2 weeks Ago
The Detroit Tigers have the best farm system in all of baseball with a rich prospect pool and a blend of talent both knocking on the door of the MLB level and still a couple of years away. As prospects graduate to the Major Leagues, the hope is that an assembly line of players keep the overall farm system strong. In the Tigers case, current No.
1 prospect Jackson Jobe is obviously about to graduate while No. 2 and No. 3 guys Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle are still at least a year away.
By the time Clark and McGonigle are ready to make the transition however — or maybe even before — the top prospect in the organization will almost assuredly be 2024 first round selection in shortstop Bryce Rainer . The 19-year-old started to show out during the spring breakout games towards the end of camp, however ultimately he is really just getting started with his first season of professional baseball after being assigned to Low-A Lakeland. Rainer was struggling a bit to begin the year, slashing .
143/.269/.143 over the first seven games of the season.
However, Thursday afternoon saw the first makings of a breakout as Rainer recorded his first professional home run, an impressive opposite field shot: If that wasn't enough, Rainer would go to the opposite field again later in the game for a ground rule double that was absolutely smoked off the bat: Everything Rainer hits seems to absolutely jump off the bat, even a groundout during the game traveling with an over 110 mph exit velocity: He would cap his day off with a sacrifice fly to center field to double up his RBI total on the season from two to four as well as adding a walk during the tilt. Rainer projects as someone who has a chance to be an absolutely superstar with a rare blend of speed and power for the shortstop position. Detroit getting Rainer with the No.
11 overall pick may have just been the steal of the draft as it was not expected for him to fall out of the top-ten. Yet to turn 20 years old and really just getting started with his professional career during the last couple of weeks, the future is incredibly bright for Rainer. Tigers fans will have to wait a couple of years before he's ready to make an impact in the big leagues, but if he keeps having games like he had on Thursday, it could be a whole lot quicker than that.
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