Funkhouser out for season with freak foot injury

An unfortunate freak injury has ended a promising second full season for Kyle Funkhouser.
The Tigers' No. 7 prospect will miss the rest of the 2018 campaign after undergoing surgery to fix a fractured right foot, the Detroit organization announced Tuesday. Funkhouser suffered the injury when he turned his ankle on an uneven sidewalk, according to the club. He is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training.

Funkhouser was promoted to Triple-A Toledo two weeks ago and last pitched for the Mud Hens on Saturday. His International League career got off to a rough start: he walked 10 batters and gave up six earned runs over 8 2/3 innings (6.23 ERA) in his first two starts for the Hens.
The 24-year-old right-hander was coming off a successful stint with Double-A Erie, where he was an Eastern League All-Star after posting a 3.74 ERA with 89 strikeouts and 39 walks in 89 innings. 
Funkhouser was a first-round pick by the Dodgers in 2015 but chose to go back to Louisville for his senior season, only to fall to the Tigers in the fourth round of the 2016 Draft. He tossed 62 2/3 innings last season for Class A West Michigan and Class A Advanced Lakeland but was shut down in mid-June with elbow inflammation. 
When healthy, Funkhouser has a low-90s fastball and above-average slider that have helped him put up strong strikeout numbers. Command can be an issue, as demonstrated by his all-too-brief stint with Toledo. However, his stuff still puts him right in the mix in a Tigers system loaded with right-handed pitching prospects like Casey Mize, Franklin Perez, Matt Manning, Alex Faedo and Beau Burrows.