Detroit Tigers Top 30 Prospects for 2024

The Detroit Tigers head into the new year with one of the better farm systems in baseball. That’s an impressive feat, considering their famed quintet from their top-five farm system in 2021 have long since graduated. And it’s a testament to the work done by the club’s revamped player development department under Ryan Garko.

But it’s also a stark reminder that farm system rankings don’t always equate to wins at the big-league level. Those fab five prospects from the 2021 rankings (Riley Greene, Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Spencer Torkelson) have combined for about 13 WAR over the last three seasons. And Torkelson is the only one of the five to avoid a serious injury.

And that lack of big-league success is another big contributor to the strong farm. Our top five features three first-round draft picks, including two players taken third overall. And the other two in the top five received significant over-slot bonuses made possible by the Detroit Tigers picking first overall.

But this year’s version of the top 30 feels significantly deeper than the 2021 class, which dropped off dramatically after number six prospect Isaac Paredes. Here’s the rankings as we see them:

We have a few new faces in our #Tigers Top 30 prospects as we will be dropping a few new and updated reports throughout the week. Here’s our December 2024 update. Colt Keith continues to hold down our number one spot. pic.twitter.com/IugoYU2LtJ

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) December 12, 2023

A quick reminder of our process. Four different contributors (Rogelio, Jerry, Colin, and Chris) independently came up with individual top-40 lists, and then we averaged all the rankings. Prospects needed to be on at least three lists to be considered. And any tiebreakers were settled by internal discussions.

We think it’s a pretty strong list, but of course there are always disagreements. So before we get into the official top 30, here are players who received at least one top-30 vote, but ultimately fell short: Eliezer Alfonzo; Trei Cruz (2); Jake Holton; Enrique Jimenez; Lael Lockhart Jr.(2); Javier Osorio; Frank Moreno; Carson Rucker (2); Dylan Smith; Seth Stephenson.

Below you’ll see our new rankings for players next to our previous rankings and how/whether they moved. For each group of five we’ll offer a bit of explanation behind the rankings. And, as always, you can read full scouting reports on each player here.

The TMLR Tigers Top 30

The very back of the list always has a bit of a promotion and relegation feel to it. MLB organizations have preference lists for prospects based on player talent level and team need, but in the public sphere numbered rankings are mostly to preserve a sense or order. Practically speaking, in most systems there’s very little separating the 16th best prospect and the 40th best prospect.

Luke Gold sneaks into the final slot on the strength of an impressive final 30 games in which he posted a 141 wRC+ for West Michigan. Chris Meyers didn’t finish quite as hot as Gold, but he came up big for Erie in the playoffs. Andrew Magno was another huge contributor in the SeaWolves’ title run, and if he can iron out his command he has the stuff to pitch leverage innings in the big leagues. The same holds true for Tyler Mattison, whose high-octane arm gives him closer potential. And we finish with a bit of a falling star in Cristian Santana. He’s still just 20, and has shown plenty of patience and pop over the last two seasons. But his struggles to keep his swing on plane and hit for any kind of average in Low-A make it hard to project him as a big leaguer right now.

Tigers Prospects 25-21

Here’s an interesting group. Max Anderson had a very solid pro debut after being selected in the 2nd round last year, and there’s a strong chance he moves up by the next time we do our rankings. Josue Briceno is one of our big risers thanks to impressive stats and strong underlying data. Andre Lipcius and Ryan Kreidler kick off a small cluster of utility profiles. We’ve long appreciated Lipcius’ hitting ability and approach, but his corner-only defensive profile limits his utility a bit.

We left Kreidler off our last list in anticipation he would graduate out of prospect status, but injuries prevented that. He’s the counter to Lipcius, with a questionable bat but a strong glove that provides value nearly anywhere on the diamond. Paul Wilson hasn’t played in a game yet. But he rounds out this group thanks to impressive stuff that earned him a hefty bonus in the 2023 draft.

