Tigers: Spencer Torkelson, 1B (MLB No. 4)
Parker Meadows, OF
Koby Clemens, 3B
Three future Tigers hopefuls contributed directly to their club’s win on Sunday afternoon. Torkelson capped a two-run opening frame with his first RBI of the spring on a two-out single to right field. Regarded as one of the premier prospects in the sport, the 22-year-old reached the 30-homer plateau last season, his first as a professional after being drafted first overall in 2020. Torkelson worked his way up across three Minor League levels in 2021, finishing the year in Triple-A Toledo. Overall, the Arizona State product batted .267/.383/.552 with 61 extra-base hits, 91 RBIs and 89 runs in 121 games.
Meadows made the most of his two at-bats, singling twice and driving in two runs in the ninth to even the score. The 22-year-old is looking to bounce back from a rough 2021 season when he hit .210 with a .623 OPS in 97 games with Single-A Lakeland and High-A West Michigan.
Clemens, the son of former Major Leaguer Roger Clemens, followed Meadows’ game-tying two-run single with the go-ahead hit to deliver Detroit the win. The 25-year-old is off to a 3-for-7 start this spring with a homer and two RBIs. Clemens went deep a career-high 18 times in 2021 while driving in 61 runs on a .245/.309/.423 slash line in 100 games with Single-A Lakeland and Toledo.
Padres: CJ Abrams, SS (MLB No. 9)
Abrams’ scorching start to Spring Training continued on Sunday with his second roundtripper in as many days. Pinch-hitting in the ninth inning and the Padres down four, the 21-year-old walloped a solo home run, equaling the amount he hit last year in the Minors when he totaled in 162 at-bats during an injury-plagued season. Through his first two Cactus League contests, Abrams is 4-for-6 with three RBIs.
Nationals: Cade Cavalli, RHP (MLB No. 39)
Washington’s top prospect was simply dominant in his first 2022 appearance in the Grapefruit League. Over three scoreless relief innings, the right-hander struck out six of the 10 men he faced and allowed just one hit with no walks.
“Cade looked really good today,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told MLB.com. “The biggest thing for him is repeating his mechanics and throwing strikes. He did both today really well, so that was really good to see.”
The 2020 first round pick made 24 starts at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A last year, going a combined 7-9 with a 3.36 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 123 1/3 innings pitched, leading the Minor Leagues in K’s.
Angels: Reid Detmers, LHP (MLB No. 21)
The Halos’ top prospect twirled two stellar innings in his first start of the spring, striking out five while allowing just one hit. Trying to pitch himself into the Angels’ Opening Day rotation, Detmers’ audition was a strong one.
“All my pitches felt good,” Detmers told MLB.com. “Changeup I thought was good, slider was good, curveball … I was throwing all of them, and everything was working.”
Last year, the 2020 first round pick reached the big leagues for five starts, posting a 7.40 ERA, but spent the bulk of his campaign with Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt Lake, where he combined to go 3-4 with a 3.19 ERA in 14 starts. The lone out Detmers recorded that wasn’t a strikeout on Sunday came on a grounder.
Cardinals: Jordan Walker, DH (MLB No. 30)
Walker enterd the game in the sixth inning and struck out in his first Grapefruit League at-bat. The 19-year-old bounced back two innings later, grounding an RBI single up the middle for his first hit and RBI of the spring. Drafted 21st overall in the 2020 Draft, Walker put together a strong professional debut last season, batting .317/.388/.548 with 43 extra-base hits, 14 homers and 48 RBIs in 82 games with Single-A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria.
Royals: MJ Melendez, C (MLB No. 51)
Melendez shook off two hitless at-bats in his Cactus League debut and tallied his first two hits and RBI of the spring. The 2021 Minor League home run leader with 41, Melendez singled to right and scored in the fifth inning and helped the Royals rally with an RBI knock in the eighth. The 23-year-old was one of the Minors’ biggest surprises last season, batting .288/.386/.625 with 66 extra-base hits and 103 RBIs with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha.
Yankees: Oswaldo Cabrera, 2B
Cabrera unloaded on his first long ball this spring and certainly made it count. The 23-year-old erased a sixth-inning deficit with a grand slam for his first four RBIs in Grapefruit League action. Cabrera took a major step forward last season, slugging a career-high 29 home runs with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, seven more than he hit in his first four years as a pro. In addition to his homers, Cabrera drove in 89 runs, scored 72 and swiped 21 bases while batting .272/.330/.533 in 118 games.
Braves: Kyle Muller, LHP
William Woods, RHP
Muller spun two scoreless frames in his first start of the spring. The 24-year-old allowed a single in the first inning but nothing else while striking out a pair. Muller made nine appearances (eight starts) with the World Series champion Braves in 2021, posting a 4.17 ERA while striking out 37 in 36 2/3 innings. The southpaw limited opponents to a .202 average during his time in the Majors. Muller’s Minor League tenure was spent entirely with Triple-A Gwinnett where he sported a 3.39 ERA across 17 starts. The Dallas, Texas, native averaged 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings, fanning 93 in 79 2/3 frames for the Stripers.
Woods matched his teammate on the mound, tossing two shutout frames himself while yielding a single and hitting a batter. Wood made only five appearances spanning 10 2/3 innings last season across two Minor League levels. Atlanta’s 23rd-round pick in the 2018 Draft was limited during the regular season due to forearm tightness. He got extra work in during the Arizona Fall League, spinning an additional 21 1/3 frames.
Athletics: Kevin Smith, SS
Less than a week after his trade from Toronto, Smith showed Oakland why they wanted him back in the deal for Matt Chapman. The 25-year-old made hiis first spring hit count, slamming a seventh-inning solo home run to left-center field. After struggling in 2019, Smith rebounded in a big way with Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo last year, batting .285/.370/.561 with 21 homers among his 52 extra-base hits. The New York native drove in 69 runs and swiped 18 bases in 21 attempts en route to making his Major League debut.
Orioles: Yusniel Diaz, OF
Diaz got just one at-bat on Sunday afternoon but made it count. The 25-year-old belted a solo home run to dead center field in the top of the eighth inning for the O’s.
Diaz is in a crucial year of his development this season, having not played more than 97 games in any campaign since 2017. The Havana native played just 65 games a year ago between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, batting .161/.233/265 with five homers while battling various lower body ailments including turf toe and a quad issue.
Pirates: Mason Martin, 1B
The power-hitting Martin delivered in a big way, notching his first two hits of the spring with a solo homer and a single. The 22-year-old followed up a 35-home run campaign in 2019 with 25 more last season to give him 85 roundtrippers in his first four professional seasons. Martin added 29 doubles and a pair of triples to his ledger while driving in 81 runs and batting .241/.317/.487 in 120 games with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.
White Sox: Bennett Sousa, LHP
Sousa’s spring debut couldn’t have been any better. The 26-year-old needed just 13 pitches, 10 for strikes, to strike out the side in the seventh inning, his lone frame of work. Although Sousa was roughed up in six Major League appearances, he was one of the better southpaw relievers in the Minors last season, striking out 71 in 47 1/3 innings and limiting opponents to a .209 average in 41 appearances. The 2018 10th-round Draft pick posted a 3.61 ERA with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte.