Detroit Tigers Top 100 Talent Pipeline Overflows With Seven Players
Just a month ago, Baseball America had three Detroit Tigers in its Top 100 prospects. Now, with a September re-rank, the Tigers have a whopping seven of them.
It’s an incredible largesse of talent the Tigers hope will migrate to the Major Leagues in the next few years.
The three prospects that were part of the last Top 100 are still there — pitcher Jackson Jobe, who moved up from No. 5 to No. 3; outfielder Max Clark, who moved up from No. 29 to No. 21; and shortstop Kevin McGonigle from No. 30 to No. 23.
The only prospects ranked higher than Jobe are Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero and Boston’s Roman Anthony.
The other four prospects in the Top 100 are third baseman Jace Jung at No. 73, shortstop Bryce Rainer at No. 84, catcher Thayron Liranzo at No. 90 and pitcher Jaden Hamm at No. 95.
Jobe, a former Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year was the Tigers’ first-round pick in 2021 and is now at Double-A Erie after earning a promotion earlier this year from High-A West Michigan. Combined he is 3-3 with a 2.02 ERA in 18 starts, with 81 strikeouts and 38 walks in 75.2 inning.
The 19-year-old Clark, was the Tigers’ first-round pick last year, along with being Indiana’s Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year and the Gatorade Best Player of the Year (regardless of sport).
Now at High-A West Michigan, he has slashed .282/.377/.428/.805 with nine home runs and 75 RBI in 103 games. Clark was invited to play for the American League in the MLB Futures Game earlier this month during All-Star weekend.
McGonigle was drafted last year in the second round after he was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year. Recently promoted to West Michigan, he has slashed .309/.401/.452/.853 with five home runs and 44 RBI in 74 games.
Jung, the Tigers’ first-round pick in 2022, was recently called up to the Majors and will likely graduate from the prospect rankings by the end of the year. With the Tigers he’s slashed .192/.288/.231/.519 in 15 games.
Rainer was the Tigers’ first-round pick in July out of high school in Los Angeles. He was assigned to the Florida Complex League but has not yet played in a pro game.
Liranzo was one of two players the Tigers got for pitcher Jack Flaherty in a trade in July. The other player, Trey Sweeney, is already in the Majors. Liranzo is with West Michigan and he has slashed .243/.374/.405/.779 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI in 96 games.
Hamm, the Tigers’ fifth-round pick in 2023 out of Middle Tennessee, is with West Michigan and is 5-4 with a 2.75 ERA in 23 games (22 starts) this season, with 118 strikeouts and 31 walks in 95.
MATT POSTINS