With no third-round pick, Detroit must maximize its early selections by targeting athletic prep hitters and switch-hitting infielders to bolster the organization's long-term offensive core.
The 2026 MLB Draft is getting closer, and for the Detroit Tigers, the conversation is less about one obvious player and more about the type of player they have targeted under this front office.
The draft begins Saturday, July 11, with the opening rounds scheduled for 1 p.m. ET at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Grand Hall in Philadelphia. The draft runs July 11-12 during All-Star Week, with the first four rounds, compensatory rounds, competitive balance rounds and prospect promotion incentive rounds on the opening day. Rounds 5-20 will take place Sunday, July 12.
Detroit holds the No. 22 overall pick in the first round, followed by No. 61 in the second round and No. 69 in Competitive Balance Round B. The Tigers also forfeited their third-round selection after signing Framber Valdez, who had received a qualifying offer. That makes the first few picks even more important, because Detroit has to make its early bonus pool work without a normal third-round selection.
As always, the Tigers should not draft strictly for major league need. The MLB Draft is too slow-moving for that. The player taken at No. 22 is not being selected to help the current roster next month. The better question is what type of player gives the organization the best long-term return.
Based on recent mock drafts, the industry still sees Detroit leaning toward athletic high school position players, especially left-handed or switch-hitting bats with a chance to stay somewhere up the middle. That has been a clear trend in recent years. Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle, Bryce Rainer and Jordan Yost all fit different versions of that profile. The Tigers have shown they are comfortable betting on prep bats with athleticism, defensive value and room for physical growth.
The latest MLB Pipeline mock from the Draft Combine projected Detroit to take Landon Thome, a left-handed-hitting infielder from Nazareth Academy in Illinois. Thome is listed as a second baseman/third baseman type, and the appeal is the bat. He would fit the broader Tigers pattern because he is a high school hitter with offensive feel, even if his long-term defensive home may not be shortstop.
Baseball America’s newest mock has connected Detroit to Aiden Ruiz, a switch-hitting shortstop from The Stony Brook School in New York. Ruiz may not have the same power projection as some others in this range, but he offers contact ability and premium defensive value. For a Tigers system that has valued up-the-middle skills, Ruiz makes sense as a safer version of the prep infielder mold.
MLB Pipeline has also projected Tyler Spangler to Detroit in a recent mock. Spangler, a De La Salle High School shortstop from California, is another player who fits the front office’s preferred template. He has size, strike-zone feel and power projection, but there are signability and health questions after he missed time with a back injury. That is where Detroit’s bonus pool strategy would matter.
Other names tied to the Tigers by various websites include Archer Horn, Trevor Condon, Cole Prosek, Connor Comeau and Bo Lowrance. Condon, an outfielder from Etowah High School in Georgia, may be one of the cleaner fits if he gets to No. 22 because he brings left-handed contact, speed and a chance to stay in center field. Horn and Comeau offer infield athleticism, while Prosek brings more defensive versatility as a possible catcher or corner infielder.
Still, the Tigers cannot ignore pitching. Their upper-level pitching depth has been tested by injuries, attrition and graduations. Detroit did address college pitching in the 2025 draft, but one draft class does not solve an organizational pitching shortage. The Tigers need to keep adding arms who throw strikes, miss bats and have at least one developmental trait their pitching group can improve. That could mean college starters with usable fastballs and a breaking ball, JUCO arms with velocity, or prep pitchers who fall into a more affordable range after the first round.
The cleanest plan would be to take the best player available at No. 22, with a slight preference toward impact bats, then use the second round and Competitive Balance Round B to add pitching depth. If the best player on the board is a high school infielder or center fielder, that would match what the Tigers have done well. If a college arm with starter traits falls, Detroit should be open to changing the pattern.
The projected names may keep changing before draft day, but the theme is consistent. The Tigers are expected to be in the market for athletic prep hitters, especially left-handed or switch-hitting players with defensive value. What they need beyond that is a draft class that adds pitching volume without passing on the best talent early. For a system trying to build sustainable depth, Detroit needs both: another upside bat near the top and enough arms behind him to keep the pipeline from thinning out again.
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