Pitchers such as Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, who made their major-league debuts last season but still retained prospect status, helped the Tigers open the season with Baseball America’s No. 4 farm system. And, though, Mize and Skubal have since graduated, the Tigers still boast one of baseball’s top prospect hotbeds.
On Monday, Baseball America slotted the Tigers at No. 6 in its midseason organizational talent rankings.
That system is led, of course, by first/third baseman Spencer Torkelson (No. 4 overall) and outfielder Riley Greene (5), and includes pitchers Matt Manning (62) and 2021 first-round pick Jackson Jobe (90) among baseball’s top 100 prospects.
Torkelson and Greene were promoted to Triple-A Toledo on Sunday, along with shortstop Ryan Kreidler, following a weeklong tear at Double-A Erie.
“Having the No. 1 overall pick twice in a three-year span has its benefits,” Baseball America writes. “The Tigers are still loaded with more arms than bats, but the additions of Greene and Torkelson has helped diversify what had been a very pitching-dominated system.”
Monday’s updated rankings mirror where the Tigers sat a year ago with Baseball America, and reflect the rise of the system — thanks in part to the major-league team’s struggles landing higher draft picks and, presumably, more talent.
The Tigers’ system ranked 30th as recently as 2015, and ranked 15th entering the 2019 season.