Detroit Tigers: Keith Law ranks three Tigers prospects in new top 50

The Detroit Tigers have a wealth of young talent developing in the minor leagues, and some of those talented players continue to receive high recognition.

Since the Detroit Tigers are currently deep in the middle of a rebuild, the fact that some of the team’s top talent consistently receives high praise serves as a refreshing reminder for Detroit fans to keep looking toward the future. In this case, ESPN’s Keith Law placed three Tigers prospects among his midseason top 50 which was released on Thursday.

The highest Detroit Tigers prospect on Law’s list, to little surprise, is Casey Mize who clocks in at number ten. Considering he is currently still ranked as the number two prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, barely cracking the top ten in Law’s rankings could seem a bit low for the pitching prospect.

Law’s reasoning for having Mize lower than may be expected seems to be due to injury concerns possibly damaging the former number one overall pick’s potential future ace status.

Mize returned to action on Wednesday after being on the minor league IL for nearly a month with shoulder inflammation. He started for Single-A Lakeland but was pulled after just 2/3 of an inning, giving up one hit and two walks while also recording a K.

The next Detroit prospect on Law’s list is yet another pitcher in Matt Manning. Manning barely missed out on the top 30, with Law placing him at number 31, but praising his athleticism, delivery on the mound, and improved curveball.

Manning has a 6-4 record and 2.77 ERA through 16 starts with Double-A Erie this season, as well as an impressive 106 K’s in 91 IP. It’s numbers like those that earned him the honor of participating in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland last Sunday.

The final Tigers prospect on the list is this year’s first-round pick Riley Greene, who Law ranked somewhat surprisingly high at 37. Law touts Greene’s high potential to hit for both average and power.

Greene played just nine games in the rookie Gulf Coast League before the Tigers organization moved him up to Connecticut in the New York-Penn League. In his nine GCL games, Greene hit .351 with two home runs and eight RBI.

Mize, Manning, and Greene all represent really the best of what the Detroit Tigers farm system has to offer. Mize and Manning are two extremely talented pitchers with tremendous potential to be aces in the big leagues down the road, while Greene’s prowess at the plate shows the organization made a good choice at the top of this year’s offensive-focused draft.