Detroit Tigers infield prospect Colt Keith recorded one of the most impressive offensive efforts of the season on Tuesday night, hitting for the cycle as part of a six-hit, two-homer effort. Keith's performance came as a member of the Erie SeaWolves, the Tigers' Double-A affiliate, against the Harrisburg Senators.
As MLB.com noted, no big-league player has ever hit for the cycle in a game in which they recorded six total hits and launched two home runs. What's more is that just four big-league players have ever hit for the cycle in a game in which they collected six knocks. The most recent of those was Christian Yelich in August 2018.
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— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 17, 2023
Colt Keith hits for the cycle for the @erie_seawolves in perhaps the most productive 7 innings ever:
5 H
2 HR
3B
2B
7 RBI pic.twitter.com/UoFAIEhmzu
"I honestly didn't think about it until our pitching coach, Juan Pimentel, said something like, 'If you hit a double, make sure you trip and stay at first,' or something like that," Keith told MLB.com. "I felt pretty invincible going up there in the last at-bat. I felt like everything was clicking and I was going to get a hit."
Earlier in the spring, CBS Sports named Keith as the Tigers prospect we were more excited to watch this season. Here's what we wrote at the time:
Keith was in the midst of a breakout season last June before injuring his shoulder diving back on a pickoff attempt. He's a promising offensive prospect with above-average power from the left side. The questions facing him, besides health, are his position and whether or not he can do enough damage against same-handed pitching to be an everyday player. Here's hoping Keith can stay on the field and provide some answers.
Keith, 21, is now batting .300/.359/.554 with seven home runs and 28 runs batted in on the season. He's achieved those marks despite being, on average, three years younger than his Double-A competition. Additionally, they've come after a shoulder injury limited him to just 48 games in 2022. (He did later resurface to play in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .344/.463/.541 with three home runs in 19 contests.)
