With the 147th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, the Tigers have selected infielder Jack Penney.
Entering this season, Penney was expected to be a more highly coveted prospect on draft day, but he stumbled out of the gate as a junior at Notre Dame and is likely being drafted here as a player who fits the organizational philosophy with likely cost-saving bonus demands. He is the first completely off-the-board reach for Detroit in this draft, taking the final spot on Baseball America’s Top 500 players and going completely unmentioned elsewhere.
What makes Penney a good fit for what the Tigers want to do on the field is his intelligent approach at the plate. He had a reputation as a calming presence in the Fighting Irish dugout, and he carries that demeanor with him to the plate. The attention grabbing detail on his stat sheet is a 16 percent walk rate that eclipses his 13.9 percent strikeout rate, exhibiting both a good eye and good swing decisions. On the MLB Pipeline live stream of the draft, Jonathan Mayo praised his ability to hit for adequate power and noted that he can put up decent exit velocities at times, and he held his own in the Cape Cod League.
The Tigers announced him as a shortstop, where he played his final season of college ball, and there’s no reason not to give him a shot there to start his career. Realistically, he’ll be playing all over the infield as the Tigers try to balance their hitting prospects’ playing time.
“The biggest adjustment playing short again was the footwork part,” Penney said to Irish Sports Daily. “Third base is the hot corner for a reason. The ball will get on you quickly and sometimes you don’t have to move your feet as much or have as much momentum towards first base. I had a few errors because I was being lazy and I was in that third base mindset when I first got back to shortstop.”
The trouble here is that there’s just no carrying tool for Penney’s approach at the plate to supplement and carry him to the big leagues. He likely doesn’t have the hands or instincts to last at shortstop long term or the power potential to float the offensive profile at third base, making his projection that of a middling second baseman with middling tools. His path to the big leagues is as a utility infielder who never makes mistakes. It’s not an exciting, high-upside career arc, but it’s one that has a place in pro ball as managers often fall for low volatility players who are unlikely to cost them the game in any given situation.
Penney should save them some money on the slot value, but it would take a real transformation to make him a good infield prospect. There is a path to the majors as a solid utility player.
The Tigers’ next pick is 176th overall.