Detroit Tigers Top 25 Prospects: Honorable Mentions

Detroit Tigers prospects like Michael Fulmer and James McCann have made a significant impact in recent years, playing key roles. Here are the players who just missed the top 25 in MCB’s top Tigers prospects.

Detroit Tigers fans have seen the team trade many of the organization’s top prospects in years past.

The likes of Devon Travis, Jake Thompson and Willy Adames have all been dealt to other franchises for Major League upgrades.

However, things are different now under general manager Al Avila.

Avila and the rest of the front office have drastically improved the team’s long-term outlook with the additions of Michael Fulmer, Matt Manning, Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Kyle Funkhouser through trades and the draft.

The team has also held on to top prospects like Christin Stewart, Derek Hill and Beau Burrows.

With a promising 2016 draft class just completing their respective first seasons in professional baseball, the Tigers are well on their way to a more sustainable future.

Here at Motor City Bengals, we’ll begin a countdown of the top 25 prospects in the organization heading into 2017. That begins tomorrow.

To get you ready, here are the honorable mentions who just missed out on the rankings.

Daniel Pinero

Age: 22
Position: Shortstop

Similar to catcher, the Detroit Tigers don’t have too much shortstop depth. Young prospect Hector Martinez has shown plenty of promise in the low minors, but he’s years away from the Majors at this point.

Outside of Simcox and the team’s incumbent options at the Major League level, Pinero is the best prospect in terms of being close to the majors.

A ninth-round pick in 2016, the towering 6’5” shortstop hit .271 in his first taste of professional baseball.

The Toronto native also added 26 runs scored, 22 RBI, eight doubles, two home runs, two stolen bases and a triple.

What is perhaps most encouraging is that the 22-year-old drew almost as many walks (29) as strikeouts (30).

Joe Navilhon

Age: 23
Position: Relief Pitcher

Generally, recent 21^st-round draft picks don’t tend to show up so soon on team’s lists of top prospects. However, Navilhon posted an extremely promising first professional season.

In 16 appearances with Connecticut in the New York-Penn League, the right-hander led the leagues with a sparkling 0.34 ERA in 26.1 innings.

What’s more, the reliever also added 29 strikeouts compared to just seven walks.

That spits out to 9.9 strikeouts and only 2.4 walks per nine frames. Navilhon’s strikeout rate ended up tying for 12^th in the league.

Dominic Ficociello

Age: 24
Position: Utility Player

After a solid season with Double-A Erie in 2016, Ficociello was invited to Major League Spring Training by the Tigers.

The former 12^th-round pick is capable of playing first base, second base and third base. Just last season with the SeaWolves, the prospect started receiving playing time in left field.

His offensive numbers—90 wRC+, .677 OPS, 38 RBI, 29 extra-base hits and five stolen bases in 123 games—don’t jump off the page, but Ficociello’s defensive flexibility should eventually help him reach the Majors.

Kevin Ziomek

Age: 24
Position: Starting Pitcher

Had it not been for a shoulder surgery in 2016, Kevin Ziomek would likely rank highly on our rankings of Tigers prospects.

The former second-round pick turned in a 3.43 ERA and 8.3 punch outs per nine frames in 2015 with Lakeland.

He was limited to just one start last season due to the injury after logging 154.2 innings the season before.

A healthy campaign will go a long ways for the 24-year-old, who turned in a 2.27 ERA and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 2014. Ziomek also totaled 123 frames with West Michigan during the campaign.

Next: 4 Spring Training Invitees Who Could Make Tigers Roster

Should the starter rebound in 2017, he could very well rank significantly higher in the 2018 edition of MCB’s prospect list.