How early should the Detroit Tigers invest in pitching in the 2022 MLB Draft?

The Detroit Tigers have a long break in between picks after their second rounder

Yesterday, I explained why the Detroit Tigers shouldn’t draft a pitcher in the first round of the upcoming 2022 MLB Draft. However, pitching is still a part of the game, of course, so they shouldn’t neglect it despite the pitching depth in the organization. As the old saying goes, you can never have too much pitching.

But, like I said yesterday, the organization has little to no hitting depth. Their best hitting prospect is Colt Keith, who recently got injured. Outside of him, there really isn’t much there.

The Tigers have picks 12 and 51 in the first two rounds, but they don’t pick again until 117 in the fourth round due to their active offseason. That’s a lot of talent that will be off the board by the time they pick again.

So when should the Detroit Tigers begin to target some arms? Would the second round be a good spot? There are some interesting college arms that may be available there. Georgia’s Jonathan Cannon and Miami’s Carson Palmquist come to mind.

But there are some even more interesting bats at that spot as well, such as Oregon State’s Jacob Melton, LSU’s Cade Doughty, Florida high school outfielder Roman Anthony, and even Michigan’s Clark Elliot. It’s a bit of a conundrum.

The easy way to do this would be to take the best player available, regardless of position. But you could argue that that’s what the Tigers should do in the first round as well. In fact, many of you have.

BPA is never a bad way to go about the draft. But when your farm system is well-stocked with arms and so barren of hitting prospects, that’s a problem.

If the Tigers do decide to take an arm at 51, I wouldn’t be too upset, especially if it’s a college arm. They need to be competitive sooner rather than later, so if they are going to take pitching, that would be the way to go.

But I would like to see the Detroit Tigers spend their first three picks on bats. Pitching is much easier to find in the later rounds than hitting. Rely on your overhauled pitching development team led by Gabe Ribas to mold your young arms. The Tigers finally have pitching depth. Now it’s time to give the hitting some love.