Baseball America's Tigers mock draft would be familiar Scott Harris masterclass

Scott Harris has only led the Tigers through two drafts so far since taking over from Al Avila near the end of 2022, but he's made three key selections during his tenure already. Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle were taken as the first and second picks in 2023 (McGonigle came in a Competitive Balance round), and Bryce Rainer was an over-slot first-round pick in 2024. Clark, McGonigle, and Rainer currently rank at Nos. 2-4 in the Tigers' pipeline behind Jackson Jobe.

All three were high school picks, marking a shift in philosophy between Avila and Harris' approaches to the draft. MLB.com and Baseball America named the Tigers' farm system as the best and second-best in baseball to start the season. Clearly, it's working.

Baseball America has already been running some mock drafts a few months ahead of the official 2025 Draft in mid-July. Given their postseason success last season, the Tigers will make their first pick in the No. 24 slot, their lowest since 2015.

They named high school outfielder Slater de Brun as their pick for the Tigers' first-round selection, and college pitcher Riley Quick in Competitive Round A.

Mock draft from Baseball America has Scott Harris, Tigers taking another high school position player first in 2025 Draft

Baseball America's Chris Collazo writes of de Brun, a product of Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, "De Brun is one of the best preps available and offers an exciting blend of speed, center field defense and pure hitting ability. He doesn’t have the same physicality the Tigers secured with recent prep bats like Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle (selected No. 37 overall in 2023) and Bryce Rainer, but he might be the most well-rounded player on the board."

MLB Pipeline rates de Brun's hit, run, and fielding highest in his skillset at 55, 65, and 60 respectively at No. 33 in their ranking of draft prospects. They also compared him to Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll, but added that de Brun has "more physicality than Carroll at this stage."

De Brun committed to Vanderbilt in October 2023, but it probably wouldn't be hard to convince him to jump straight to the pros if he is taken in the first round. Given Harris' recent track record with Clark, McGonigle, and Rainer, the Tigers could have another winner on their hands if they do end up swiping de Brun in July.