There has been a lot of buzz about three prospects — center fielder Parker Meadows, third baseman/outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy and infielder Colt Keith — throughout the 2023 season.
All three were in Triple-A Toledo this month, including Meadows and Malloy since the beginning of the season, before the Detroit Tigers promoted Meadows for his MLB debut in Monday’s 7-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Comerica Park.
“We pressed the button on Parker because we think he can help us in all facets of the game,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday. “There are several players in Toledo that are knocking on the door right now. We don’t think those guys are quite ready yet.”
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Keith is the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, while Malloy is the No. 9 prospect. Both top prospects, unlike Meadows, have never been on the Tigers’ 40-man roster. (Several other position players in Toledo — including infielder/outfielder Wenceel Pérez, infielder/outfielder Andre Lipcius and infielder Eddys Leonard — are on the 40-man roster and building toward potential MLB debuts.)
“With those guys specifically, in many ways, they’re the opposite of Parker,” Harris said of Malloy and Keith. “I think both guys have had bats that were a little bit ahead of the other facets of their game. I think both guys are working really hard on their defense and base running.”
Malloy, acquired in an offseason trade with the Atlanta Braves, seems likely to be the next player from the grouping to join the Tigers, possibly as soon as next month.
Rosters expand by two spots — from 26 players to 28 — at the beginning of September. Malloy, a right-handed hitter, has a .281 batting average with 18 home runs, 88 walks (18.1% walk rate) and 115 strikeouts (23.6% strikeout rate) in 108 games with the Mud Hens.
The 23-year-old owns an .886 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
“We think the bat alone is pretty close to helping us for a long time in the future,” Harris said of Malloy. “But he still has only played 15 games in right field, left field is still a pretty new position for him, and we think there’s some work he can do at third base to round out that part of his game. We also think he can be a better baserunner.”
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Improvements in Malloy’s defense and baserunning will determine his big-league timeline. He is considered a below-average defender at third base and should receive a bulk of his big-league reps at the corner outfield positions.
But Malloy didn’t play left field until May 31, and he didn’t play right field until June 23. (He received two starts at third base in 24 games in June, zero starts at third base in 15 games in July and one start at third base in 18 games in August.)
He has a combined 382⅓ innings in the outfield — compared to 337 innings at third base — this season. Once the Tigers feel comfortable with Malloy’s outfield defense, he will factor into the big-league plans.
“We got to make sure that these guys are ready to help us in all facets of the game,” Harris said. “We don’t want to be the organization that rushes players straight to the big leagues if they can help in one facet of the game but they’re a little bit behind in other facets of the game. We think they’re going to get there. We have all the confidence in the world in them and our staff in Toledo to get them there. We want them to be a little more well-rounded before we press the button.”
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Promoting Dingler
The Tigers promoted catcher Dillon Dingler, the No. 38 overall pick in the 2020 draft, from Double-A Erie to Triple-A Toledo on Aug. 15. The 24-year-old has played in three games for the Mud Hens, hitting .273 with one walk and four strikeouts.
He has played in 66 games, launching 13 home runs, this season with Low-A Lakeland (12 games), Double-A Erie (51 games) and Triple-A Toledo (three games). At Double-A, Dingler hit .253 with nine home runs, 27 walks (12.3% walk rate) and 63 strikeouts (28.8% strikeout rate).
“Pitchers want to throw to him,” Harris said, when asked about the decision to promote Dingler. “That’s a very positive sign for catchers. He helped that Double-A rotation get a lot better. I also think we challenged him to make a little bit more contact in the zone at the plate, and he’s done that. We’ve always known that he has plus or double-plus power. It’s just, how frequently could he get to it? I think he showed that.”
Harris said Dingler, the Tigers’ No. 11 prospect, needs to make more adjustments in Triple-A.
Commish visits Comerica Park
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who recently received a five-year extension taking his tenure through January 2029, visited Comerica Park before Tuesday’s game as part of his season-long tour.
He met with players and coaches from the Tigers and Chicago Cubs.
“He’s been doing this for a couple of years, circling through the league and talking to the players,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I had a chance to spend some time with him in my office, just catching up about the game. We had some laughs. We had some serious conversations. It’s good that he’s doing that and connecting with the players.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.