Cristhian Tortosa

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Detroit Tigers #26 prospect in 2017
  The Tigers signed Tortosa out of Venezuela in 2015 for $30,000 and under normal circumstances he would have spent his first pro season in the Venezuelan Summer League. The league shuttered after the 2015 season, however, and the Tigers responded by joining the Yankees as clubs with two Gulf Coast League teams. Tortosa pitched all season in the GCL and showed why the Tigers believe in his upside. His fastball sits in the low-90s from a loose, easy delivery. He also showed a slurvy breaking ball and the makings of a changeup as well. The Tigers are particularly intrigued by Tortosa's size and remaining projection, and see him adding velocity and physicality as he gets older. He dealt with two bouts of forearm soreness in 2016--once at midseason and then again during instructional league--but did not have surgery. Tortosa will pitch all of 2017 as an 18-year-old, so he is likely to return to the Gulf Coast League to continue developing in the controlled environment of the Tigers' minor league complex.