The Detroit Tigers are sending eight minor-league players, including three prospects from their top 30, as ranked by MLB Pipeline , to the Arizona Fall League next month.
The eight players will compete for the Scottsdale Scorpions: catcher Thayron Liranzo , first baseman Josue Briceño , right-handed reliever Eric Silva , right-hander Rayner Castillo , right-handed reliever Wilmer Flores , shortstop Peyton Graham , left-handed reliever Jake Miller and right-handed reliever CJ Weins .
The AFL season begins Oct. 7.
The championship game is Nov. 16.
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The three players listed on the Tigers' top-30 prospect list : Liranzo ranks No. 6, followed by Briceño at No. 9 and Silva at No. 27. The Tigers acquired two of those players at the July 30 trade deadline: Liranzo from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty trade and Silva from the San Francisco Giants in the Mark Canha trade .
Liranzo, 21, hit .315 with five home runs, 26 walks and 20 strikeouts across 26 games in High-A West Michigan following the Flaherty trade. Before the trade, the switch-hitting catcher had a .220 batting average with seven homers, 49 walks and 82 strikeouts across 74 games at the High-A level in the Dodgers' organization.
He combines a powerful swing with patience at the plate.
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Briceño, a 20-year-old whom the Tigers signed as a catcher out of Venezuela in January 2022, seems likely to settle in as a first baseman at the upper levels of the minor leagues. The left-handed hitter played in 40 games in Low-A Lakeland, hitting .278 with two home runs, 22 walks and 26 strikeouts.
He missed more than three months with a right knee injury.
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Castillo, 20, is the best of the five pitchers going to the Fall League. He posted a 2.56 ERA with 23 walks and 56 strikeouts across 70⅓ innings in 16 starts in the Florida Complex League (three starts) and in Low-A Lakeland (13 starts). The Tigers signed Castillo out of the Dominican Republic in January 2021.
For the Flying Tigers, Castillo registered a 2.52 ERA over 60⅔ innings, sitting around 95 mph with his four-seamer and sinker. His slider generated a 42.6% whiff rate.
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers sending 8 players to Arizona Fall League, including Thayron Liranzo
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