Do the Tigers get the hitter they most need — at all levels — when the 2022 MLB Draft gets rolling at 7 p.m. Sunday?
Or, because the best hitters could well have been picked over by the time Detroit takes its turn, 12th overall, will a Tigers team famous (or notorious) for plucking pitchers in the first round decide, again, that an arm is a team’s mandate — never mind the groaning from fans weary of a big-league team’s runs-scoring plight?
The Tigers probably most hope that Texas Tech second-baseman Jace Jung is sitting there when Detroit’s turn arrives, somewhere in the vicinity of 8 p.m. Sunday. Jung bats left-handed, hits the ball hard (exit velocities, of course, are religion for scouts), swings for power, and is the younger brother of Josh Jung, who in 2019 was the Rangers’ first-round pick, eighth overall.
Jung, though, could be gone by the time Detroit gets that 12th crack Sunday.
This is why the Tigers could benefit from some Sunday evening drama.
They need a falling star: Jung, or perhaps Virginia Tech outfielder and left-handed masher Gavin Cross. They would not object if Jacob Berry, a switch-hitting dandy from Louisiana State, somehow slipped from slots (anywhere from eighth to 10th) where he probably will be snagged.
They might opt for a small-college shortstop they have been eyeing all spring: Zach Neto, from Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.
Or, they could decide — again — that some powerhouse pitcher is just too mesmerizing to pass on, as was the call a year ago when they settled on Jackson Jobe and for 12 months of squealing from fans who preferred California prep shortstop Marcelo Mayer.
What seems safe to predict, as much as safe can be projected in an MLB Draft, is that the following hotshots will be gone in a jiffy Sunday:
Druw Jones, prep outfielder and son of Andruw Jones, could be the first player picked. It might be prep slugger Jackson Holliday, son of Matt Holliday, who goes one-one, or no deeper than second overall. Elijah Greene, from IMG Academy, is somewhere in the initial mix.
Termarr Johnson, another prep dazzler, and a shortstop, figures to go top six or seven. Brooks Lee, a shortstop from Cal Poly, is a top-five favorite, with Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada a certainty to last perhaps no deeper than the first three turns.
Another hitter probably pilfered early is Cam Collier, a third baseman from Chipola (Florida) Junior College.
It leaves a possible wild-card for the Tigers in prep center-fielder Justin Crawford, who like so many from the Prime Time pack has big-league blood in that his dad, Carl, was a long-time MLB celebrity.
The Tigers, though, are known to prefer what their fan base sees, all too regularly, as an imperative: a college bat that could arrive in haste to Comerica Park.
A scouting staff that has been meeting since Tuesday in Lakeland, Florida, undoubtedly hopes for help and surprises from a team or two drafting in front of Detroit.
The Tigers will be on a first-round bat safari with no secure feeling that any such hitter will yet be on display. And if that caliber of run-producer is gone, the Tigers will, again, conclude they can’t pass on a pitcher, no matter that it will further aggravate Detroit’s baseball audience.
Connor Prielipp, a left-hander from the University of Alabama who had Tommy John surgery in 2021, is a possibility, as is the local bright-light, Brock Porter, a right-hander from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s who could be a top-15 choice.
“You can really get in the weeds with this,” said Scott Pleis, who heads amateur scouting for the Tigers. “Who’s the best guy, who’s going to be the best for the Tigers organization?
“You’ve got to make sure you get the right guy.”
Getting that “right guy” in Pleis estimation means — you might have heard this before from pro-sports draft chiefs — selecting the best talent available.
“It’s very difficult to overlook the best player and take someone because we need a right-fielder, or a catcher, or whoever,” Pleios said. “If that’s the basis for taking a guy, we’re in a bad situation.”
The draft conversation is different, so different, for all MLB clubs in 2022 because of what has happened during the past year. A slew of first-round pitchers headed for Tommy John surgery appointments. It was a bizarre, cruel, run of ligament reconstructions that promptly pushed hitters to the draft’s top tier and elevated some prospects who probably don’t belong in Top 20 discussion.
The Tigers are caught seemingly at a fault line where a hitter who absolutely should have been there for the snatching now likely will be claimed.
Or, perhaps with the always-surprising Royals picking ahead of the Tigers, or perhaps with the Marlins potentially pulling off a stunner, a bat the Tigers craved will be in their lap at 12.
The first round will not be Sunday’s only fixation. Second-round picks also will be made Sunday, after competitive-round (sandwich picks, as they’re known) have wrapped up.
The Tigers get another turn Sunday at 51 overall. They’ll then wait with their MLB cohorts for Monday’s rounds 3-through-10, followed by a Tuesday wrap-up to the 20-round sweepstakes.
lynn.henning@detroitnews.com
Twitter.com: @Lynn_Henning