Detroit Tigers Draft Update: 5 players to consider at No.3

Detroit Tigers mid-spring draft update

The Detroit Tigers may have just kicked off their 2023 season, with the focus on trying not to lose 140 games this year. But across the country, the top prospects are well underway with respective high school and college seasons.

While some states are well underway with high school seasons and cold weather states are just now ramping up, it's a good time to revisit the 2023 Detroit Tigers draft board. The focus still remains on the team's no.3 overall pick and the top prospects likely to make up the top five selections in the 2023 MLB Draft.

The Tigers were blessed during the Draft Lottery and able to move up the draft order ever so slightly and claim the no.3 pick in the MLB Draft. This was a nice jump for them, with a draft class that continues to look really heavy near the top.

They will likely have their pick of the litter in the draft at no.3 with plenty of top-tier talent. The question is who will be there. The Tigers will have to make some decisions, and it will be interesting to see how Scott Harris handles his first mid-summer draft with the organization.

In February, I pieced together a draft primer with the initial thoughts as college season began. The pieced featured reports from each of the top prospects I deemed worthy of consideration. The piece can be found here.

The piece was broken up into pages for each of the five featured prospects, coupled with scouting reports and a breakdown. This was made right at the start of the 2023 season. As the collegiate season hits the midpoint, now is as good a time as ever to take another gander.

While the top five are not being altered a whole ton, the rankings and updates to the board are what is critical with this update. The Tigers will have a chance to add a big-time prospect into their organization this year. Without further adieu, let's dive into the updated draft board.

2. Wyatt Langford, RHH/OF

Wyatt Langford is one of the other bats rivaling Dylan Crews at the top. He's been inconsistent in most draft rankings, jumping up and down, but he's risen on my draft board as the season reaches the mid-season mark.

Back in December, extremely early in the draft process for 2023, I had penciled in Wyatt Langford as a mid-to-late Top 10 pick. He was someone the Detroit Tigers should have circled in their book to keep an eye on. Well, he's sucked down some helium and moved up the draft board.

Langford has been a big piece of the puzzle for the Florida Gators program this season. He has the potential to sneak up into the top three picks and be someone the Tigers consider if he is there when the team picks.

Langford, an outfielder by trade, has moved around the field for the Gators but likely translates to a corner outfielder at the big league level. He's 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, with a physical and strong frame. A former catcher, the larger build is understandable.

He's been a welcome sight with the Gators' offense in 2023. Langford has slashed .392/.550/.861 with nine doubles, two triples, and eight home runs. He also has 20 RBI to his credit for the Gators' offense.

Langford has a premium operation in the batters' box with plenty to like and project on as he gets into an organization's farm system. As you can see in the video above, Langford has a direct and simple swing path with plenty of loft.

A whippy barrel with fast hands allows him to get the barrel on the ball and drive it, especially pull-side with plenty of juice. The power also shows up in-game, as evident with the eight bombs in 2023 for the Gators.

The Tigers would benefit significantly by adding Langford into their farm system. He's someone who's going to jump into a pro organization and be able to handle his own. He's got tools that are at the top of his class.

3. Paul Skenes, RHP

The Detroit Tigers should be jumping for joy if they are able to land right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes. While he very technically does two-way and was able to hit for Air Force, he will make a good chunk of change, putting the bat down and focusing on his stuff on the bump.

Skenes has been the most dominant arm in college baseball this season. He's 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, and uses every bit of that physicality to be a dominant pitcher on the mound. He's got high velocity that will poke triple digits, and the slider has been downright nasty in 2023.

Skenes has pitched in seven games for the LSU Tigers in 2023, where he has accumulated 44.1 innings pitched. He has managed a 0.81 ERA and a 0.61 WHIP and has punched out 83 opposing hitters while issuing just eight walks all season long.

It truly is bat-missing stuff. That slider is filthy. It works them mid- to upper-80s with great shape and makes hitters have some really uncomfortable at-bats. Especially knowing he can mix in the changeup that will disappear on hitters.

He replicates arm speed and tunnels the changeup off of his fastball incredibly well. It makes it incredibly tough to stick to an approach, and hitters have their work cut out for them when Skenes toes the slab. The results have not been pretty for the opposition in 2023.

It's a very controlled and repeatable motion on the mound. He controls the game incredibly well, dictating at-bats and sequencing well to keep hitters guessing and with the stuff he has, it makes it challenging to really sit on anything and find success.

If Skenes is on the draft board at no.3, there's a good reason to believe he'll go from the Tigers' purple and yellow jerseys to the Tigers jersey with navy blue and orange. The Tigers faithful should be more than happy if Skenes is the choice at third overall in 2023.

