Detroit Tigers Draft Preview: Shortstop Brady House

The team at MCB is covering the draft all month long. Be sure to check back every day for new content related to the 2021 MLB draft and the Detroit Tigers.

Today, our series profiling the potential draft picks for the Detroit Tigers looks at Brady House, RHP/SS, from Winder, Georgia.

What would legendary Hall of Fame announcer Ernie Harwell do about Brady House?

”Brady stood there like…himself…on side of the road.”

Background on Brady House

Brady House has been one of the most talked-about draft prospects for 2021 for nearly two years. The big shortstop from Winder-Barrow HS in Georgia established himself in 2019 as a player to watch in the draft despite a commitment to Tennessee.

House had all the hype going his way but then  COVID-19 interrupted his junior year of baseball. House the proceeded to not impress as often through the summer campaign. Like many though, it’s best to just let everyone who had an odd year in 2020 take the Mulligan. It was a rough time to navigate life…a teen can be forgiven if his game slipped momentarily.

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• Detroit Tigers: 3 prospects who could make the 2023 Opening Day roster
• Detroit Tigers: Could Al Avila have one last gift for the future?
• 3 Detroit Tigers pitching prospects to keep eyes on to end 2022

Scouting Brady House

House has rebounded in ‘21. He’s once again shown the plus-plus power potential and an improved feel for hitting that lead some to think he’s the prep hitter with the highest offensive ceiling in this draft. As a bonus, it’s easier to find folks who opine that House just might be able to remain at shortstop despite his sizable athletic frame.

House has also shown a 96-mph heater when on the mound in the past giving everyone assurance he has the arm strength for either shortstop or third base.

In the end, it’s about the bat. 70-grade power potential doesn’t grow on trees. House has shown the power to all fields and hasn’t been overwhelmed when confronted by premium velocity. The team drafting House envisions a shortstop who is also slamming 35+ homers one day.

Will the Detroit Tigers draft Brady House?

It could easily happen. House has been reported to have visited Lakeland, FL at the Tigers facility for a two-day session. This was likely no mere meet-n-greet. It’s a good bet all upper-level Tigers management took a good measure of the teenage Georgian phenom while he was in their building.

If the Detroit Tigers have been tracking House for as long as many assume he could easily be the pick at number three overall if Marcelo Mayer and Jack Leiter are off the board at picks 1 and 2.

Many observers feel the Tigers cover Mayer over all else. Leiter has also been linked to the Tigers. Both however are likely covered by Pittsburgh and Texas picking ahead of Detroit.

However, House brings the athleticism and thunderous bat potential the Tigers system still lacks as alternatives beyond Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene. House isn’t a consolation like “the parting gifts” on an old 1970’s game show. He’s a four-tool potential stud lacking only truly top-notch running speed.

The MLB Draft is unpredictable on many fronts. Signing bonus demands and differing degrees of leverage means teams don’t always select their top guy. This could mean any number of scenarios cropping up for Detroit. The Tigers do have the second-largest bonus pool for signees, however. This should give them the wherewithal to draft and sign just about anyone they wish at #3.

The draft’s unpredictable nature may also show a decade from now it was indeed House and not the other prep Shortstops or the Vandy pitchers who were the best guy in the ‘21 draft. House the tools and the ceiling to make it happen.