The Detroit Tigers made eight selections in Rounds 3-10 on Monday in the 2023 MLB draft, completing 10 of the 20 rounds.
On Sunday, the Tigers made three picks: high school outfielder Max Clark in Round 1 (No. 3 overall), high school shortstop Kevin McGonigle in Competitive Balance Round A (No. 37 overall) and college second baseman Max Anderson in Round 2 (No. 45 overall).
Rounds 11-20 begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
“The opportunities we had throughout all 10 rounds, 11 picks so far, we’re very pleased with the outcome,” Tigers assistant general manager Rob Metzler said Monday. “I think our staff put us in position to have really good decisions and maximize the opportunity at each step along the way.”
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Detroit’s first selection Monday was No. 76 overall in the third round, followed by No. 107 in the fourth round, No. 143 in the in the fifth round, No. 170 in the sixth round, No. 200 in the seventh round, No. 230 in the eighth round, No. 260 in the ninth round and No. 290 in the 10th round.
“We got players that we really liked as a group,” Tigers scouting director Mark Conner said, “from the scouting to the analysts to player development that was involved. Regardless if we got picked (by a different team) or picked somebody, we got a lot of good players that we like.”
Meet the newest Tigers, beginning in the third round:
Lakeridge (Oregon) High School LHP Paul Wilson
Age: 18.
Vitals: 6 feet 3, 205 pounds.
Bats/throws: Right/left.
Drafted: Third round (No. 76 overall).
The buzz: Wilson, ranked as the No. 51 draft prospect by MLB Pipeline, dropped to the Tigers at No. 76 overall and should sign an over-slot deal. (The slot value for the No. 76 pick is $945,100.) His father, Trevor Wilson, posted a 3.87 ERA in 728 innings across parts of eight MLB seasons from 1988-98, spending seven of eight years with the San Francisco Giants. The younger Wilson, an Oregon State commit, throws a 93 mph fastball (which maxes out at 97 mph), slider, curveball and changeup. His slider is considered the best secondary pitch in his arsenal. He primarily throws a two-seam fastball and rarely uses his four-seam fastball. As a senior, Wilson registered 108 strikeouts in 49 innings.
What Conner said: “One of the guys that our area scout, Cal Towey, touched on really early in the process. Good arm action, good delivery, show you a fastball in the mid-90s, flash you a slider and a curveball. It’s really, really good projection and a lot of upside to him. We’re pumped to get him where we did.”
Goodpasture Christian (Tennessee) High School 3B Carson Rucker
Age: 18.
Vitals: 6-2, 195.
Bats/throws: Right/right.
Drafted: Fourth round (No. 107 overall).
The buzz: As a senior in high school, Rucker hit .523 with 16 doubles and 18 home runs in the regular season, also stealing 31 bases. He racked up several accolades in his young career: 2016 Little League World Series runner-up in the United States bracket, Division II Class A Mr. Tennessee honors in 2022 and 2023, and a state championship with Goodpasture Christian in 2022. He is committed to Tennessee, where his older brother, Jake, played for three seasons before getting picked by the Minnesota Twins in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. The younger Rucker is known for his raw power, simplified approach and projected ability to drive balls in the air to the pull side.
What Conner said: “He was not on the big circuit throughout the summer. Really good body, tall, projectable, long, loose. He starts out at shortstop, and his body, he’s got some strength to him right now. He’s probably going to fill out, so we’ll see if he stays at shortstop. But it’s a really good swing with high bat-to-ball capabilities and emerging power. Another thing for his size, he will show you plus run times and really, really good baseball internal clock.”
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Middle Tennessee State RHP Jaden Hamm
Age: 20.
Vitals: 6-1, 190.
Bats/throws: Right/right.
Drafted: Fifth round (No. 143).
The buzz: Hamm, named to the All-Conference USA first team, posted a 5.31 ERA with 37 walks and 93 strikeouts across 79⅔ innings in 17 games (14 starts) as a junior this season. He throws a 92 mph fastball (which maxes out at 96 mph), a 12-to-6 curveball and an inconsistent changeup with arm-side fade. His fastball lands for strikes at a high rate, but he doesn’t have the same command and control of his curveball. Hamm recorded Middle Tennessee State’s first complete-game, nine-inning, one-hit shutout since 1976 in his March 10 performance against Evansville. In that game, he struck out a career-high 11 batters.
What Conner said: “Harold Zonder, our area scout, did a tremendous job on him. As we hand him off to player development, they’re going to be excited to work with him. He is an absolute sponge for knowledge, and that is a big part of this process for selecting him. We know his eagerness to learn and develop. He has real spin to his breaking ball. He is a natural spinner of the ball that can land it for strikes. He also has the ability to soften it with a really good changeup. He is a player that we feel is on the come and our player development is going to do great things with.”
