As if the Tigers don’t have enough pitching prospects dealing lately, Alex Faedo (Tigers' No. 10 prospect) added some history to the group Wednesday afternoon, tossing seven hitless innings as part of a combined no-hitter for Double-A Erie in a 4-0 win over Bowie.
The no-hitter for Faedo and reliever Drew Carlton was the SeaWolves’ first since Aug. 22, 2009, when Thad Weber went the distance to blank Akron. Elvin Hernandez’s no-hitter in 1995, when the SeaWolves were a Pirates affiliate in the Class A New York-Penn League, is the only other no-hitter in franchise history.
Faedo’s gem followed similar work by top prospects Casey Mize (No. 1) and Matt Manning (No. 2) on Tuesday. Mize tossed eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball for Class A Advanced Lakeland with four strikeouts over just 89 pitches, retiring his final 20 batters while throwing 69 of 82 pitches for strikes. Manning tossed six innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts for Erie on Tuesday, also against Bowie.
The strong opening months for Mize and Manning have overshadowed the strong start for Faedo. The Tigers’ first-round pick in 2017?has navigated the learning curve in Erie with solid command and an uptick in velocity, both of which were on display Wednesday.
Faedo retired the first 11 BaySox batters he faced before a four-pitch walk to Rylan Bannon with two outs in the fourth inning. A fifth-inning hit-by-pitch to Brett Cumberland and a seventh-inning error by shortstop Sergio Alcantara accounted for his other two baserunners.
“I guess you notice that there's no hits on the board,” Faedo told reporters at UPMC Park after the game. “But at the same time, I knew it was like a 2-0 game the whole time I was in there. So I was thinking more of not trying to get guys on base because I didn't want to get one in the air to tie up the ballgame. So I was really just trying to win the game the whole time.”
Faedo topped out at 95 mph on the UPMC Park radar gun, mixing in his trademark slider on his way to five strikeouts. In the end, the one opponent that prevented him from going the distance was his pitch count, which reached 90 by the end of a prolonged seventh inning.
It was not a difficult decision for SeaWolves manager Mike Rabelo, who also managed Faedo last year at his first pro stop in Lakeland.
“In player development, the key is development,” Rabelo said. “Now if this would've been in Detroit? Oh man, that's a tough decision. That would be on the Major League staff. But here, it's the easiest decision all day. He gets it, because everybody's goal is to get to the big leagues and do this accomplishment in the big leagues.”
Carlton finished it out with two hitless innings and two strikeouts. Daniel Pinero made a solid play at first base to start a double play following a leadoff walk in the eighth to keep the no-hitter alive.
Faedo improved to 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA in four starts this season. Seven of his nine runs allowed on the season came in one start against Binghamton last Thursday.
“I just remember what Rabsie told me last year if I had a rough outing, which is that good players have to find a way to bounce back and not let it have a snowball effect,” Faedo said. “I just tried to think about that and work with [the catchers].”
Add together the outings from Faedo, Mize and Manning, and the trio tossed 21 innings of one-run, five-hit ball over a 28-hour span. With Mize on the verge of an expected promotion, having dominated Florida State League hitters, the trio should soon be together in a star-studded SeaWolves rotation.