For draft junkies like me who get sick of hearing about the same players over and over as the top of the first round gets talked to death by national media, the draft really starts on day two. Rounds two through ten produce the bulk of major league players and identifying them is a challenge that really allows each team’s scouting and team philosophy to shine.
Identifying exactly matches between players and teams is something like a fool’s errand once you get past the first 40-45 picks. Instead, it’s better to look at day two players in terms of archetypes and identify which kinds of players a team might be attracted to and why. The personal values of Scott Harris and AJ Hinch don’t factor in much here, as the input of key shot-callers is typically muted in the evaluation of non-first round talents. This is where scouting chiefs Rob Metzler and Mark Conner, along with their staff, is supposed to shine.
In that spirit, I’ve identified six players here that match the identity of the Tigers’ developmental system.
INF Josh Kuroda-Grauer, Rutgers
This Rutgers shortstop has a track record of excellent performance that is unimpeachable. He hit ludicrously well in the Big 10, finishing with a .428/.492/.590 line this year and walking more than he struck out. Kuroda-Grauer not a slugger, but he’s a meticulous hitter who forces pitchers to challenge him in the zone. He sometimes lacks the ability to pick up on spin, but his discipline is unquestioned and he feasts on mistakes made by pitchers who are afraid to nibble the edges against him.
Instincts keep Kuroda-Grauer afloat at shortstop for the time being, as he doesn’t have the typical athleticism you’d expect. If he winds up with the Tigers, they’ll move him all around the field to keep him at-bats consistent while making room for other players who need the reps as well. His mistake-free defense and well timed actions could make him a remarkably good second baseman, and he has the ability to fill in anywhere other than catcher with relative ease.
I can’t help but think that Kuroda-Grauer will be like catnip to the Tigers’ current leadership group. It might feel like eating your vegetables to try to get excited about a player like this, but he’s athletic and well rounded without doing too much of anything in a flashy way. The same thought process that led to the acquisitions of Zach McKinstry and Mark Canha could also lead the Tigers to draft Kuroda-Grauer.
Currently Baseball America expect Kuroda-Grauer to slip into the fourth round, so the Tigers should be able to get him in the third round or with their Comp round B selection should they be interested.
RHP Christopher Cortez, Texas A&M
Cortez throws bullets. That’s the first thing any scouting report you’ll find on him mentions. He pours mid-to-upper 90s fastballs into the zone and has done so since he stepped onto campus as a freshman for the Aggies. He throws the pitch with heavy sinking action and arm side run. That doesn’t exactly fall in line with the fastball shape the Tigers have been targeting in hopes of crafting a swing and miss pitch at the letters. However, any pitch shape can be effective at that kind of velocity as long as it’s not arrow-straight.
Backing up that heater is a slider that Cortez uses as his whiff pitch. Spin metrics are reportedly lukewarm for the offering, but he gets a good shape and it flashes plus movement. Opinions are split on whether Cortez could have a future in the rotation, which is the role he’s held at Texas A&M for the last three years. That’s due in equal measure to his lack of a track record limiting walks and the lack of a third effective strike pitch.
He’ll require a big enough investment in draft capital that I imagine the Tigers wouldn’t touch him if they thought he was a bullpen arm going forward. The only reason I’m considering him as a potential target is because the Tigers’ development staff has had a recent love affair with split changeups. I think a split change would fit nicely with what Cortez already does well. His lack of feel for spin won’t be an issue — the idea is to kill spin on that pitch. It would give him an option with more fade to use against lefties than a standard changeup, which has the possibility of blending with his sinker on days when it’s not moving well.
Baseball America has Cortez 90th on their big board, expecting him to go in the third round.
RHP Bryce Cunningham, Vanderbilt
Among the players I’ve written about here, Cunningham is likely to be drafted first. He only made his way into the Vanderbilt rotation as a junior, but he’s thrived in the role this year and has given scouts every reason to believe he’ll continue as a starter in the professional ranks. He has three usable pitches and has demonstrated vastly improved command over them this spring, which has pushed his value into the late first/early second round conversation.
Cunningham sits in a somewhat low velocity band as a right hander, but he’s able to reach back for as much as 97 mph on occasion. His squarely built 6’5” frame gives evaluators hope that he can bump his sitting velocity up a few notches, which would make it a significantly better weapon in on hitters’ hands.
Everything else about Cunningham’s game screams future starter. The aforementioned size he brings to the mound should be able to carry a season’s workload. He packs a gyro slider and straight change that can both get outs, with the changeup being his best pitch at present. He pulls the string on hitters with late fade on the pitch that leaves lefties reaching for air. It’s consistently given plus grades and could be even more effective if he can create greater velocity separation from the fastball.
There’s more work to be done to make Cunningham a no-doubt big leaguer, but if he lands in the right developmental system, the right mechanical tweaks could make him look like a steal. He’s pitched less than your usual college arm at this point in the draft and the arrow is pointing up on his command and velocity. I’ve been bitten by fastball/changeup guys before, but I’m the right team fit away from being full speed ahead on Cunningham.
