The Detroit Tigers have climbed to baseball No. 2 farm system, according to MLB Pipeline’s midseason ranking. That’s up from No. 5 in March, before the 2020 MLB draft, when the Tigers selected infield slugger Spencer Torkelson first overall.
MLB Pipeline ranks Torkelson as one of five Tigers — all homegrown draft picks — among baseball’s top 100 prospects; only the Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins have more players on the list (six each).
No. 7: Torkelson, 3B/1B
No. 8: Casey Mize, RHP
No. 25: Matt Manning, RHP
No. 31: Riley Greene, OF
No. 49: Tarik Skubal, LHP
“Four of Detroit’s five Top 100 prospects are former first-round picks after the team selected Torkelson with the No. 1 overall pick in June,” MLB Pipeline wrote. “What’s more, all six hitters drafted by the Tigers this past June now rank among the club’s Top 30 prospects, giving the formerly pitching-heavy system balance it had previously lacked.”
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Mize, 23, made his MLB debut August 19, and is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA over 10⅔ innings in three starts. He was the top pick in 2018.
Skubal, 23, made his MLB debut August 18, and is 1-1, also owning a 6.75 ERA over 9⅓ innings in three starts. He was a ninth-round selection in 2018.
Greene, 19, was the No. 5 pick in 2019 and played well in summer camp in July. He is with Torkelson at the Tigers’ alternate training site in Toledo.
Manning, 22, had been in Toledo but was recently shut down for the rest of the season with a forearm strain. He was picked ninth overall in 2016.
The Tampa Bay Rays remained No. 1 on the ranking, compiled by MLB draft and prospect experts Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum.
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