DETROIT — Scott Harris made it clear when he was hired as Detroit’s president of baseball operations last September that the Draft was going to be a big part of his strategy for bringing the Tigers back, as a way of talent procurement. He also made it clear that the club would be willing to take some calculated risks to try to make up the gap with the better teams in the league.
“If you’re going to try to do the same organization as every other organization,” Harris said that day, “you’re probably not going to do it as well, and you’re probably going to be chasing them the entire time.”
The first Draft run by Harris, assistant general manager Rob Metzler and amateur scouting director Mark Conner offered a clearer window into the Tigers’ approach. From the third overall pick, when Detroit pulled the Draft’s first surprise and selected five-tool high-schooler Max Clark over University of Florida slugger Wyatt Langford, this was a different style of Draft.
While some trends are unique to each individual Draft class, some trends are worth following in the years ahead. Three things that stood out:
1: High schoolers
Much of the buzz going in was the depth of college talent atop this year’s Draft class, partly thanks to the abbreviated five-round Draft in 2020 that led many top high-school talents to opt to attend college. The Tigers, meanwhile, were rumored to be heavily favoring college bats with their first pick.
So much for that. Not only did Detroit choose Clark over Langford, it went with another high-school hitter, infielder Kevin McGonigle, with its next pick later in the first round.
The Tigers began Day 2 with a pair of top high-school players linked to power conference programs: left-hander and Oregon State commit Paul Wilson in Round 3, then slugging infielder and Tennessee commit Carson Rucker in the fourth.
The trend slightly changed on Day 3. Four of Detroit’s final 10 picks were high-schoolers, all tied to smaller programs for college. Andrew Dunford (Round 12) is a 6-foot-7 power right-hander who’s committed to Mercer. Left-hander Bradley Stewart (17) is committed to Eastern Kentucky, third baseman Ethan Farris (18) to Texas State and right-hander Johnathan Rogers (20th round) to Louisiana-Lafayette.
“We’re excited about all those players,” Metzler said. “The reality of getting them all over the finish line might or might not happen. That might be a very ambitious goal, but we’ll see.”
The Tigers drafted nine players out of high school, 12 out of college.
Day 3 selections don’t have assigned slot values. However, every signing bonus over $150,000 will result in the overage being deducted from the team’s signing pool. And unlike the first 10 rounds, if a player doesn’t sign, there’s no deduction from the pool.
2: Pitcher uniqueness
The Tigers didn’t go into this Draft with a prototype for pitchers. Each selection seemed to have some trait that provided a different look, something that the team’s pitching development staff can utilize.
For fifth-rounder Jaden Hamm, it’s a buckling, high-spin curveball. For 10th-rounder Andrew Sears, it’s a different arm angle from a left-hander. For Dunford, it’s the 6-foot-7 frame. Sixteenth-rounder Donye Evans is 6-foot-6, with huge hands that can envelop a ball.
“You’re always looking for things that are unique and different, things that you can hand off to player development that they can go work with,” Conner said.
3: Dominate the strike zone
If you’ve followed the Tigers with even passing interest this year, you’ve heard this phrase applied to the Major League team. Well, it applies to the Draft, too.
“We carried the theme that I’ve been talking about since the day I got into this organization into this Draft,” Harris said.
Second-rounder Max Anderson said he became a monster hitter this spring by becoming more selective at the plate. Sixth-rounder Bennett Lee had almost as many walks (85) as strikeouts (90) over his college career. OF Brett Callahan (round 13) improved his walk rate at St. Joseph’s University and in summer ball the past two years. David Smith (round 14) led UConn with 45 walks and reached base safely in 37 consecutive games.
The approach applied to pitchers, too. Hamm improved his walk and strikeout rates in each of his three seasons at Middle Tennessee. Sears and Evans improved their walk rates as their seasons went on. Blake Pivaroff (round 19) slashed his walk rate at Arizona State from 6.9 per nine innings last year to 3.1 this season.
“What our priorities are and what our influences are, I think we’ve communicated them,” Metzler said. “The inferences within the Draft class, we’re happy for people to take a look and see what we’ve done. I wouldn’t read too far into anything in just the sense that we’re looking for talent everywhere.”