Tigers get gift as top high school player falls into their lap at 11th overall

The Tigers' first-round pick of the 2024 MLB Draft is in!

Eric Cole

Detroit Tigers v Texas Rangers / Richard Rodriguez/GettyImages

For the Detroit Tigers, they had to simply wait and see if any of the top talents in the 2024 draft class fell to them at No. 11. Most draft experts agreed that after the top 10 prospects in this class, there was a good bit of drop-off when it comes to talent level, and Detroit just had to hope that one of the better players somehow got to them.

Fortunately, that is exactly what happened. After the dust settled from the top 10, which did not go to script, prep shortstop Bryce Rainer was still on the board and the Tigers scooped him up with their first-round pick.

Tigers News: Detroit selects shortstop Bryce Rainer in first round of 2024 MLB Draft

Coming off a 2023 draft where the Tigers just picked a prep standout in Max Clark, some Detroit fans were hoping that the team would go the college route this year with a guy like Braden Montgomery, who was still on the board when Detroit picked. However, Rainer is a guy that was getting real consideration in the top 10 in this class, and getting him this late was an absolute steal.

Rainer brings plus power to go along with decent speed and an (at least) above average hit tool. Given the strength of his arm, he should be able to stick at shortstop. If he bulks up too much to cover ground at short, sliding him over to third base or even putting him in the outfield are feasible options. Rainer is also a real pitching prospect, so that could be an option for the Tigers if playing in the field doesn't work out for whatever reason.

This is objectively a great pick. Sure, it will take Rainer some time to get to the majors as a prep kid, but his bat is advanced. Strictly based on talent, he should have been a top-10 pick and Detroit finally had some luck break in their favor with him falling a bit.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.