Kreidler proves he's not one to sleep on

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Ryan Kreidler has read the quotes from housemate and fellow Tigers prospect Parker Meadows about the 6-foot-5 outfielder sleeping in a twin bed.

“I know he’s telling all you guys, ‘Aw, my feet are hanging off the edge,’” Kreidler said, breaking into a smile. “He’s fine. He hasn’t complained one time. There’s a pullout couch that he refuses to sleep on, and it’s kind of in its own room, and he won’t sleep on it. So I don’t want to hear it anymore from Meadows.”

Meadows, when informed of his housemate’s remarks a few minutes later, scoffed.

“That’s coming from a guy in a master bedroom, by the way,” Meadows said. “So I wouldn’t listen to him.”

Then Meadows smiled.

“But, no, it’s not that bad,” he admitted.

Still, Kreidler -- listed at 6-foot-4 -- calling early dibs on the master bedroom among five prospects in a four-bedroom house should not be a surprise. He showed last year that he knows a good opportunity.

A year ago, Kreidler was the extra player in Tigers Spring Training who wouldn’t go away, a seemingly daily callup for Grapefruit League games who did something to impress almost every game. That earned the former UCLA shortstop and fourth-round Draft pick from 2019 a chance to bypass Class A ball and open the 2021 season at Double-A Erie as the SeaWolves’ everyday shortstop. What was an early-season challenge became one of the more impressive success stories of the Tigers' farm system last season, earning Kreidler a promotion to Triple-A Toledo alongside top prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene.

Kreidler batted .304 with seven homers, 22 RBIs and a .926 OPS with the Mud Hens, and earned a spot in the Arizona Fall League before a right calf strain limited him to three games for Salt River. He made the best of a tough situation, rehabbing the injury with the medical staff -- which included Tigers Minor League trainer Chris Vick -- before the Tigers made the decision to shut him down.

“Although I got hurt at the start, I stuck around,” Kreidler said. “So I was in Arizona the whole time, which was great. But mentally at the end of that, it was kind of just, 'I want to go home.'”

Add up the stops, and Kreidler played 132 games, nine more than he played in his Draft year of 2019 between UCLA -- which fell a win shy of the College World Series -- and Class A Short-Season Connecticut. He posted an .804 OPS between Erie and Toledo, including 23 doubles, 22 homers, 58 RBIs and 95 runs scored. He struck out 158 times but improved his rate with regular at-bats and mental and mechanical adjustments as the season went on.

It was a year that vaulted him from the fringe of Tigers prospect rankings to No. 10 on the list per MLB Pipeline.

“It’s encouraging more than anything,” Kreidler said of last season. “It gives me confidence, knowing that I can do it. I’ve always thought that I could do it, as any guy who wants to play in the big leagues should. It’s been quite the long haul, and I’m super proud of the way I played last year. But it’s in the past, so moving forward, I want to go repeat what I’ve done and improve on it.”

Instead of a kid getting extra time in Spring Training, Kreidler is one of the more advanced members of the Tigers’ Minor League minicamp. The 24-year-old looks around his shortstop group and sees not only former Pac-12 rival Gage Workman, who’s 22, but teenage shortstops Cristian Santana and Manuel Sequera.

“I’ve been around Santana and Sequera quite a bit, and both those kids are very, very special infielders,” Kreidler said. “I’m learning from them. I’m hoping that the communication that we have, maybe they can learn something from me as well. …

“I’m getting my Spanish work in, so it’s been really fun.”

So far, Kreidler has attacked this camp. He teamed with Torkelson for a slick 3-6-3 double play during Thursday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Joker Marchant Stadium. A day later, Kreidler reached on an error, stole second and used a solid secondary lead to score on a Workman single to open the scoring. He added a single off Erie teammate Reese Olson a few innings later.

“I don’t think I stole enough [bases] last year,” said Kreidler, who has been working with his former SeaWolves manager Arnie Beyeler on reading pitchers. “I want to keep going. My percentage is really good; [I] didn’t get thrown out very much. I think I picked the right times to go, so just continuing to work with Arnie and the other coaches on little things.”

There are ways Kreidler can improve, all around. At the plate, he has been building on the approach he forged last year, working with Tigers instructors while incorporating philosophies from private instructor Doug Latta. Defensively, he has taken to instruction from new Tigers infield coordinator Billy Boyer, working primarily at shortstop but also dabbling at second and third base.

Kreidler is also in a position where, if he can build upon last year, he has a chance to get his first Major League call whenever Detroit needs another infielder. As he has shown, he is ready to take advantage of opportunities.