Several of the Detroit Tigers‘ top-tier draft picks have risen to the big-league level in recent years.
That includes No. 1 overall picks Casey Mize (2018) and Spencer Torkelson (2020), plus 2016 first-rounder Matt Manning (No. 9 overall in 2016). Outfielder Riley Greene — drafted No. 5 overall in 2019 — would have made the Tigers’ roster had he not fractured his foot in the last week of spring training.
But for all the high-profile players in the Tigers’ system, it was their 2019 27th-rounder — drafted No. 802 overall — who got the call for Game 2 of their doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies.
Right-hander Beau Brieske made a few mistakes — most notably a homer to Connor Joe, the first batter he faced — but he also showed why he’s one of the fastest-rising prospects in the organization in the 3-0 loss to the Rockies.
“I was really encouraged with Beau, he did a great job, it was just two homers and a two-strike hit,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I was very, very happy with his composure, stuff was really good.
“Very proud of him, very happy for him.”
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Brieske’s final line: Five innings, three earned runs, three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
“I’m glad that I had friends and family show up and come watch me pitch,” Brieske said, reflecting on achieving his lifelong dream. “The advice that I got was to get out there early, soak it all in, look at everything, recognize what I had to do to get here and appreciate it. … So I got some good advice.
“But really now, it’s time for me to take it like it’s my job and know I need to be better the next time out there and that I can be better the next time I’m out there.”
He threw 73 pitches, 45 for strikes. He mixed in five pitches: 43 fastballs, 14 changeups, seven sliders, six curveballs and three sinkers.
After the leadoff home run, Brieske settled in. He recorded seven straight outs, including strikeouts of C.J. Cron on a 96.4 mph fastball to end the first and Sam Hilliard on a changeup to open the second.
Alan Trejo ended that streak when he singled on an 0-2 fastball — the No. 1 pitch Hinch said was a regret — with one out in the third. Brieske got Joe to fly out to center, but on the next pitch, Charlie Blackmon hit a 77.8 mph curveball 363 feet, sending it over the right-field wall.
“On a stuff perspective, it was nowhere near my best,” Brieske said. “The leadoff homer was a slider, it was a spinner I got behind it, I didn’t finish it and the one to Charlie Blackmon, I thought it was the right pitch but I got it low and in.
“You’ve got to know a guy like that, if you get it into his sweet spot with the way he swings the bat, he’s going to hit it.”
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He didn’t give up another hit, but he did get in one last jam. With two outs in the fourth, he walked Hilliard and Jose Iglesias in consecutive at-bats, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Chris Fetter.
“He said, ‘What are you going to throw to get out right here?’ ” Brieske said. “Hopefully, try to induce some weak contact early to get us out of this inning, so we went with the changeup and it worked.”
He needed just one pitch to get Dom Nuñez to pop out to Willi Castro, then worked a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth.
Beyond the radar gun, Brieske’s measurables were impressive, with a fastball that topped out at 2,543 rpm on his fastball and nine other heaters higher than 2,49 rpm; he generated eight swings and misses.
“You’d be confident, too, if you had his stuff,” Hinch joked after the game.
In 2021, Brieske threw 106⅔ innings with High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, posting a 3.12 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP and 116 strikeouts.
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That success led to him working with Mize in Lakeland, Florida, as the duo alternated throwing live batting practice. And to his start Saturday.
The callup came in a blur, Brieske said. He found out hwhile he was in the middle of a workout Thursday in Toledo. Called into manager Lloyd Mclendon’s office, he received the good news.
But he had to keep it quiet until the announcement became official.
“I had to try and put on a poker face,” Brieske said. “I had to go back and finish my workout like nothing happened, so that was funny.”
Saturday may be vthe night his dreams came true, but the job isn’t done; Hinch said he will get another start next week in Los Angeles.
Brieske said he’s already looking forward to it, with a five-day period to prepare at the big-league level and get back to how he normally thinks.
“I imagine I’ll have a week of preparation up here and it will seem a lot more normal, not just on a whim where I don’t really know what to expect,” he said. “Now, I kind of know what to expect. I’ll be around the guys I’ll be working with, so we’ll have a plan and I’ll attack that.”
Alex Faedo gets promotion
The Tigers have promoted right-hander Alex Faedo, who underwent Tommy John surgery in January 2021, from Low-A Lakeland to Triple-A Toledo.
In three games (one start) for Lakeland, the 26-year-old posted a 2.53 ERA with three walks and 12 strikeouts across 10⅔ innings. Before 2022, Faedo hadn’t pitched in a minor-league game since 2019 in Double-A Erie.
Faedo is expected to make his MLB debut at some point this season. The Tigers drafted him No. 18 overall in 2017.
Kyle Funkhouser to 60-day IL
To make room for Brieske on the 40-man roster, the Tigers transferred right-handed reliever Kyle Funkhouser — sidelined with a right shoulder strain — from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
Funkhouser landed on the injured list April 6.
For Brieske to join the 28-man roster, the Tigers optioned righty reliever Angel De Jesus to Triple-A Toledo. The 25-year-old made his MLB debut in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader.
De Jesus pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks with three strikeouts. He faced nine batters and tossed 23 of 38 pitches for strikes, with one strikeout in the eighth and two in the ninth.