Relief pitcher Austin Bergner earned his promotion from Lakeland to West Michigan earlier this month.
"It meant a lot," Bernger said. "Just because of the environment and climbing another level in the minor leagues, so it was super exciting."
The Tigers ninth round draft pick in 2019 out of North Carolina struck out just six hitters per nine innings in two stops in the minor leagues in 2019.
In ten appearances in Lakeland this season before the call up, Bergner was fanning 12.6 per nine.
"I had to lock in my command, my command wasn't very good in college," Bergner said. "I was just an athlete in college and high school and I really figured out in the first half season in pro ball, that draft season, that I had to get my command a lot better and improve that."
Bergener is currently adding a slider as a fourth pitch in his arsenal.
"As an athlete it is easy to get frustrated on days that there is not as much improvement as the day before," Bergner said. "Today I was a little frustrated with my early work, but just talking to coaches make me feel a lot better understanding that it is a process and we are taking baby steps and going in the right direction."
The Boca Raton, Florida native also throws a mid-nineties fastball, a curveball and a changeup.
"I think it is just going to mix better with my repertoire," Bergner said about the slider. "Some of the guys in the organization have been talking to me about throwing a slider and it feels a lot more natural than a curveball for me so I am excited to see where that goes and where that takes me in my career."
In three appearances with the Whitecaps, Bergner has a 1.59 earned run average and seven strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings.
