Flamethrowing Detroit Tigers Prospect Rising Fast in Team Rankings

The Detroit Tigers have a pitcher at High-A that hitters are finding, well, unhittable in his first full minor league season.

Sep 6, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; A Detroit Tigers ball cap with the reflection of Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium in the sunglasses. / Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

A pitcher that strikes out hitters at least 30% of the time plays well in the Major Leagues.

In time, that’s where Detroit Tigers prospect Jaden Hamm could find himself.

MLB Pipeline is preparing to release its Top 100 prospects next week. To tease that release, the site revealed which prospect for each team was its fastest riser in each team’s Top 30 prospects.

For the Tigers, that prospect turned out to be Hamm, who is already their No. 18 prospect.

Why? Well, it’s that strikeout rate.

Pitching for High-A West Michigan, no qualifying pitcher in High-A has a better strikeout rate than Hamm’s 31.6%. His 2.45 ERA is fourth in High-A.

He’s 5-3 in 20 games, 19 of which have been starts. He’s struck out 107 in 84.1 innings with just 24 walks.

He was only a fifth-round pick last year out of Middle Tennessee, but the 21-year-old is driving his own progress with a fastball that consistently hits the mid-90s. MLB Pipeline points out that the fastball has a “ton of ride up in the zone” and is emerging as his best pitch. He’s also showing off a curveball with swing-and-miss potential.

The next step is to pitch longer in games. He’s only pitched more than five innings in one start. But based on his potential, he could be a Tigers call-up in 2026.

Last year he pitched in five games with the Florida Complex League Tigers and Class-A Clearwater. He didn’t factor in a decision, but he threw 12 innings in five games and struck out 12 and walked one.

The Tigers’ prospect rankings have undergone changes thanks to the trade deadline. Former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Thayron Liranzo was part of the return in the Jack Flaherty trade and he is now the Tigers’ No. 5 prospect. He is now with Hamm at West Michigan.

Another new prospect, pitcher Joseph Montalvo, who was acquired in the Andrew Chafin trade, is ranked No. 20 and was assigned to West Michigan.

Outfielder Max Clark, pitcher Jackson Jobe and infielder Jace Jung are likely to be among the Top 100 prospects in baseball when the new rankings come out next week. Another infielder, Kevin McGonigle, could also slide into those rankings.

Where the rankings could really change is the Tigers’ draft picks. When Baseball America re-did its Top 30 rankings, four picks made the Top 30 — first-round pick Bryce Rainer, second-round pick Owen Hall, competitive balance selection Ethan Schiefelbein and fourth-round pick Michael Massey.