Baseball America has Cunningham as their 39th ranked draft prospect, but if he slips to the second round the Tigers may get a crack at him.
SS Rustan Rigdon, Metter (GA)
Rigdon is a player in a similar mold to how Kevin McGonigle was seen at this time last year. Based on pure talent, Rigdon had a chance to rise into the first round of this year’s draft if he had not been derailed by injuries. However, he was unable to show off his skills at short this year because of elbow reconstruction and lost another chunk of time to a hamstring injury. While unfortunate for him, a team who believes in his bat and intelligence could have a steal on their hands.
It’s easy to fall in love with what Rigdon will give you at the plate. He’s a line drive hitter with a clean swing, which has long been a siren song for me. He’s also very disciplined in the box for his age level, which will be appealing to the Tigers’ front office. Although he’s a little on the shorter side at six feet even, his build is fine for a teenager and it’s perfectly reasonable to believe he’ll add good weight as a pro. A little extra strength combined with his easy presence in the box makes this daydream fuel for the baseball purist.
There’s every reason to believe that Rigdon has the movement skills and intelligence to stay at shortstop if his elbow heals completely. If a move off the position is needed, the destination will likely be center field, where his above average speed grants him sufficient range. Second base is also a completely viable backup plan. His bat will play just fine at either position. If he winds up in the Tigers organization, he’ll almost certainly see playing time at second and third base as well, but those are less likely as permanent homes.
Rigdon is ranked 127th in the class by Baseball America, but a team that believes in him and isn’t concerned with the injury history will probably take him in the third round.
LHP Dylan Volantis, Westlake (CA)
It’s completely unclear how highly Volantis will be drafted, as public-facing outlets could not disagree more on his present value. MLB Pipeline has him just outside their top hundred players in the class, whereas FSS places him 232nd and Prospects Live left him off their preliminary list of the top hundred high schoolers entirely. He’s ungraded on Perfect Game, but hardly an unknown, as he comes from a baseball-rich area on California.
It’s all about what could be with Volantis. He’s a huge prep lefty with excellent spin and very little else at the moment. His three pitch mix consists of a fastball, curveball, and changeup, but only the curve presents itself as a weapon right now. It’s a hammer that displays big time movement and he’s shown willingness to both throw it for strikes and use it to draw batters out of the zone.
Everything else is a work in progress. His fastball is low-powered and it sits around 90 mph at most times. The idea is velocity will come in time as he adds mass to his broad, 6’6” body, but for now, he doesn’t even flash mid-90s heat. He also doesn’t really have a third pitch. He’ll show a nominal changeup now and again and Pipeline reports that he’s played around with a cutter, but there’s nothing to hang his hat on for now.
It will be a very slow burn for Volantis to become an MLB-caliber starter, but he has the physical tools to be an impact pitcher. I like his fit with Detroit a lot. They’ve shown the ability to help pitchers at every stage of their career add a few ticks to the fastball. Additionally, Director of Pitching Gabe Ribas has a knack for teaching cutters to guys who can spin it. That could give him a weapon for the top of the zone even if the velocity on his heater never comes around.
Volantis is a developmental project and a team will have to overreach for him based on his present value in order to persuade him out of his USC commitment. He certainly fits the Tigers based on their prep-heavy aggression last season.
OF Derek Curiel, Orange Lutheran (CA)
Curiel has been a well known prospect in the 2024 prep class for years. Everything he does looks completely natural, and so he’s been the target of praise throughout his career. Development is never linear, though, and his value has faded somewhat as it has become clear that he lacks the physicality to dream in for power production or elite baserunning. He’s a tough player for scouts to quit on, though, because he is such a refined operator. It’s not common to see high schoolers who are this polished in their understanding of how to play the game.
Curiel exhibits calm bat-to-ball skills at all times, which is at the root of his value as a prospect. His lefty swing is buttery smooth; he just makes hitting look easy. He also has a better understanding of the strike zone than the vast majority of his peers and is willing to outwait the pitcher he’s facing until they serve up a mistake he can hit. Whether his chase rates remain low when he’s facing pitchers who can drop in breaking balls for a strike is no guarantee, but Curiel’s is as good a foundation as you can ask for.
On defense, he could be a decent center fielder. He lacks the sheer speed to ever be a plus defender up the middle, but his instincts will play. If a team decides to move him off the position, he could be a rock-solid left fielder, and his long legs will provide plenty of range for the position.
The question is whether he will ever be able to access enough power to float the profile as more than a fifth outfielder at the big league level. He hasn’t added muscle to his frame the way scouts had hoped over the last two years and he winds up making a lot of soft contact in games. For him to be an impactful major leaguer, he needs to become an exceptionally good defender or find a way to add some extra thump at the plate. He does generally fit a Tiger-ish profile, and they will probably have him available beyond the fifth round.