Unjustly left out of this week’s farm digest, Kyle Tyler reminds us that just because he pitches in the middle of each week, he shouldn’t be forgotten at the end of it! MiLB announced today that Rocket City Trash Panda Kyle Tyler has won AA South Pitcher of the Week, on the strength of an excellent May 26 start, and a 15.2 scoreless inning streak spanning three appearances.
I had made notes last Wednesday that Tyler should be in contention for both Prospect of the Week and Performance of the Week, and promptly lost them in Memorial Day shuffling – but he certainly would qualify for both. On May 19th, he delivered the strongest start by any Trash Panda pitcher in May, pitching seven scoreless innings against Pensacola, scattering 3 hits, 3 BBs, and 5 Ks on 97 pitches. The following week, on May 26th, he’d put up six more scoreless innings, surrendering only two hits, punching out nine and only walking one – solidly efficient over 90 pitches. He did it in a 1-0 victory against the same brutal Birmingham Baron offense that would punish Reid Detmers and the Pandas bullpen for 17 runs over the weekend. Tyler’s 9 Ks were a career high.
Kyle Tyler was a 20th round draftee in the Angels 2018 draft out of the University of Oklahoma. He had a very strong junior year there, putting up a 2.97 ERA as both a mid-week starter and reliever, with 84 strikeouts over 66.2 IP. He’s continued that effectiveness in the Angels org, evidenced by a 2.59 ERA across Burlington and Inland Empire in 2019, and an impressive 2.53 ERA in AA Rocket City this year. He’s doing it with a three-pitch mix – low-90s fastball, slider, and an improving changeup.
Beginning of the season, I’d be inclined to say that Tyler projects as a depth starter who might join Sandoval, Barria and Suarez for spot starts in late summer this year, if he continues to perform. If you can perform in AA ball against some of the strong Southern offenses there, you’re not far from the show. At minimum, Tyler’s an interesting arm to monitor alongside Reid Detmers, Cooper Criswell and Jhonathan Diaz in the Trash Pandas rotation this summer.
Kyle Tyler is on the mound vs the Chattanooga Lookouts tonight, looking to extend his success into a third week.
Nice. Any unexpected pitching development is extremely appreciated.
T.T., do you think Kyle will work on adding a 4th pitch to his arsenal? Something to keep hitters having to guess between 4 options coming v. 3 options?
Hmm, does he need a fourth pitch? I dunno.
I suspect he’s focused on refining and consistently executing the changeup – at least that seems to be what he’s said in the recent interviews that are out there.
Final line: 8 IP, 7 Ks, 0 BB, 4 hits, 1 ER. One run surrendered was a single cashed in by the bullpen in the ninth.
Scoreless inning streak ended at 23.2 innings.
So how much longer until they move him up to AAA?
Probably no reason to rush him to AAA, especially the Triple-A West, where the extreme park factors can encourage bad habits. It’s like playing in Coors Field every day.
He’s actually seeing strong competition in AA – the Miami, Tampa Bay, White Sox and Cinci affiliates have decent offenses. Probably makes sense to keep him there for another month to see other clubs before breaking his spirit in the extreme hitter’s parks of the old PCL.
Booooooo! Connor Higgins gives up an earned run 8.2 innings in, on a 2-2 count, cashing in Tyler’s late single, ending his scoreless streak. Trash Pandas win 6-1, but poor Kyle Tyler. Connor gotta give that kid a hug.
Hey T.T. Are you looking for a MLB PXP job? I know where there’s an opening ( At least there should be)
Haha, I’ve done radio for 20 years, but as a music DJ, not PxP. Not looking for a baseball job beyond this “serious hobby”. 🙂
Scoreless through eight! Two quick flyball outs, and then a single that the runner tried to stretch into a double…which LF Dalton Pompey promptly cut down with laser to 2b.
Tyler getting some good luck here in the late innings with some wind blowing in and solid defense behind him.
Kyle Tyler struck out the side in the seventh to extend his scoreless inning streak to 22.2 (!). All against the AA South’s best offenses.
Tonight: 7 IP, 7 Ks, 0 BBs, 86 pitches. 1.91 ERA on the season.
Some dicey moments in the sixth after two quick strikeouts – ground-rule double and a cheap infield single from… wait for it… ex-Halo Leo Rivas. But Tyler keeps it together and gets a groundball out to preserve his scoreless streak through six.
Through five innings tonight, Kyle Tyler has one-hit the Chattanooga Lookouts on 55 pitches, extending his scoreless inning streak to 20.2 innings.