Detroit Tigers Top 50 Prospects for 2026: 50-41

Ranking the Top 50 Detroit Tigers Prospects

Welcome to our breakdown of the Top 50 Detroit Tigers prospects heading into the 2026 season. You can find the list here, and we will be rolling out full scouting reports over on our Patreon page. But we also wanted to provide something between a ranking and a scouting report for readers. Below you’ll find prospect capsules that give a bit of an overview on each player’s skills and some notes on their performance in 2025.

Our ranking methodology remains the same as ever. Chris, Colin, Jerry, Joe, and Rogelio all made independent lists of their top prospects in the Detroit Tigers system. We then averaged our individual rankings to come up with our collective rankings. We ended up with 77 different players landing on at least one list. But in order to make the final ranking a player had to be on at least four lists. That left us with 48 names. So then we broke the rules just a little to get the list to 50. The first two names you see below are our highest-ranked players who landed on three lists.

Enjoy, and look out for another ten pack of Tigers prospects soon!

50* – Peyton Graham, INF

Peyton Graham’s slight frame seemingly led to a series of injuries and a lack of impact in his first three years as a pro. He finally had his first successful season in 2025, batting .283/.366/.423 over 100 games in High-A West Michigan. Graham still has the solid tools that made him a 2nd rounder and give him the upside of a utility player, but we need to see some success at upper minors before we push him back up our list.

Peyton Graham shoots an RBI triple to the right center gap to get West Michigan on the board. Helmets flying everywhere. pic.twitter.com/CVFqRfdbxw

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 13, 2025

49* – River Hamilton, RHP

River Hamilton is a high-upside prep arm with a lanky, projectible frame and solid present stuff. His fastball repeatedly reached the mid-90s and he flashed a promising slider during the showcase circuit after his junior season. But Hamilton dealt with a sore elbow for most of his senior year, and eventually had Tommy John surgery. He’s a fun player to dream on, but fans probably won’t get to see much of him until 2027.

48 – Michael Massey, RHP

Michael Massey was excellent as a reliever for Wake Forest as a sophomore, but merely average as a starter as a junior. He has an interesting arm, combining a riding fastball with a pair of promising breaking balls, but a variety of injuries have prevented him from throwing a single pitch in pro baseball. He fits best as a reliever, but it remains to be seen how the Tigers use him.

47 – Preston Howey, RHP

Howey is an unassuming and undersized righty who was dominant as a reliever for West Michigan early in the 2025 season, posting a 2.53 ERA over 32 innings out of the bullpen. He moved into a starting role in mid-July and held his own, but his walk rate spiked from 5.9% to 15.4% and his ERA rose to 3.90 over 30 innings. His stuff is fairly pedestrian, with a fastball that will touch 95 MPH, an average slider, and a fringy changeup. But he shows impressive command in short stints, and he could carve out a role in middle relief down the road.

46 – Yosber Sanchez, RHP

Yosber Sanchez is one of the few pitchers in Detroit’s system who can reach triple-digits with his fastball, though his best pitch is his mid-80s slider. He’ll also fold in a cutter and a changeup at times. Sanchez just couldn’t stay healthy in 2025, and he struggled to get Double-A hitters to chase, leading to a fairly significant drop in strikeouts. Sanchez will need to refine his command to reach the big leagues, where he could potentially help in the middle innings.

Got a pretty good look at reliever Yosber Sanchez tonight. Below-average command/control, but showed four pitches:
FB – 96-97, T98
CT – 91-92
SL – 83-85
CH – 81
Here he gets Jonny Butler looking at a slider and Henry Bolte looking at a fastball. pic.twitter.com/l0zoZoSj2W

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 28, 2024

45 – Paul Wilson, LHP

Paul Wilson got a hefty bonus to sign with the Tigers in 2023, but he looked rough in 2024, struggling mightily to throw strikes while featuring a fastball that only occasionally hit 92 MPH. His strike-throwing was still rough in 2025, but his stuff looked significantly better, and his fastball/slider mix was electric when he found the zone. Unfortunately, he blew out his elbow after just a few outings, and he may not see regular innings again until the 2027 season.

44 – Jesus Pinto, OF

Jesus Pinto had a strong pro debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2024, and he showed some promising signs in the Complex League in 2025 before suffering an injury that cost him about two months. When he returned to action he joined the Lakeland Flying Tigers and helped them win the Florida State League title, going 5-for-17 with a triple, three walks, and five runs scored in the playoffs. Pinto has mostly average tools, but he’s a gamer who hits the ball fairly hard, though it’s on the ground far too much.

Jesus Pinto’s 3rd hit of the night is an RBI line drive to right. pic.twitter.com/SSijtBGVvU

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 6, 2025

43 – Gabriel Reyes, LHP

Gabriel Reyes pitched well in the Florida State League in 2024, and we projected him to move up to West Michigan. Instead, he remained in extended spring training until late April, and spent the whole season in Lakeland again. Reyes throws strikes and he knows how to pitch, using his low-¾ arm slot to hold left-handed batters to a .451 OPS last year. His four-seamer and sinker both sit at 92-93 and touch 95, though neither miss bats at a high rate. His mid-80s slider and low-80s changeup do get him whiffs, though, and we think there’s some potential utility as a lefty reliever down the line.

42 – Rayner Castillo, RHP

Rayner Castillo was one of the bigger disappointments in the system in 2025. He looked like a real breakout candidate after the 2024 season saw him post a 2.52 ERA in Lakeland, but he just wasn’t the same pitcher last year. He moved up to High-A West Michigan and struggled to a 5.29 ERA over 98.2 innings. But his stuff was more concerning than his results. In 2024 his fastball sat at 96 MPH and his sharp slider frequently looked like a plus offering. But last year his fastball was sitting around 93, and his slider was slow and loopy. We don’t know what to expect in 2026, though if he can regain his stuff from 2024 he has a chance to be a solid reliever in a few years.

41 – Ethan Schiefelbein, LHP

The second of Detroit’s two 2nd-round picks in 2024, Schiefelbein came into pro ball with a reputation as a crafty strike thrower with average stuff. He barely saw any game action in 2025, however, tossing just nine innings over three outings in the Florida Complex League. He did manage nine strikeouts in that time, but he also allowed nine hits and five walks. But most concerning to us were rumors that his fastball was sitting in the mid-80s. Schiefelbein is still very young, and he may have been dealing with some injuries last year, but it’s hard for us to push him up the list with such a scant track record.