Detroit Tigers Top 20 Prospects

Welcome to the Motor City Bengals version of the Top 20 Detroit Tigers Prospects. If you’ve been following this site then you may be thinking you’ve already seen our rankings. You are correct!

Last month five Motor City Bengals contributors made individual lists of their top 20 Detroit Tigers prospects.

Then we averaged the lists to come up with final rankings, and released detailed profiles of each player. But we never put all the prospects in one easy-to-click slideshow, so we’ve decided to rectify that now, during Prospects Week.

It’s important to remember prospect lists are simply a snapshot in time, and things would likely change if we made our lists again today — I know I’d have Akil Baddoo in my top 20 now.

We’ve included a small blurb about each player below the picture, but be sure to click on each prospect’s name in the header to get his full scouting profile.

Detroit Tigers No. 20 Prospect – Adinso Reyes

Adinso Reyes is physically impressive for his age. He looks strong in the batter’s box and can generate bat speed that should strike fear into opposing pitchers. There are certainly some tools here on the offensive side for the Tigers player development to shape and mold into an MLB bat over the next several years. While you can’t put too much stock into a 62 game sample size in the DSL, it’s encouraging that his professional career is off to a strong start.

Detroit Tigers No. 19 Prospect – Roberto Campos

The best thing about Campos right now is the mystery surrounding him. It’s tantalizing to look at the big signing bonus, the Cuban youth baseball upbringing, the physical growth, and the unique lack of competitive action and just dream he’s the next Miguel Cabrera or Orlando Cepeda. Certainly, he could be the next Barbaro Garbey as well. No one knows and few are even claiming to have a good idea. We’re all on this magical mystery ride together.

Detroit Tigers No. 18 Prospect – Colt Keith

While nothing jumps off the page about Colt Keith, the summation of his tools coupled with a strong throwing arm make an average, everyday role within the realm of possibility. More likely, he ends up as a bench or platoon player when it is all said and done. However, there is a ton of development time left and a lot could change between even now and this time next year (for better or worse).

Detroit Tigers No. 17 Prospect – Jose De La Cruz

De La Cruz has a significant gap between his present skill level and his ceiling…De La Cruz’s tools and potential alone are enough reason to be excited about his future. That potential coupled with his strong performance in the DSL, even if it’s a relatively small sample, and you have all the ingredients for a player Tiger’s fan should be sure to follow as he continues to develop.

Detroit Tigers No. 16 Prospect – Gage Workman

Workman is not your typical fourth-round college draft pick. He oozes potential given his relative youth, frame, and athleticism. His raw power and defense will likely always be his calling cards but the development of his hit tool will determine his fate as a professional baseball player.

Detroit Tigers No. 15 Prospect – Bryant Packard

His current projection has him graded as a platoon/bench player but if he can continue to make adjustments on the next level to the various harder off-speed offerings he will see and adjusting to a new position at first, he could be an average everyday regular.

Detroit Tigers No. 14 Prospect – Jake Rogers

We aren’t quite ready to give up on Jake Rogers. We still think he has a strong chance to be at least a quality backup catcher at the big-league level, and if he can just manage to hit about .220 he can possibly even start one day. But Rogers turns 26 in April, and he’s running out of chances to prove us right. He’ll be coming off prospect lists in 2022, one way or the other.

Detroit Tigers No. 13 Prospect – Alex Faedo

In addition to his solid slider, Faedo has demonstrated strong command as a professional. He has thrown approximately 66% of his pitches for strikes which indicates an ability to consistently be around the strike zone. During the 2019 season, his K/BB ratio was greater than 5 to 1 which is excellent for any pitcher, at any level. Even in 2018 when he wasn’t quite as sharp, he struck out over 3 times as many hitters as he walked.

Detroit Tigers No. 12 Prospect – Franklin Perez

There is a lot of promise in his arm. Detroit’s patient approach on how he has handled his injuries has looked to pay off with him throwing pain-free. If Perez can throw good innings wherever he starts in the minors, he could earn a September call up. The upside the Tigers brass saw in Perez is there, now we get to finally see a full season of what he can do to help the Tigers in the rebuild.