He's been the prospect with the most helium in terms of arms. He was easily the biggest transfer on the pitching side of things, making the most noise in his move. He became the LSU's Friday night starter and has lived up to the hype incredibly well.

The stuff, the results, the makeup, its all stuff tht projects to continue being dominant at the next level. He's pitched himself into the best arm of the draft spot with his performance thus far.

4. Chase Dollander, RHP

One of the bigger surprises of the 2023 season has been the performance of Tennessee's Chase Dollander. At the beginning of the 2023 season, I had labeled Chase Dollander as the best arm in the draft class. This was going into the season expecting Dollander to go out and absolutely shred the opposition.

On the other hand, Chase Dollander has not quite been himself this season, struggling to get things going at the level he performed at in 2022. It seems like his slider has not been as sharp as it looked in the past, and with the lack of his slider, hitters have been able to hunt fastballs.

Here's a great thread from a former colleague and great baseball mind, Cam Lanzilli, who dives deeper into Dollander's struggles. (Little bit of a plug here... if you are interested in pitching and learning more about pitching, do yourself a favor and follow Cam Lanzilli and Ascent Pitching on social media. Tons of easy-to-understand content that will educate you a ton.)

What Lanzilli is saying here, to give it some simple context is that Dollander's throwing more of a dead-zone fastball, struggling to get the movement on it that he has seen in the past. So with a dead zone-fastball and a breaker that he's unable to throw for strikes, it's become easier to find success against the high-profile arm for dominant hitters.

Spit on the breaker and hunt fastballs. Now it's not that easy; Dollander is still a high-level prospect who has shown he will be an excellent member of a big-league organization. The Vols' pitcher has still been good, just not quite as good as he's been in the past.

Dollander has made seven starts in 2023, where he has accumulated 39.0 innings pitched. He's managed a 3.92 ERA, and a 1.13 WHIP, with 11 walks and 56 punchouts. So do not get it twisted. Dollander has taken a regression in his performance and may not be performing at the same level he was last season, but he has still been worthy of high-level draft buzz.

The making of a big-league starter is there; the thing is going to be getting him back on track. Any big league org has to feel that they can do that. Plus, there's a ton of intrigue in the abilities of Dollander as an athlete.

Super efficient mover with a tremendous and projectable body/frame to be a big league arm. He's gotten Jacob deGrom comps with the way he rides the slope, which is a huge hat tip to the college arm. If The Tigers miss out on Skenes and opt to take a pitcher over one of the stud college bats, Dollander would be a solid addition to the organization's future plans.

5. Walker Jenkins RHH/OF

Last but not least is the wildcard. The Detroit Tigers may have a new regime in the front office, but they are known for making some questionable draft decisions. They are no strangers to going off-script. Heck, when Spencer Torkelson was drafted at 1:1 in 2020, they announced him as a third baseman, knowing he had not played third at Arizona State.

There are many questionable draft decisions, but this one would be interesting. Going away from the collegiate ranks to grab a high school bat would be very Tigers-like. But if the Tigers truly do opt to get a little silly and go into the prep side, there's no reason to be upset about adding Walker Jenkins to the organization.

There are a couple of really high-level names at the top of the draft class, but for me, Walker Jenkins is the guy. He's top prep bat and is worth someone trying to bang the table for him in the Tigers' front office if Crews and Langford are off the board and the Tigers are set on a bat.

Jenkins, an outfielder from South Brunswick H.S. in North Carolina, is committed to North Carolina to play college ball, but it would be shocking to see him end up in Tar Heels blue. He's a 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame with a physical build and tons of strength.

He's also a swimmer, taking up the sport to help him stay in shape and get a better feel for his body's movement patterns, which is seldom discussed in the baseball community. In his larger and more physical frame, Jenkins really can show off athleticism and be an efficient mover in the box and the outfield.

He swings it from the left side with massive power upside with an excellent feel for the zone, showing an advanced box presence in the prep ranks. He's got a smooth stroke that will continue to play well moving up the ladder, with the potential to hit for power showing.

He's a centerfielder by trade now and could stay there due to his athleticism, but the physicality could outmatch that and push him to a corner spot, which is really not a bad thing. He will patrol the outfield at the next level and do a fine job.

A prep bat who swings it from the left side with a projectable body and good traits. He's been hitting well this spring in his high school season and is certainly someone to kick the tires on in this summer's draft at no.3 if the Tigers want to go off-script from the exciting college talent available.