Prospecting: Pair of Detroit pitchers cruising in high minors

The top prospect in Detroit's minor league system, according to pretty much everyone, is 19-year-old right-handed starter Jacob Turner. The kid just had his worst outing of the season on Thursday for Double-A Erie, and it wasn't really all that bad (7.0 IP, 4 ER, BB, 4 K). Turner is clearly young for his level, yet so far he's delivered a 2.70 ERA over 26.2 innings with 24 Ks and four walks. He's 6-foot-5, his fastball reaches the mid-90s with sink, and the curve and change are coming along nicely.

If things go well, Turner is a future top-of-rotation pitcher. Last season at Single-A, he struck out 102 batters in 115.1 innings, issuing just 23 walks and posting nice ratios (3.28 ERA, 1.12 WHIP). He's a pitcher to watch for sure, though he isn't likely to reach Detroit until late 2012.

But the Tigers happen to have another pitcher ? left-handed, not as young as Turner, also 6-foot-5 ? who's absolutely dominating in the high minors thus far, pitching well beyond anyone's expectations. And he received good reports from veteran Tigers this spring, too.

Charlie Furbush*, 25, currently leads all Triple-A pitchers in strikeouts, with 32 in just 23.2 innings. He's walked only five batters, allowed just 15 hits, and his ERA is straight from the Dead Ball Era (1.90). Over his last two starts, Furbush has pitched 14.0 innings and struck out 20 batters, walking one. So that's fairly impressive.

* Yes, that's a real name. And no, Brad Evans is not allowed to write about Charlie Furbush ? not now, not ever.

The thing is, no one really expected such stats from Furbush, small sample or no. He's a few years removed from Tommy John surgery, typically throws 89-91 mph, and he had a terrible time at Triple-A Toledo last season (6.29 ERA in 48.2 IP, 37 Ks, 16 BB). In December, John Sickels described him as a "very polished lefty with mediocre stuff," ranking him as the No. 17 prospect in the Tigers' organization.

But still, he made a favorable impression on a few of Detroit's regulars this spring. This via MLB.com's Jason Beck:

"One thing I see from him," [Ramon] Santiago said, "is good break on the slider."

[Carlos] Guillen flared a pop fly to right field, but turned on nothing. All [Brandon] Inge had to show for his time in the box against Furbush were some foul balls and some swings and misses.

"He had good movement from a lefty to righties," Inge recalled Tuesday. "But you know what? He spotted up there. He threw strikes that were good, quality strikes, where it would start on the [outside] third where you would want to go after it and run off. He had at least three quality pitches ? cutter, fastball, breaking ball."

So just file away the name, that's all I'm saying. Probably won't be too tough. Furbush is usually described as a potential No. 4/5 starter, which isn't normally the profile we like in the fake game. Of course he may come crashing back to earth, pitching to the preseason expectations. But when a guy piles up Ks at a rate like this, the fantasy community should take note.

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