Detroit Tigers No. 11 Prospect – Parker Meadows

His raw power/speed profile is a common preference for MLB scouts and, combined with his average patience at the plate, could help take some pressure off his lagging hit tool as he develops. The development of the hit tool still remains key to his success, though. He will have to be far better at making consistent, hard contact to allow his strengths to really shine.

Detroit Tigers No. 10 Prospect – Daniel Cabrera

Cabrera’s game is well-regarded for two reasons: first and foremost, his polished hit tool from the left side that gets props for its patience and line-drive approach that goes from foul line-to-foul line…Secondarily, Cabrera is also highly-regarded for his character, donning the famous #8 for LSU, which is typically given to the player who would be the team captain and shows exemplary leadership attributes.

Detroit Tigers No. 9 Prospect – Daz Cameron

We believe in Daz Cameron’s ability to get enough out of his hit tool to be at least a solid second-division regular, and we think there’s a nonzero chance he grows into enough power to produce a few average big-league seasons. He’s probably not headed to any All-Star games in the future, but he should at least be a solid placeholder for the Tigers while they build their way to contention

Detroit Tigers No. 8 Prospect – Dillon Dingler

Dingler is impressive in that, while he lacks a legitimate carrying tool, his well-rounded game both offensively and defensively makes his value as a catcher considerably higher than some of the others in the organization. Dingler has legitimate everyday potential assuming he continues to hit. 2021 will teach us a lot about Dingler and whether he has the chops to realize such potential.

Detroit Tigers No. 7 Prospect – Joey Wentz

Despite grabbing all kinds of headlines as a prep prospect leading up to the MLB draft, Joey Wentz is far from flashy on the mound. His fastball isn’t a game-changer, but he commands it well and has shown the ability to use his offspeed pitches to help it play up. His changeup has the chance to be a legitimate out pitch at the big league level and should help him compete every start even if his fastball isn’t at its best.

Detroit Tigers No. 5 Prospect – Matt Manning

We are still very high on Matt Manning, and can easily see a future where he becomes the true ace of the Tigers staff. He has the size and stuff to be a innings-eating workhorse, while his athleticism and impressive development so far give him a good chance to continue improving into his late-20s. Even if he doesn’t develop any further, Manning could likely carve out a role as a solid late-inning reliever.

Detroit Tigers No. 4 Prospect – Casey Mize

Mize represents the future of the Detroit Tigers rotation. We are still high on Mize because two-to-three of his five pitched are above average, and…when he is on, he showed Tigers fans what type of ace he can be. He may start the season in Toledo but development-wise, beyond sequencing his pitches better, he should be capable to be in the rotation for hopefully years to come.

Detroit Tigers No. 3 Prospect – Tarik Skubal

Since the development of his changeup, Skubal now has the conventional four-pitch starter mix. One challenge with younger arms is their inability to finish off hitters, but Skubal has been able to maintain his double-digit strikeouts per nine at the MLB level while still limiting the number of free passes–an impressive feat considering he’s not known for pinpoint accuracy with his pitches.

Detroit Tigers No. 2 Prospect – Spencer Torkelson

Torkelson has extreme raw power and has had no problem getting to it in-game situations as his 54 college homers attest. However, he is far from being a power-hitting sellout. Torkelson has power to all fields, hit for high average each season, and, perhaps most impressively for a slugging corner infielder, he struck out less than he walked for his ASU career after pitchers avoided him in the COVID season with a 31/15 walk-to-K ratio.

Detroit Tigers No. 1 Prospect – Riley Greene

In Greene we envision a player who may threaten to put up a .300/.400/.500 line on an annual basis while playing at least average defense in a outfield corner, and maybe even stealing double-digit bases. There’s certainly All-Star upside here, and if everything clicks, Riley Greene might contend for a few MVP awards in his prime.