Age: 21.
Vitals: 6-0, 215.
Bats/throws: Right/right.
Drafted: Sixth round (No. 170 overall).
The buzz: The pitching staff at Wake Forest, anchored by 2023 No. 7 overall pick Rhett Lowder, ranked atop the Division I leaderboard in several categories: ERA (2.83), WHIP (1.05), strikeouts per nine innings (12.1) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.26). Give some of the credit to Lee for his work behind the plate as Wake Forest’s primary catcher. A transfer from Tulane, Lee hit .303 with seven home runs, 32 walks and 32 strikeouts across 46 games in his junior season. He seems to have a sharp understanding of the strike zone. The combination of raw power, walk rate and above-average defense gives him upside as a sixth-round selection.
What Conner said: “We got to see him a lot with the run that Wake Forest put together. You saw a leader behind the plate, somebody who can manage and handle a pitching staff at an extremely high level. There’s a lot of things, just beyond the tools, that drew us to him. It’s really how he commands the game. That is something for the development of the staff in the minor leagues, but also, as he gets to the major leagues, those guys are going to love throwing to him.”
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Age: 20.
Vitals: 6-0, 185.
Bats/throws: Right/right.
Drafted: Seventh round (No. 200 overall).
The buzz: Peck hits the ball as hard as any shortstop in college baseball, but he posted a .272 batting average with six home runs, 21 walks and 51 strikeouts in 49 games as a junior this season. He hammers fastballs but whiffs too often and chases breaking balls outside of the strike zone. His aggressive approach needs to be refined if he wants to thrive in the minor leagues. The good news: Peck should stay at shortstop because of his defensive instincts. If he can change his mechanics and improve his swing decisions, he could make more contact and be a useful defense-first shortstop or utility infielder in the big leagues. Breaking balls, though, could be a problem for the rest of his career.
Hazleton Area (Pennsylvania) High School RHP Jatnk Diaz
Age: 18.
Vitals: 6-4, 215.
Bats/throws: Right/right.
Drafted: Eighth round (No. 230 overall).
The buzz: Diaz — born in Bonao, Dominican Republic — pitched four games for the Williamsport Crosscutters in the MLB Draft League this summer, posting a 1.93 ERA with five walks and nine strikeouts over 9⅓ innings. His fastball sat around 94-97 mph, and his slider featured a 2,700 rpm spin rate. The filled-out frame and raw mechanics make him an underrated pitcher for the Tigers to develop in the long term. There seems to be a lot to like about Diaz from a low-risk, high-upside standpoint.
What Conner said: “We kind of talk about scouting opportunities, and he is a great example of the hard work by the entire staff. He was ineligible this year and unable to pitch for his high school team. Not for academic reasons, but just for the move from the Dominican Republic and the timing. He would throw bullpens on the side, and our guys got a chance to see him there and tracked him into the Draft League, where a bunch of our staff got to see him. He’s a big, strong, strapping young man that’s got a lively fastball and some real feel for a changeup. He’s an exciting player.”
Age: 22.
Vitals: 6-3, 210.
Bats/throws: Left/right.
Drafted: Ninth round (No. 260 overall).
The buzz: Minton pitched for Missouri State as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Johnson Country Community College as a junior in 2022. He returned to Missouri State as a senior in 2023, posting a 4.07 ERA with 27 walks and 96 strikeouts over 84 innings in 15 starts. In the Missouri Valley Conference, Minton ranked 8th in ERA (4.07), eighth in opponent batting average (.253), third in strikeouts per nine innings (10.29) and second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.56). Known for strike throwing, he features a low-90s sinker and a slider with sweep, plus a curveball and a changeup. His best performance occurred in the MVC Tournament when he tossed seven scoreless innings against UIC.
Age: 20.
Vitals: 6-3, 200.
Bats/throws: Left/left.
Drafted: 10th round (No. 290 overall).
The buzz: Sears spent his first two college seasons at Rhode Island College, then transferred to Connecticut as a junior for 2023. He logged a 6.24 ERA with 23 walks and 74 strikeouts across 62 innings in 14 starts for the Huskies. The southpaw throws three pitches from a low arm slot: 92 mph fastball, slider and changeup. His arm angles makes his slider effective. Sears dominated in two starts against Georgetown on April 21 in the regular season and May 26 in the Big East championship. In the first game, he took a perfect game into the seventh inning and finished with 11 strikeouts; in the second game, he fired a season-high eight innings with eight strikeouts.
What Conner said: “He throws from a low slot that adds a lot of deception and playability to his fastball. His fastball will be anywhere from 91-94 (mph) with some natural life to it. He’s got some decent feel for his slider and changeup right now. This is a left-hander that is coming into his body, and strikes are coming. You look at those strikeout numbers throughout the year, it was pretty impressive what he did coming from a smaller school.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.