Detroit Tigers Unexpected Prospect Continues To Draw Praise in Spring Training
The Detroit Tigers are well underway in their spring camp, and there's an interesting development beginning to play out in Lakeland.
With a farm system in the Tigers organization as star studded as anywhere else in the league containing a staggering six top-100 future stars, understandably the top names command most of the attention when it comes to breaking down the pieces who are on their way up.
Guys like Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle, and Bryce Rainer who are poised to be faces of the franchise down the line are tremendous talents, but none of them are actually at spring training.
Top prospect Jackson Jobe - who of course is already on the cusp of expectations to be a part of the 2025 starting rotation - has a spotlight on him, but it's a relatively unheralded name who has been turning heads thus far.
Over the last week, Hao-Yu Lee has been the hottest name floating around as he tries to make a shocking push for a spot on the 40-man roster. Lee was acquired at the trade deadline in 2023 from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Michael Lorenzen deal and had a huge first season in Detroit's organization in Double-A.
A lot of the noise surrounding Lee is due to the team's crippling need at third base - which ironically he has not played a ton of in his professional career. Getting run at the hot corner along with Jace Jung and presumptive Opening Day starter Matt Vierling, Lee has been all the rage among local media present at camp, but now he is beginning to draw national attention as well.
During an appearance on the MLB Network, insider Jon Morosi named Lee as someone baseball fans have to keep their eye on.
"I think he's one of the top-100 prospects in the league," Morosi said. "He is someone who can really make excellent, loud contact...if he ends up being able to play third base as well with [Gleyber Torres] at second, it might not be the worst thing ever that the Tigers miss on a long-term third baseman."
Even with a huge spring training, Lee is likely to begin the season in Triple-A as a jump from Erie straight to the MLB level is a ton to ask.
Still, the 87 games he played in 2024 were incredibly encouraging. Slashing .298/.363/.488, good for an OPS of .851 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI displayed Lee is not far off from being ready to go.
What exactly the immediate future holds for Lee remains to be seen. It's entirely possible - if not likely - he struggles a bit to begin the year in Triple-A and is unable to make his debut until very late in the 2025 season or not until 2026, at which point he could become an option to take over the second base position.
Having just turned 22 years old at the beginning of February, he's already well ahead of schedule and rushing him along would be counter to his development
That being said, regardless of what decisions are made surrounding Lee in the coming weeks and months, the talented young slugger has already established himself as a name Tigers fans need to keep their eyes on moving forward.
