My tour of the Midwest League continues with a two game look at the Dayton Dragons and the West Michigan Whitecaps, the High-A affiliates of the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds. The pitching in this matchup stood out, particularly on the Dayton side of things. There were fun arms such as Joe Boyle and Chase Petty, among some other fun names.
Joe Boyle, RHP CIN
Game Stats: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
I hadn’t seen Boyle prior to this start, and I have to say it was very impressive. He featured a big fastball that sat in the 95-97 MPH and topped out at 99 MPH, which he hit on several occasions. He appeared to have a two-seam variant at 93-94 MPH. He featured a power slider in the 87-89 MPH range and a curveball that sat at 80-83 MPH.
He was in command in this start, racking up strikeouts and filling up the strike zone. He got plenty of whiffs in the zone on each of his pitches. The four-seam played well to the top of the zone with the two-seamer playing to the bottom of the zone. Boyle would front door the slider a lot to righties and blow it by the Whitecap hitters. He would lose the zone in short stints, but never for an extended period of time. That wasn’t kind to his pitch count, but it didn’t hurt him.
It’s a big, filled-out frame with long levers. Despite that, he repeats his mechanics pretty well. It’s a pretty low-effort operation, but there is a small amount of effort. He takes advantage of his height, throwing from a high-3/4 arm slot. His fastball and slider would play as a power reliever down the road, likely needing more improvement in command to stick in the rotation. One thing was clear, there’s nothing left for him to learn in High-A, he’s progressed above this level.
Chase Petty, RHP (CIN)
3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
This was the High-A debut for Petty. His pure talent was on display, but he looked like a 19-year-old pitcher, which is exactly what he is. His fastball/sinker was 94-97 MPH and it took on a lion’s share of usage. His slider was more polished than I anticipated coming in, but it still had a wide velocity range of 82 MPH-89 MPH. It had big sweep across the zone with two-plane break. Petty rounded things out with an 87-89 MPH change with armside fade.
The pure stuff has plenty of movement and potential. He gave up five runs in the first inning then battled really well through the rest of his outing. Even with his nasty stuff, he wasn’t getting many whiffs. That mostly had to do with his command and sequencing. He had a tendency to speed up bats by throwing the sinker after the hitters would be late on offspeed pitches. Petty also used the big part of the plate a lot, whether intentional or not. Professional hitters will take advantage of that. Of course, that comes after starting the game with a slew of walks and hit batters. He settled into things and the talent is there, he just needs to learn to pitch and command his stuff a little better. The talent is very clear. The operation is very low effort, and some of the easiest upper-90’s velocity you’ll see.
Josh Crouch, C (DET)
Game Stats: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI
Crouch was banged up earlier in this series, so I only got one game of him DHing. Still, it’s easy to see that Crouch is a very underrated name in the Tigers farm system. He collected a couple of hits in this game, using both gaps to do so. He has quiet hands and a quick load. It’s a straightforward swing that can produce power to his pull side. He did successfully cover the outside of the plate with a soft liner that resulted in a single. He covers the plate very well with a good knowledge of the strike zone.
This is the fifth game I’ve seen Crouch and he continues to impress. With his offensive skillset and solid arm behind the plate, he’s as good of a catcher that the Tigers have in their system. He doesn’t have the athleticism that Dillon Dingler does, but he does have enough to be considered a decent catching prospect for the Tigers.
Carlos Guzman, RHP (DET)
Game Stats: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
I’ve been watching Guzman for years on streams, and even seen him live. I never quite understood why he was getting opportunities to start until this start. He flashed the best stuff I’ve ever seen him have in this outing. It was still a two-pitch mix with a 94-96 MPH fastball and a slider sitting 88-89 MPH with depth. He was effectively moving the ball around the zone, getting swing and miss and weak contact. His operation is simple with low effort. This lineup was recently gutted by promotions, so the stats are misleading. The true impression made was the stuff he brought to the table. It’s still a reliever profile at best, but his stuff could potentially play well in that role.
Tyler Callihan, 2B (CIN)
Game Stats: 1-for-7, 2B, 4 SO
I got two games of Callihan due to a player being removed following a hit by pitch. He didn’t fare well statistically, but he’s still fairly new to the level. His first game saw him strike out three times, in the second game he was making more contact. His swing produced some easy pop when he found the barrel. That was on display when he effortlessly hit one just inches away from being a homerun to the deepest part of the yard, winding up with a double.
Callihan has good bat speed that helps generate that power. He showed better bat to ball on day two when he was making better swing decisions. He only got a pair of chances at second base and made the plays. His actions show that he should be a good enough defender to play second base.
Donovan Benoit, RHP (CIN)
Game Stats: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
This is a relief profile all the way, but it’s a good one. I saw a couple of innings with two really good pitches. His fastball was 93-96 MPH with armside run, and he’s topped out at 97 MPH in the past. His slider was excellent as well, with tight, two-plane break between 83-85 MPH. He threw a couple of changeups as well. He didn’t rack up strikeouts in this game, but he also didn’t have his best stuff. That’s scary because the stuff was really good. It ticked up in his second inning and I got to really see what he has to offer. Benoit needs to find more consistency, but if he does he find himself with two above average-to-plus offerings.
Other Notable Players
Austin Hendrick, OF (CIN)
A former first rounder, but I only got one game to look at Hendrick. It became abundantly clear pretty early that he was going to try and hit every ball out of the stratosphere. He takes really big swings at the ball. He has a quick, compact swing that can produce plenty of pop. He just swung very hard and he missed a lot. There’s a very clear uppercut to his swing, so in order to produce power he needs to find the barrel. Without that he will hit a lot of flyballs.
Aaron Haase, RP (DET)
This was another High-A debut during this weekend. Haase was a late round pick by the Tigers in 2021 with big spin rates on his slider. It certainly breaks that big, too. It generates a ton of sweep across the zone with depth. It can be a legit out pitch. The rest is still a work in progress. His fastball was 88-92 MPH and the slider was in the low-80s. His command was a little all over the place, too. He has a short, compact frame and high effort in his delivery. The big breaking ball makes him a relief prospect if the rest of the profile comes around.
Steven Leyton, 2B/SS (CIN)
Leyton is about to be fighting hard for playing time with the additions of middle infielders from trades. He’s not a flashy name by any means, but he is one of those players that plays hard. He was a pesky hitter at the plate, just putting bat to ball and driving it to the outfield. His simple swing and good bat to ball skills resulted in him finding some success at the plate. He doesn’t have a big league ceiling right now, but if things keep going this way he could eventually find himself in a utility role.