It turned Sunday into a prep prospect party for the Detroit Tigers as they grabbed high school talent with their first two picks in the 2025 MLB Draft, snatching catcher Michael Oliveto of Hauppage (New York) High with the 34th overal pick – 10 spots after making Florida prep shortstop Jordan Yost their first choice at No. 24 overall.

The Tigers had been tied to Oliveto, who like Yost, is a left-handed hitter, and who unlike the 6-foot Joyce, is a big lad – 6-3, 185 pounds, and a young man with enough intellect to have earned a Yale scholarship.

Oliveto is, not surprisingly, considered to have prime-time power and a sophisticated hit-tool. Whether he can continue as a catcher or is better targeted down the road for another position is of little immediate concern to the Tigers, who clearly like his potential, both ways.

The Tigers’ calling-card through three drafts under front-office general Scott Harris have been prep hitters with up-the-middle talents. They struck twice Sunday in a manner reminiscent of last year’s first-round pick of Bryce Rainer and the Max Clark-Kevin McGonigle dual haul in 2023.

Yost, 18, is a left-handed batter from Sickles High in Tampa, Florida, about 50 miles from the Tigers’ farm headquarters in Lakeland. He is 6-foot, 170 pounds, and is viewed as a skilled hitter with the kind of contact-crunch and strike-zone eye an organization celebrates.

Yost is a high-ceiling pick, for sure, with two-way, bedrock talents that conform to the Tigers’ concentration on up-the-middle draft skills and baseball savvy, even when a prospect is as young as Yost.

OLSM grad Ike Irish drafted by Orioles in first round of 2025 MLB Draft

With their second-round pick, No. 62 overall, the Tigers grabbed right-handed pitcher Malachi Witherspoon (6-3, 211 pounds) from the University of Oklahoma.

The Tigers were to pick once more Sunday – at No. 98  –  in the 2025 draft’s first three rounds. Rounds 4-20 are set for Monday.

The Tigers have gone for prep bats in early rounds spanning the three years Tigers drafts have been headed by Rob Metzler and Mark Conner, all since Scott Harris became Tigers front-office boss in 2022.

First-place teams, winning records across the board – the Tigers’ farm surge has been a story as generally upbeat as a Detroit team’s first-place grip in the American League Central.

A look at some of the best, some of the not-so-great, and a stream of performers who have brought color and organizational muscle to the Tigers’ minor-league realm:

 

Best performance by a hitter

Kevin McGonigle, shortstop, Erie. Everyone knew McGonigle, at some point in June/July, was jumping from West Michigan to Double A after he destroyed Midwest League pitching to the tune of .372/.462/.648/1.110. His Erie ticket came July 7 (officially) and, unsurprisingly, was part of a three-player package shipped to Erie alongside two others who in normal years would have wrapped up the Tigers farm’s first-half hitting crown: Max Clark and Josue Briceno. McGonigle might well show at Erie talent as special as has been showcased at those early Tigers farm stops. If so, he will go to spring camp in February with a chance to further dazzle and push his MLB arrival to 2026. A lot left to be displayed and discussed as McGonigle soars.

Best late development by a hitter

Clark’s surge from late spring into July when he added power to an otherwise sturdy profile: In an 11-game stretch from June 22-July 6 he hit three of his eight home runs on the season, and three of his 12 doubles. Important stuff, his power beginning to blossom, when Clark is five months from turning 21 and when his walks on the season are 65 against 58 strikeouts. The Tigers aren’t second-guessing their third overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Best position debate tied to a terrific hitter

Whether a left-handed dynamite stick on Briceno’s level can remain at catcher or eventually move full-time to first base. The Tigers know catching is gold and there’s no reason to cash in Briceno’s chips even if men 6-foot-4 and 200-plus pounds rarely withstand MLB’s behind-the-plate rigors. For now, the Tigers can happily wait this one out, especially as young men such as Thayron Liranzo, Enrique Jimenez and hotshot teen Steven Madero bid for future jobs at Comerica Park. One thing to keep in mind: Spencer Torkelson is three years from free agency. Briceno looms there as a heavy insurance policy.

Toughest break for a blue-chip hitter

Bryce Rainer dislocating his shoulder during a June 4 game at Lakeland. Rainer was showing magic in that left-handed bat and was playing a superb shortstop, all at age 19. By now, he probably would have been making West Michigan a bit less anguished at losing McGonigle, Clark and Briceno to their Erie upgrades. The word from Detroit’s front office is that surgery was a best option and Rainer should be ready to resume his old, quasi-astounding ways next spring. About the only question is whether his pitching-grade arm will return to its 2025 fury. But what a talent the Tigers snagged here with last July’s 11th-overall pick.

Best performance by a starting pitcher

Troy Melton, Toledo. Candidacies here were on the light side. Melton has come on nicely at Triple A, three years after the Tigers made him a fourth-round grab from San Diego State. His power-pitching quiver is impressive (fastball up to 98-99) with a legit five-pitch mix. He needs yet to finish off hitters (see: Reese Olson) and throw to quadrants that can bedevil big-league batters. Of course, that’s every pitcher’s requirement and perfection is elusive. It’s possible Melton could find his way to Detroit during the summer’s second half. Either way, he’s headed for work in Detroit no later than (early?) next season.

