A year ago, in the abbreviated 2020 draft, the Detroit Tigers selected three college infielders, a college catcher, a college outfielder and one multi-positional prep ballplayer.
Six players, zero pitchers.
Of course, the Tigers signed their share of pitchers in the post-draft free agency period. They didn’t plan to select only position players in the draft. It just happened that way.
In 2020, five of the Tigers’ first six picks were pitchers. Once again, said Tigers amateur scouting director Scott Pleis, it wasn’t necessarily planned that way.
“The approach is always to try to get the best guy,” Pleis said. “In the past we’ve had some pitching-dominant top 10 rounds, but it wasn’t a philosophy to do that. We wanted to get some arms, but it just kind of worked out that way this year.”
After drafting Oklahoma prep pitcher Jackson Jobe and University of Texas pitcher Ty Madden on Day 1, the Tigers opened Monday by selecting high school infielder Izaac Pacheco with the 39th overall pick. Then it was a series of pitchers, including University of Alabama right-hander Dylan Smith.
The full list of picks is below.
The draft concludes on Tuesday with Rounds 10-20 beginning at noon. It will be streamed on MLB.com.
TIGERS’ PICKS
Round 1 (3): RHP Jackson Jobe, Heritage Hall HS (Oklahoma City)
Competitive balance Round A (32): RHP Ty Madden, University of Texas
Round 2 (39): IF Izaac Pacheco, Friendswood (Texas) High
Round 3 (74): RHP Dylan Smith, University of Alabama
Round 4 (104): RHP Tyler Mattison, Bryant University
Round 5 (135): RHP Tanner Kohlhepp, University of Notre Dame
Round 6 (165): OF Austin Murr, North Carolina State
Round 7 (195): LHP Brant Hurter, Georgia Tech
Round 8 (225): RHP Jordan Marks, USC Upstate
Round 9 (255): RHP Garrett Burhenn, Ohio State
Round 10 (285): OF Austin Schultz, University of Kentucky
