The Detroit Tigers put four prospects on Baseball America’s midseason top 100 rankings released Monday.
The four players to receive honors: first/third baseman Spencer Torkelson, outfielder Riley Greene, right-hander Matt Manning and right-hander Jackson Jobe. The Tigers selected Jobe — from Heritage Hall High School in Oklahoma City — with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft.
Torkelson and Greene lead the way as the Nos. 6 and 7 prospects, respectively, followed by Manning at No. 67 and Jobe at No. 96. Of the group, Manning is the only prospect with MLB experience. The 23-year-old has made six starts for the Tigers this season, boasting a 5.79 ERA, 10 walks and 13 strikeouts over 28 innings.
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Baseball America’s top 10 prospects, in order: Wander Franco (Tampa Bay Rays), Adley Rutschman (Baltimore Orioles), Julio Rodriguez (Seattle Mariners), Jarred Kelenic (Mariners), Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals), Torkelson, Greene, Marco Luciano (San Francisco Giants), CJ Abrams (San Diego Padres) and Noelvi Martels (Mariners).
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Torkelson is hitting .269 with 14 home runs, 52 RBIs, 42 walks and 56 strikeouts in 64 games between High-A West Michigan (31 games) and Double-A Erie (33 games). Since joining the SeaWolves, the 21-year-old has crushed nine homers with a .227 batting average.
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Also playing for Erie is Greene, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft. He is hitting .274 with 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, 34 walks and 83 strikeouts in 66 games. The 20-year-old has 11 stolen bases — only getting caught once — and four triples.
Before making his MLB debut June 17, Manning completed seven starts in Triple-A Toledo. He had a 8.07 ERA, 10 walks and 36 strikeouts over 32⅓ innings.
Jobe, 18, is expected to pitch in Lakeland before the 2021 season concludes.
Entering the 2021 season, the Tigers had five prospects on Baseball America’s top 100 list: Torkelson (No. 5), Tarik Skubal (No. 20), Casey Mize (No. 28), Manning (No. 30) and Greene (No. 31). This year, Skubal and Mize graduated from prospect status.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.