Baseball America’s first mock draft has Tigers taking a player who actually makes sense

While the Detroit Tigers arguably have one of the strong starting rotations on paper entering the 2026 season, the health of their pitching staff going forward is certainly in question. That is why Baseball America's recent mock draft of the 2026 MLB Draft has the Tigers make a very logical choice by drafting a pitcher.

Baseball America has the Tigers selecting Logan Schmidt, a 17-year-old left-handed pitcher who is committed to play his college ball at LSU.

When it comes to drafting a pitcher out of high school, it's basically a dice roll. Maybe he becomes a future ace, or maybe he never makes it past Double-A. The Tigers would be taking a risk by selecting someone so young, but they have to start building up some young pitchers in the organization.

MLB dropped its top-30 prospect list for every team recently and the Tigers only have one pitcher in their top-10 prospects in Andrew Sears who is not projected to make his big league debut until 2027.

Detroit needs more young pitching prospects in the organization, so no matter who they select in the first round, it would be a little surprising if it does not end up being a pitcher.

Tigers may look to restock pitching pipeline in 2026 MLB Draft

In the short-term, the Tigers could have a completely different rotation next season. Tarik Skubal is almost certain to depart in free agency, and Justin Verlander, Casey Mize, and Jack Flaherty are all set to be free agents as well.

Framber Valdez, the big signing of the offseason, is only under contract through 2027. He can opt out after that season, so there is a possibility that no members of the 2026 rotation will be in the 2028 rotation. That has to be a bit scary for Detroit.

Obviously they can sign other guys and make trades, but they are going to need some homegrown arms in the rotation at some point. Maybe they will have to rely on former top prospects like Ty Madden if necessary, but an infusion of young blood is needed.

The Tigers may even want to think about drafting an older pitcher, someone around 22 years old, who can make more of an immediate impact at the big league level. Drafting someone like Schmidt, who might make his big league debut in 2030 if everything goes right, is inherently risky even if he does have upside.

It makes sense that the tigers are projected to go with a pitcher in the draft, but which one they choose could have major ramifications for years.