Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft Recap: Rounds 8-15

The Detroit Tigers added arms in the middle of their draft.

The Detroit Tigers spent much of the early part of their draft stocking up on college infielders. They went that route with four of their first five picks, and even their sixth pick, outfielder Seth Stephenson, has a chance to play some infield.

But as day two ended and day three began, the club started adding to its pitching depth. Many of these arms were a bit off the radar, so rather than do an individual piece for each draft pick, we’re going to lump them all together here.

Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft, 8th Round – Jake Miller, LHP, Valparaiso

A New York native, Jake Miller went to school in New Jersey and then spent three seasons at Valparaiso University in Indiana. He sat out his freshman year in 2020, worked exclusively out of the bullpen in 2021, and then moved to the rotation this year, where he posted a 5.58 ERA over 61.1 innings. He threw plenty of strikes (75K, 17BB), but gave up 71 hits and 10 home runs. He impressed in the Coastal Plain League earlier this summer, posting a 2.66 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 8 walks in 20.1 innings.

Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft, 9th Round – Andrew Jenkins, 1B, Georgia Tech

Detroit’s 9th round pick was a bit of an outlier, as he’s a position player and he had a readily available scouting report on MLB Pipeline, where he was ranked the 174th player in the class:

Built along the lines of Andrew Vaughn, Jenkins has a compact right-handed swing with plenty of bat speed and strength. He gets to most of his plus raw power, generating high exit velocities and driving the ball with authority to all fields. He rarely walks and is vulnerable to sliders, so there is some concern as to how his approach will play at the next level.

Jenkins was highly productive in college, batting over .300 with power in each of his two full seasons with the Yellow Jackets, but he really took off this year, batting .381/.440/.679 with 22 doubles and 17 home runs. As the scouting report above suggests, strikeouts figure to be a problem in pro ball, so he may be something of a project for the Tigers’ development staff. The club thinks he may be athletic enough to handle outfield corners, which would put slightly less pressure on him to perform at the plate.

Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft, 10th Round – Trevin Michael, RHP, Oklahoma

One of the older players available in the draft this year (turns 25 in September), Trevin Michael took a winding path to pro ball. He graduated from Piedmont High School outside of Oklahoma City, then spent two seasons at Northern Oklahoma College before moving on to Lamar University in Texas. He made 16 starts for Lamar over two seasons, going 8-4 with a 3.05 ERA. He then came to Oklahoma as a graduate transfer and moved into the closer role, where he showcased some plus stuff and earned 10 saves.

Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft, 11th Round – Joe Miller, LHP, Penn

Destined to be confused with 8th rounder Jake Miller for at least a few years, Joe Miller is another southpaw from the northeast. This Miller is a bit shorter and sturdier than Jake, and he spent four years as a starting pitcher in the Ivy League, posting a cumulative 10-8 record with a 4.49 ERA, 160 strikeouts, and 82 walks in 132.1 innings. Miller isn’t written up at MLB Pipeline or Baseball America, but fortunately our friends at Prospects Live have video and a scouting report from his time in the Cape Cod League this summer:

Miller, who throws from a ¾ slot, set up batters with the fastball but put them away with the breaking balls (5 K’s on them). The curveball and slider show similar shapes, but he takes some velocity off of his curve and generates more downward movement. Both of the offerings caused hitters to swing and miss. In the third inning, his command faltered, leading to his troubles. On top of that, hitters seemed to see him better the second time through the order. After allowing no hard contact in the first couple of frames, hitters tagged him for a couple of sharp hits.

Detroit Tigers 2022 MLB Draft, 12th Round – Cole Stupp, RHP, Kentucky

A product of the same Georgia high school that produced, Dylan Cease, Kyle Farnsworth, and Dexter Fowler, Cole Stupp is a sturdy right-hander with a low-90s sinker and decent secondary offereings. He became the Wildcats’ Friday-night starter last year, compiling a 4.76 ERA over 13 starts, and he returned to that role this year. He posted a 6.31 ERA over six starts before he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right elbow.