No flukes here: Tigers' top '26 pick twirls 4th straight scoreless start to begin pro career
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Make it four straight scoreless starts to begin Cameron Flukey’s career.
Flukey, the Tigers’ first-round Draft pick this summer, spun four shutout innings on Thursday for Single-A Lakeland in an 8-2 win over Bradenton at LECOM Park. The right-hander worked around two hits and three walks while striking out six Marauders. Flukey has also slowly ramped up his usage since debuting, with Thursday representing his longest outing yet by both innings and pitches (51 with 31 strikes).
After a single and walk to leadoff the first inning, Flukey struck out the next three batters to escape the jam. He started a double play to get out of the second inning and also had smooth, 1-2-3 third and fourth innings. Meanwhile, the Lakeland bats backed him up with seven runs in the third.
The 21-year-old Flukey, who stands 6-foot-6, averaged 93.1 mph on his four-seam fastball on Thursday. He maxed out at 95.9 mph and saw his velocity tick down a bit through the outing, but he still touched 93.4 mph as he worked through the fourth inning.
What was most notable, however, was an average 20 inches of induced vertical break on his fastball (or “rise”). That mark would place him among the top three qualified pitchers in MLB this season, as the average MLB four-seam IVB is 15.5 inches.
Flukey earned three of his six strikeouts on the four-seamer, including the 95.9 mph offering in the first inning. He also punched two tickets on his slider and one on his changeup.
The No. 22 overall pick after starring at Coastal Carolina, Flukey has started his professional career with 10 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Tigers’ new No. 6 prospect has struck out 14 in that time and allowed just four hits, though he has walked seven batters and hit three.
Flukey’s fastball is his premier offering, earning a 60 scouting grade, but adding to his 210-pound frame could help him generate even more power. He also features a plus slider and curveball. Though his changeup lags behind from a scouting sense and he did not use the pitch heavily in his final college season, he threw it six times on Thursday and made batters chase three of them.