Tyler Alexander
The Detroit News: Alexander, Ravenelle cruising but Tigers will be patient
 Lynn Henning, The Detroit News
Those familiar with Tyler Alexander’s pitching history will see nothing particularly surprising about a left-handed starter’s 2016 season.
After all, he pitched, and pitched well, at Texas Christian, where Tigers scouts were so impressed they made him Detroit’s second-round pick in last June’s draft.
…
Alexander, a native Texan, was strong last summer at Single A Connecticut (0.97 ERA, .133 opposing batting average) in 37 innings as the Tigers were careful about his workload following TCU’s season.
This spring at Lakeland, Alexander pretty much has duplicated his 2015 work. He’s thrown 48.1 innings and has been nicked for 39 hits, while striking out 41 and walking only nine. He threw seven scoreless innings in Lakeland’s 4-1 victory on Sunday.
“Very advanced thinker,†Littlefield said of Alexander, who is 6-foot-2, and 200 pounds. “He competes well. He’s mature. He throws a lot of strikes and has an advanced approach.â€
Alexander is a three-pitch practitioner with a sinker / fastball combination that cruises anywhere from 88-92 mph. He throws a decent slider alongside a very good change-up.
“Sometimes, his individual pitches aren’t as impressive as the overall package,†Littlefield said. “He locates real effectively, and the change is probably his best pitch. It has nice fade at the end and he throws it as well to right-handers as he does to left-handers.
“There’s command and life to his fastball, and it’s a fairly complete pitching package. But it’s still in the development stage.†…
Read the rest at http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2016/05/22/alexander-ravenelle-cruising-but-tigers-patient/84747284/