Is Izaac Pacheco Detroit Tigers' Shortstop of the Future?

The Detroit Tigers selected Izaac Pacheco in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.

Much has been said about the Detroit Tigers and the current state of their rebuild. 

After getting swept by the Minnesota Twins before the MLB All-Star break, supporters of the Tigers looked to the Major League Baseball Draft this past weekend to determine what areas the scouting department and general manager Al Avila emphasized with the players that were selected. 

And true to form, the Tigers continued their pursuit of pitchers, drafting high school standout Jackson Jobe with the No. 3 overall pick, even when many other individuals felt that shortstop Marcelo Mayer should have been the choice. 

In the second round, with pick No. 39 overall, the Tigers could have possibly found their shortstop of the future, however. 

Izaac Pacheco, standing at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, is committed to playing at Texas A&M, and played high school baseball at Friendswood High School in Texas.

Adding another left-handed power bat is appealing, but the organization will attempt to play Pacheco at shortstop, despite his ability to play third base and in the outfield.

"If I can work to stay at shortstop, that's great," Pacheco said. "But, for me, I'm a guy who can play anywhere in the field. I really use my stick as my big thing. I'll do anything to help my team win. Whether that's playing third, short or whatever the case might be, I'm open to it."

Pacheco is excited to pick the brains of top-rated prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, in order to fast-track his development and to help his new team win at the highest level.  

"I kind of had a gut feeling that I would be a Tiger, and it worked out in my favor. I'm excited to get going," Pacheco said. "Their development program is second-to-none. I know they got a young group of guys, and I'm excited to get in that group, compete and hopefully win a World Series."

Like many early in their careers, Pacheco will need to work on cutting down his number of strikeouts, a part of his game he has been working on since the spring. 

"Over the spring, I cut down my strikeouts. I learned my swing and tried to keep it as simple as possible," Pacheco said. "I learned what I needed to do to cut down the strikeouts, whether it's learning what pitches I can swing at, staying off that high pitch that a lot of guys are swinging at these days and just learning my swing and what I can do at the plate. It's helped me a lot so far."

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