Tigers Prospects 20-16

Roberto Campos is our biggest faller this time around, though it’s not entirely because of his second-half struggles. Campos didn’t play for the final six weeks of the season, which gave a few other prospects the opportunity to surpass him. Brant Hurter is another player who dropped through no fault of his own. In fact, he was outstanding down the stretch for Erie. Izaac Pacheco did most of his falling in the last update. He drops a little here, but he slowed his downward momentum with a 112 wRC+ during his final month.

And it’s essentially status quo for Dillon Dingler and Wenceel Perez. Dingler struggled in his few weeks up with Triple-A Toledo, and he’s looking more like a backup catcher at the big-league level. On the other hand, Perez was terrific in his first taste of Toledo. But then an injury cropped up, which has been a problem for Perez, and he missed most of September.

Video: Brant Hurter’s 13 scoreless innings in Erie’s run to their first Eastern League title is next up on our TMLR 2023 most memorable performances. pic.twitter.com/dmN638buiO

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) December 28, 2023

Tigers Prospects 15-11

The last time we updated our list Eddys Leonard had been a Tigers prospect for about five days. He sees a double-digit jump thanks to an outstanding stretch run with Toledo (123 wRC+) and some eye-opening batted-ball data. Troy Melton is another big riser, though an injury ended his year early. But by that point we had seen more than enough to place him among the best arms in the system.

Wilmer Flores takes a little tumble after an inconsistent year in which his stuff took a step backward. He did find more swings-and-misses (22K) in the Arizona Fall League, but he also allowed 25 hits in 18 innings. We didn’t get much game action from Hao-Yu Lee after he joined the Tigers organization, with just eight games for West Michigan and eight more in the AFL. But he held his own, which is impressive for a 20-year-old. And Justice Bigbie climbs two spots after continuing to hit in Triple-A Toledo and the AFL.

Tigers Prospects 10-6

Ty Madden allowed six runs over five inning on August 4th last year, raising his season ERA to 3.89. But he was excellent down the stretch, posting a 2.41 ERA over his final seven outings. No one saw a bigger leap up our rankings than Sawyer Gipson-Long. He put together a dominant stretch in Triple-A last August. And then he brought his elite extension and solid five-pitch mix to the big leagues for four strong starts.

Keider Montero moved up to Toledo shortly after our last list. And though his surface numbers are iffy, his stuff remains strong, and he was remarkably consistent over eight outings. Justyn-Henry Malloy had an excellent August, and his slight drop here is not a reflection on his ability. And we finish with Kevin McGonigle, who had an excellent pro debut. He batted .315 with nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts in 21 games.

Justyn-Henry Malloy ties the game with this 2-run bomb to left. It’s his 20th home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/UEirWuftmr

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 1, 2023

The Top 5

Our top five remains pretty static, though there are a couple of noteworthy moves. Jace Jung was steady for most of the season, showing consistent power while batting in .250-.260 range. But he exploded down the stretch, batting .306 with 11 home runs in his final 30 games. Parker Meadows got to showcase his ability at the MLB level, and he looked like a potential game-changer on defense.

Max Clark falls slightly here, but he showed plenty of potential in his pro debut. His drop is more about Jackson Jobe‘s diabolical stuff looking every bit as effective against Double-A and AFL hitters. And Colt Keith holds onto his top spot thanks to a .325/.417/.598 line over his final 30 games. He offers arguably the best mix of hitting ability and power of any Tigers prospect over the last 40 years.

Hey Detroit Tigers fans! If you’re enjoying our Tigers Minor League Report and want to help us keep bringing you the latest updates and in-depth analysis, consider contributing to our efforts. We operate entirely on a volunteer basis, and every bit of support goes a long way. You can donate to us directly via PayPal, or become a valued member by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Or take your fandom to the next level by joining our Patreon community. Additionally, you can shop for some awesome gear at our TMLR store. Your support helps us continue our mission to provide you with quality content on all things Tigers Minor League. Thank you for your support.