Beau Burrows Exceeds Expectations

Best Player

The Tigers had high expectations for righthander Beau Burrows when they made him their first-round pick in 2015 out of Weatherford (Texas) High. He certainly showed why during the first half of the 2017 season.

Burrows went 6-5, 2.74 through 16 starts while racking up 82 strikeouts and 23 walks in 82 innings. He had recorded a 1.22 WHIP.

His strikeout numbers and his fastball command stand out to farm director Dave Owen.

“Even though he can still elevate his fastball, he’s driving it down into the strike zone more consistently,” Owen said. “He’s just kind of putting some things together.”

Burrows absolutely dominated early in the season, his first at high Class A Lakeland, before being promoted to Double-A Erie after just 11 starts.

“This is a good challenge for him in Erie,” Owen said. “He needs to continue to work on other pitches besides his fastball. He doesn’t need to discard his fastball, but as he’s climbing the ladder he’s going to need to have all his weapons available.”

Biggest Leap Forward

With 40 rounds in the draft, very few players slip through the cracks. The Tigers seem to have found one of those rare undrafted gems in 21-year-old righthander Jason Foley.

He made just seven appearances as a professional in 2016 after signing in early August as an nondrafted free agent out of Sacred Heart.

Foley hit the ground running in 2017 in his first full season. Working as a reliever, he went 3-3, 2.70 through 22 appearances with a 0.96 WHIP and 39 strikeouts in 33 innings. He earned a promotion from low Class A West Michigan to Lakeland on June 23.

Foley’s fastball has drawn rave reviews.

“He sits in the upper 90s,” Owen said. “He’ll sit 97-99 (mph), but he has hit 100 . . . He’s throwing it. He’s commanding it. He’s got control of it. That’s what you look at as he continues to get better is that he throws it where he wants to throw it.”

Despite triple-digit velocities, Foley had walked just 1.6 batters per nine innings.