Detroit Tigers: 2022 MLB Draft Month Begins

The Detroit Tigers keep building for the future.

Welcome to Draft Month here at Motor City Bengals, where we’ll give you all the information you need to know about the options for the Detroit Tigers in this year’s MLB Draft. We’ll bring you plenty of player profiles, some general looks at the position groups in this year’s class, and take a look back at a few drafts from the past.

Way back in February we offered previews of this year’s crop of college players and high-school talent. We planned to offer weekly updates as the season progressed. The Detroit Tigers planned to compete this year. Sometimes plans don’t work out.

But we’re back now with all the info you need to know! So let’s get started.

When Is The 2022 MLB Draft?

This year’s MLB Draft takes place from July 17-19 in Los Angeles, California, as part of the All-Star weekend festivities. The draft will begin Sunday the 17th, with teams making 80 selections total (the first two rounds and supplemental rounds). Rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday the 18th, and the draft will conclude with rounds 11-20 on Tuesday the 19th.

When Do The Detroit Tigers pick?

The Detroit Tigers have the 12th overall pick in the draft this year, and then they select again with the 51st overall pick. The Tigers did have a Competitive Balance pick at 71, but they traded it to Tampa as part of the Austin Meadows deal, and Detroit lost its 3rd-round pick when they signed Eduardo Rodriguez. They make their third pick in the 4th round, at 117 overall.

The Tigers have picked 12th overall before, in 1978, when they took Kirk Gibson. There have been 35 players picked 12th overall who went on to reach the Majors, and Gibby ranks 2nd among them with 38.4 career WAR. The history of 51st overall picks is pretty ugly, but oddly enough the Tigers have had success with the 117th pick before, taking Andres Torres, Cody Ross, and Mike Rabelo there.

What About This Draft Class?

The most notable aspects of the 2022 MLB draft class are that many of the top players are relatives of other professional athletes, and nearly every top pitcher has suffered a substantial injury.

Druw Jones (son of Andruw), Jackson Holliday (son of Matt), Cam Collier (son of Lou), Justin Crawford (son of Carl), Jace Jung (brother of Josh), and Daniel Susac (brother of Andrew) may all be off the board by the time the Tigers pick. Elijah Green is the son of two-time NFL Pro Bowler Eric, and Kumar Rocker’s dad Tracy was an NFL defensive lineman.

So many pitchers have been injured over the past 16 months there’s a very strong chance that, for the first time in draft history, no pitcher gets selected in the top ten. Hunter Barco, Reggie Crawford, Dylan Lesko, Peyton Pallette, Connor Prielipp, Landon Sims, and Blade Tidwell are all injured, recovering, or limited by injuries right now. A few teams are likely to get a steal and land a first-round talent later in the draft.

That’s it for now, but be sure to check in every day to see our latest player profiles and draft coverage.