Under the Radar Prospects: Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are the focus of this week’s installment of Under the Radar Prospects

The Detroit Tigers need an injection of talented youth to their Major League roster. While they have improved their farm system over the past few seasons and graduated some of that talent to the big league level, they’ll need to continue to develop players as reinforcements. Some of those players could could very well be listed below as two of them are already on the Tigers’ 40-man roster. Another is among the best minor league relievers in baseball. The two others have yet to receive much acknowledgement but have certainly performed well and within another year could be among the team’s top prospects.

Sawyer Gipson-Long, RHP - Detroit Tigers

Despite a lackluster collegiate career at Mercer, the Twins liked Sawyer Gipson-Long’s pitch arsenal and athleticism enough to select him in the 6th round of the 2019 draft. Throughout the early years of his professional career, Gipson-Long didn’t perform much better than his collegiate days. However, his underlying numbers told a different story. Despite a 4.68 ERA through his first 26 games — 25 starts — between Rookie-Level, Single-A, and High-A, Gipson-Long posted a 3.28 FIP with a 31% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate over 115 1/3 innings pitched.

In 2022, he was excellent in repeating High-A and earned a midseason promotion to Double-A where his bad luck woes reemerged. It was at this time when the Tigers sent Michael Fulmer to the Twins and received Gipson-Long in exchange. Since joining the Tigers organization, Gipson-Long’s overall numbers have not been eye-popping but they have been enough to merit Gipson-Long making his big league debut this past September. Although Gipson-Long doesn’t have the greatest of arsenals, he’s able to locate and execute with the best of them. This ability allows him to make the most of his pitch repertoire.

Eddys Leonard, SS - Detroit Tigers

The Dodgers signed a then 17-year old Eddys Leonard as part of their international class during the Summer of 2017. Since then, Leonard’s development has progressed slowly, not reaching Double-A until this past season. However, it wasn’t due to a lack of performance as he succeeded offensively at every level. His production didn’t go unnoticed as the Dodgers added him to their 40-man roster prior to the 2022 season.