a variety of rotation or relief roles.
In three starts for the Flying Tigers, O’Laughlin has worked 15.2 innings. He has been slapped for 12 hits, while striking out 12 and walking four.
What the Tigers like is that word scouts can’t always explain: “pitchability.”
Fastball, slider, change-up. Nothing extraordinary about the routine. But there is enough deception to his high-altitude delivery to make them think O’Loughlin might be moving from secondary to more serious consideration.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and former Detroit News sports reporter.