The Tigers Tools series keeps moving
The Detroit Tigers are faster than you think. In last year’s version of this piece we lamented Detroit’s heavy-footed history, but thought they might be improving soon. Then they went out and finished in the bottom five in stolen bases for the third consecutive year.
But things really are changing under the hood. The Tigers were actually the third fastest team in baseball last year by average sprint speed. And they tied the Dodgers for the major-league lead in extra bases taken. They just aren’t very good at stealing bases.
But that may be changing. Something very interesting happened in the minors last year:
Tigers Minor Leaguers with 20+ stolen bases, by year:
2014 – 6
2015 – 5
2016 – 6
2017 – 4
2018 – 8
2019 – 8
2021 – 3
2022 – 3
2023 – 3
2024 – 17— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 7, 2024
Tigers affiliates ran wild in 2024. What’s more, six of the seventeen players to reach 20 steals were 2023 draft picks. And three more were free agents signed before or during the season. That, along with the 2024 draft class, suggests speed and baserunning will be a priority for Scott Harris and company.
We recommend looking back at last year’s post for a brief discussion of how speed is scouted and graded. If you can’t stomach that, just know we will be referencing home-to-first running times, 60-yard-dash times, and Statcast’s sprint speed ratings. And if you haven’t already, be sure to check out our lists of the best hitters and best power hitters in the system.
Detroit Tigers Top Speed Tools
1 – Seth Stephenson
Seth Stephenson remains one of the fastest players in all of professional baseball. He is one of just three minor-leaguers to steal 50 or more bases in each of the last two seasons. He swiped 70 bags in 2023, and 60 in 2024, and he increased his success rate from 82% to 87%. His speed is elite by just about any measure. He has clocked 60-yard dash times under 6.2 seconds. And in 2024 we hand timed him getting from home to first in 3.94 seconds (also 3.96). Stephenson’s speed plays better on the basepaths than in the field, but he can capably play all three outfield positions.
Seth Stephenson steals his 60th base of the season. @ThatDanHasty on the call. pic.twitter.com/UiremeNmQL
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 8, 2024
2 – Max Clark
Speed may be the best of Max Clark’s many impressive tools. We consistently clocked him between 4.0 and 4.1 seconds to first base, and he went 29-for-33 on stolen base attempts. If anything, he was a little conservative when it comes to stealing bases. But we expect him to be more aggressive in the near future. Right now his speed plays best when he puts the ball in play. He regularly beats out infield grounders, and when he finds a gap he rockets around the bags for extra-base hits. His speed also helps him play plus defense in center, where he regularly runs down bloopers, liners, and gap shots.
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 14, 2024
3 – Patrick Lee
An undrafted free-agent signing out of Evansville in the independent Frontier League, Patrick Lee was a revelation in the low minors last year. Lee’s running times don’t jump off the page — we never clocked him faster than 4.15 from home to first, and usually it was closer to 4.3 seconds. But he arguably uses his speed better than anyone in the system, even Stephenson. He went 35-for-39 on stolen base attempts, and he led the Tigers system in our made up steals-per-plate-appearance stat. Lee looked good playing corner outfield last year, and he has more than enough speed to handle center.
Patrick Lee with some heads up base running to stretch this to a double to give the Whitecaps the 3-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/f4oKeCDC0V
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 4, 2024
 4 – Dom Johnson
Dom Johnson lands 4th on our list for the second year in a row. He’s still tough to rank, though, because of the way his speed plays in games. Johnson posted elite 60-yard times as a prep, and he routinely gets from the right side of the plate to first base in under 4.1 seconds. Johnson even upped his steal numbers in 2024, going 32-for-36 in 100 games. He has seemingly conquered Low-A, but Johnson runs into a wall whenever he gets to High-A West Michigan. He’s 36-for-40 on steal attempts in 99 Low-A games. But he’s a career .170 hitter in 108 High-A games, and 18-for-23 on steal attempts with the Whitecaps. It’s hard to steal when you don’t get on base. His speed does give him good range in the outfield corners, but he doesn’t play center very often.
Dom Johnson showing the wheels here on this RBI single. pic.twitter.com/kZbyCNJvro
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 6, 2024
5 – Franyerber Montilla
There are probably eight players with a case for our number five spot, but we’re going with Montilla because he’s so much fun. His home-to-first times aren’t particularly special — typically in the 4.25 range from the right side and around 4.15 from the left — which equates to 55-grade speed. But he’s an aggressive baserunner with very impressive instincts for a 19-year-old. He went 30-for-38 on stolen base attempts, and he saw his success rate jump when he moved up from rookie ball to Low-A. He’s also an easy plus runner underway, and his first-step quickness helps him on defense.
Franyerber Montilla with an adventure around the bases…almost gets picked off at 1st, steals 2nd, moves to 3rd on an error, and then scores the go-ahead run on an infield single. pic.twitter.com/t5E81CozEX
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 11, 2024
Honorable Mentions
As we mentioned earlier, Tigers minor-leaguers ran wild last year, so we’ll just go in alphabetical order here. Brett Callahan was slowed by injuries, but he otherwise had a strong first full season in pro ball. He flashed all five tools at times, and went 21-for-25 on steal attempts. Kevin McGonigle had a similar story, going 22-for-24 on steal attempts in just 74 games. He shows 55-grade run times along with great baserunning instincts. Carlos Mendoza’s specialty is putting pressure on the other team. He’s a pest in the batter’s box, and he stole 33 bases in 38 tries last year. Hao-Yu Lee isn’t really known for his speed, but he went 16-for-17 on the bases in 2024.
John Peck is one of the most interesting under-the-hood prospects in the Tigers system. And that extends to his speed, which helped him go 33-for-39 on steal attempts in just 73 games. David Smith hit just .198 last year, but he led the Florida State League with a .380 on-base percentage. He also swiped 29 bags in 36 tries. Trey Sweeney still qualifies as a prospect, and he went 22-for-26 on steal attempts between the minors and majors last year. His sprint speed also landed him in the 73rd percentile to Baseball Savant. And Gage Workman continues to show above-average speed in every facet of the game. That helped him become Erie’s all-time stolen base leader last year.
Raising it like Rickey 🙌
Gage Workman (@tigers) breaks the all-time stolen base record for the @erie_seawolves with his 64th bag. pic.twitter.com/OH96FwXPEv
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 27, 2024
Future Projection
The Tigers might have even more speed on the way. Recent draft picks Woody Hadeen, Jackson Strong, and Jude Warwick could all feature more prominently on this list after 2025. Strong probably has the best case, having gone 49-for-53 in steal attempts in 66 games between Canisius, the MLB Draft League, and Lakeland. And a few rookie-ball hitters posted impressive speed numbers last year. Jose Dickson went 18-for-22 on steal attempts in just 44 games. Javier Osorio went 19-for-25, while Jesus Pinto swiped 16 bags and Santiago Pinto stole 15.
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Rogelio Castillo