https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...r-woes-snag-franklin-perez-ascent/2071042001/
Tigers remain hopeful as shoulder woes knock Franklin Perez's development off track.
Detnews
Tigers right-hander Beau Burrows is recovering from a left oblique strain and has been shut down for the remainder of the season. As Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes, the injury concludes what has been a trying season for the pitching prospect, as Burrows also dealt with a shoulder issue at the start of the year and posted a 5.51 ERA over 65 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
Like many minor league hurlers this season, Burrows has had trouble keeping the ball in the park, surrendering 12 homers over those 65 1/3 frames. Burrows, the 22nd overall pick of the 2015 draft, received some top-100 prospect attention from Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com prior to the 2018 season, but his stock dropped after only a decent year at Double-A. It all adds up to a tricky offseason decision for the Tigers, who now have to choose whether or not to add Burrows to the 40-man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
Detroit has multiple prospects that are Rule 5-eligible and only a certain amount of open space, leading McCosky to wonder if they would still protect Burrows if his future (as some in the organization believe) is ultimately as a relief arm.
Burrows isn?t the only question mark within the Tigers? crop of young hurlers, as Franklin Perez is still trying to get on track from the shoulder problems that have essentially cost him two seasons, Lynn Henning of the Detroit News writes.
Once seen as the centerpiece of the trade package the Tigers received for Justin Verlander two years ago, Perez was a consensus top-100 prospect heading into the 2018 season, and MLB.com still had him 78th on its top 100 list prior to this season. Since the start of the 2018 campaign, however, Perez has tossed just 27 total innings amidst multiple trips to the injured list. Adding to the frustration, Henning writes, is the fact that doctors have been unable to find any underlying structural issue that would explain the pain Perez has felt in game action. Perez doesn?t turn 22 until December, though it remains to be seen when (or even if) he?ll be able to pitch on a consistent basis, let alone effectively enough to get him back on a path to the big leagues.
MLBTR
