This Detroit Tigers Draft Pick May Beat First-Rounder to Majors
Bryce Rainer was the Detroit Tigers’ first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and with that comes the expectation that he’ll reach the Major Leagues quickly.
Why else do you pay a high school player $5.8 million to turn his back on his commitment to the University of Texas to start his pro career?
Well, ESPN believes that at least one player the Tigers selected after Rainer will beat him to the Majors.
The site put together a list of which draft pick for each team would reach the Majors first. For the Tigers, the selection wasn’t Rainer, who was one of the top-ranked players in the draft.
Actually, ESPN believes that San Diego pitcher Josh Randall, the Tigers’ third-round pick, may just beat Rainer to the Majors.
Why? Well, for one there is a difference between a high school player and a college player. Randall has a few years on Rainer, in terms of development. The Tigers have committed their previous two first-round picks to high school players. While they have progress, none is above Double-A.
Second, Randall sounds advanced, even for a college pitcher. Consider ESPN’s scouting report on him:
Randall transferred from Arizona to San Diego and became its top starter, relying on a sinker/slider combo, but that sinker is up to 97 mph. He’ll need to develop his changeup, but he could turn into a high-leverage bullpen arm.
Last season with the Toreros he was one of their primary starters, as he went 4-2 with a 1.22 ERA in 14 games, all starts. He struck out 84 and walked 27 in 72.1 innings.
Before arriving in San Diego, the right-hander played two seasons at Arizona, one of which was truncated due to injury. The other saw him make 14 relief appearances during his true freshman season in 2022, with a 1-0 record and 15 strikeouts while limiting opposing hitters to a .231 batting average.
ESPN appears to be banking on Randall’s maturity as a factor in getting him to the Majors before Rainer, who would seem to have long-term upside.
Randall was the Tigers’ highest-drafted college player during the MLB draft earlier this month. Rainer was a high school star at Harvard-Westlake High School in California.
After him, the Tigers selected Edmond North (Okla.). High School pitcher Owen Hall in the second round and Corona (Calif.) Senior High School pitcher Ethan Schiefelbein in the competitive balance round between the second and third rounds.
Per MLB draft tracker the Tigers signed Randall to a $700,000 bonus. Detroit must have all of its draft picks signed by Aug. 1.
