Detroit Tigers Have Sneaky Prospect That Could Work Through the Ranks
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The Detroit Tigers are off to a hot start in 2025. They are 11-8 heading into Friday and they sit atop the American League Central.
The Tigers are led by their young talent. Players like Kerry Carpenter, Spencer Torkelson, Riley Green and Dillon Dingler lead the offense. Casey Mize, Jackson Jobe and, of course, Tarik Skubal lead the way on the mound.
However, Detroit has plenty of prospects patiently waiting their turn to be called up.
Exactly half of their top-30 prospects are pitchers, so there is a bit of a log jam there. But there is one pitcher that could climb the ranks without cracking the top prospect list.
The Tigers signed Kenny Serwa after he went viral during a bullpen for Tread Athletics. He throws a high-velocity knuckleball that maxed out at 88.7 mph. It is undoubtedly the best pitch in his arsenal.
The 27-year-old is in his first season of affiliated ball in 2025, but he has dipped his toes in the waters of professional baseball before. Playing in the minor leagues is much different and definitely harder than independent ball, though.
The knuckleballer is having more success playing in the MiLB than he did playing in the American Association for the Chicago Dogs, or the Pioneer League for the Billings Mustangs.
Serwa has made three appearances in High-A for the West Michigan Whitecaps, including one start. In those games, he has thrown 11.0 innings, struck out 12 batters, walked just one and he has allowed only three hits. That has given hitters a batting average of just .088 off him.
The Chicago native threw five shutout innings in relief Thursday night, and he was lights out. He allowed two hits, struck out six batters and walked zero.
Let's talk Kenny Serwa... Or better yet, let's watch him work.
— West Michigan Whitecaps (@wmwhitecaps) April 18, 2025
Final Line for the night: 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 6 Ks pic.twitter.com/b5QtA18P6I
He was never one to walk a lot of batters. In 178.1 innings in the independent leagues, Serwa walked 32 batters. He walked only 45 throughout his collegiate career, as well. The fact that he has put just one batter on via the walk in the minors should not come as a surprise.
The command of the zone does come with some hits, though. He has allowed just three total hits in High-A, but as he works his way up, he will have to find a way to keep some of the more polished hitters off the barrel.
With the way Serwa is pitching right now, it would not be surprising to see him get called up to Double-A. If the success continues there, we could see him at Triple-A by the time the season winds down.
No matter what happens, the viral knuckleball is a must-see pitcher as he continues to take the mound in the minors.
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Cameron Zunkel is a sports writer from the western suburbs of Chicago. He played Division-II baseball at the University of Illinois at Springfield where he earned a masters degree in Communication. Cameron also played independent league baseball for the Joliet Slammers and Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League. He has been in journalism for the better part of two years now, and has a passion for baseball specifically. His other work includes writing sports betting articles for ClutchPoints. In his free time, you can catch Cam at the gym, on the golf course, or coaching the youth in the beautiful sport of baseball.