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Tigers instructs features first-round hurlers from past two years
- Updated: October 12, 2016
In each of the last two Drafts, the Tigers scouting department has gone after the highest-risk category of player with their first-round selection: high-school pitcher. In 2015, Texas high school right-hander Beau Burrows was the choice at No. 22 overall. This past June, the Tigers went to Northern California to get former two-sport standout Matt Manning with the ninth overall pick.
With Burrows spending the year with West Michigan in the full-season Midwest League and Manning getting his professional feet wet in the Gulf Coast League, the two former prepsters who are ranked as the Tigers’ top two prospects hadn’t had the chance to work together until both headed to Lakeland for this fall’s instructional league camp, which runs through Saturday. Having the pair in one place should be beneficial for both young pitchers, but particularly for Manning, who can look to Burrows and the path he has already started forging.
“It’s very good for Matt,” Tigers farm director Dave Owen said. “It’s been fun for us as a staff to think, ‘That was Beau a year ago and look at where he is now.’ You can see Matt having the same growth. I think Beau will be a good sounding board for Matt. Them being together daily in their bullpens and their drills, I think it’s going to help Matt.”
The Tigers didn’t hesitate in pushing Burrows to full-season ball right out of Spring Training and while pitch counts and innings totals were monitored closely — he finished with 97 total IP for the season — it was a largely successful campaign. The fact the right-hander posted a 1.32 ERA over his final six regular-season starts was a good sign he was making some solid adjustments.
“What we’ve seen is an understanding of command, command of his fastball,” Owen said. “These guys, if you leave it over the plate, even in the Midwest League, they can put a pretty good swing on you. As he continues to move forward, he understands command is going to keep him going on. He’s understanding the repeatability of his delivery and how consistent it needs to be. Those are pieces of the puzzle he understands now. A year ago, he knew about them, but now he’s experienced how important they are.”
Those are lessons he can pass along to Manning, who logged 29 1/3 Gulf Coast League innings during his debut. A former basketball star, he comes to the pro game a bit more raw than Burrows, but his athleticism, plus the notes he can take from …