Most disappointing facet of the farm’s first half

That so few starters showed promise when much was expected. Ty Madden (shoulder issues), Jaden Hamm, Rayner Castillo, Gabriel Reyes, Owen Hall, Ethan Schiefelbein, Josh Randall, Joseph Montalvo, and others all expected to be arcing upward. It hasn’t, on balance, happened, although there have been exceptions: Lucas Elissalt and R.J. Sales at Lakeland; Andrew Sears at West Michigan; Jake Miller at Erie, among others. What’s ironic is the Tigers forever were better at finding pitching than hitting. That has reversed the past couple of drafts under new execs. No major alterations from taking hitters quickly, and arms later, is expected during the Tigers’ 2025 draft. What the Tigers hope as pitching forecasts become clearer is better health, principally, and pitchers rebounding — as they so often do within the mercurial realm of arms and baseball. Surprises and expectations on the plus side can always sprout in these closing months of 2025 — and during a critical 2026 season.

Better signs from below (pitching)

That relievers appeared to be gestating at various levels, including a rich group at West Michigan: Marco Jimenez, Micah Ashman, Preston Howey, and others. RJ Petit is evolving at Erie, as is Richard Guasch and a restored Tanner Kohlhepp. Moises Rodriguez looks as if a move to West Michigan from Lakeland will happen as quickly as some of the above shift to Erie. And by all means keep an eye on Thomas Szapucki, a one-time bright-light in the Mets system who signed in February with the Tigers. He was splendid during some tune-ups at Lakeland, and now is stationed at Toledo. Another Mud Hen to eyeball: Drew Sommers, a left-handed option, for sure, if the Tigers need help in Detroit. Sommers was Tampa Bay’s price in a February trade for Mason Englert. Also of interest: Woo-Suk Go, 25, a left-handed South Korea product who has past time in the Marlins and Padres systems. He struck out four in two innings Saturday against Omaha.

Hitter who best rebounded

Max Anderson, Erie. Last season, his first full farm year after the Tigers drafted him 45th overall in 2023, was not uplifting (.266, .702 OPS). This year has been more like a rocket-launch, with any night on which Anderson gets fewer than two hits something of a surprise. He has steadily been well above .300 in 2025 with .900-plus OPS, and only a 14.9% strikeout rate. He walks too few times, but his bat-to-ball skills, and power (.534 slugging, 11 home runs) make him one to consider as the Tigers right-side infield future plays out, or as an enticing trade chip this month or later. Note that he also is getting work at third base, although half the Tigers organization seems to have had at least a turn at third.

Still to be sorted out

What the Tigers do with their infield triumvirate of Anderson, Jace Jung and Hao-Yu Lee. All of them primarily are second basemen working (to different degrees) as third-base converts. Anderson is having by far the better season, offensively. Jung is working on a swing-change that appears to be paying off. Lee is keeping pace with the bat and in sharing time at two positions. The Tigers are likely to lose Gleyber Torres this autumn to free agency. One or two of the above ideally becomes a factor at one or both positions as a team’s big-league infield mysteries evolve.

Hitters who aren’t yet cutting it

The Tigers got Gage Workman back from his Rule 5 hiatus with the Cubs and White Sox and looked to be retrieving a potential roster piece. But, ah, since returning to Toledo it’s an old story through 39 games: .188 batting average and another scary strikeout clip, long Workman’s bogeyman, of 39.5%. Also worrisome: Roberto Campos at Erie. He turned 22 last month, should be showing definitive signs of big-league cachet, and instead in 69 games at Double A is batting .231/.293/.331/.624. He is 6-3, 200, bats right-handed and in 2019 was a then-record Tigers international investment of $2.85 million. There are regular assurances across the Tigers organization that Campos will be fine. It’s time to ask: Will he?

Hitter most closely to follow (second half)

Franyerber Montilla at Lakeland. Montilla plays middle infield, switch hits, and had a chilly spring before things began getting toasty with the Flying Tigers (12-for-25 in his past six games). The thermostat turned up last month and an ongoing second-half surge could put him at West Michigan even this summer. His strikeouts (25.1%) remain a bit heavy but, if amended, would factor in any later-summer notions of moving him to high-A.

Pitcher most closely to follow (second half)

Kenny Serwa at Erie. Those who don’t take this man seriously might wish to take in a Serwa start. His knuckleball is real. He can throw it for strikes. He is tough to hit. He can give you six innings, easily. He is an athlete. He probably should bag his fastball, or at least not throw it on an 0-2 count, as he did Thursday and watched as it banged against the fence for a triple. And he should avoid bad innings that seemingly are within the grasp of a 27-year-old man still fairly new to professional baseball. These are fairly achievable matters for a pitcher who in 17 games (12 starts) at West Michigan and Erie has a 3.36 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, with strikeout/walks rates of 7.0 and 3.0 and who has been nicked for only 55 hits in 72 innings. Serwa, in fact, has two knuckleballs thrown at markedly different speeds. Understand this man’s uniqueness. Appreciate his potential.

Over the horizon

There are signs of life, some of them brilliant, in the deeper regions of Detroit’s rookeries in the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League. Kelvis Salcedo, Eddy Felix, Jatnk Diaz – all, by next year, could be part of an organization-wide rebound among Tigers kid starters. Offensively, Javier Osorio, Jose Dickson and Jude Warwick, now joining Enrique Jimenez as the Tigers’ best quartet of FCL hitters, should be digging in as lineup regulars at Lakeland. In the Dominican Summer League, teens soon headed States-side include Madero, a marvelously talented young catcher, as well as Cris Rodriguez, Nestor Miranda, and Cristian Perez – and 18-year-old right-handed gunslinger Jhonan Coba.

An eventful first half, this year’s Tigers farm story and its revelations. Second-half news should also, steadily, make 2025 one of the more remarkable seasons in the past 50 years of Tigers minor-league life.