Alabama’s RHP Riley Quick rounds out a very exciting, hypothetical first round.
Another day, another mock draft. We’re only four days away from the real draft starting on Sunday, July 13th, and rough ideas for what teams want are starting to take place. For the Detroit Tigers , that means lots of “hitterish” prep bats with athleticism, which have worked out well recently with Bryce Rainer, Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark. More picks like that will always be appreciated. Baseball America ran this update on their previous mock, which we already covered. There isn’t much movement from the Tigers, which makes sense. We know the organization likes certain offensive profiles, and we also know the organization doesn’t allow leaks the way some others do.
Last week’s version of the BA mock connected the Tigers to Slater de Brun, who we profiled here . In summary, he’s a compact lefty centerfielder from the high school ranks. He has a strong hit tool and defense, but limited power projection. This time, they mention a different high school lefty, Kayson Cunningham. MLB also projected Cunningham to Detroit , and he makes a lot of sense, if he makes it this far.
Cunningham is a shortstop with arguably the best hit tool in the draft, and almost certainly the best among the high school cohort. That alone should merit interest from any team willing to gamble on high school talent in the middle of the first round. The main blemish is just that he’s on the older end for an elite prep talent and is already fairly mature physically, so his power ceiling is lower than you might expect. Still, a premium hit tool up the middle is a fantastic foundation, and if a few risk-averse teams take college players early, Cunningham is a great player to snag at 24th overall.
BA finishes their mock with the first compensation round, meaning a second pick for the Tigers. At 34th overall, they project Riley Quick, a huge righty from Alabama. Detroit’s been connected to Quick as much as anyone under consideration in the compensation round, and it’s not hard to see why.
The Tigers reportedly had a heavy scouting contingent in attendance for Quick during the 2025 college season, making him a natural place to begin in this set of players who may interest the team. He was a draftable prospect coming out of high school, but Quick’s commitment to play at Alabama was strong and no pro team was confident enough to buy him out. The Crimson Tide utilized him as a relief arm during his freshman season, and his sophomore year was lost to Tommy John surgery, making the 2025 season our only look at Quick as a starting pitcher.
Quick is a massive specimen, standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 255 pounds. He gets the most of his size with a power arsenal that has placed him on the first round fringe during this draft cycle. Huge stuff is his trademark, with a turbo sinker that reaches triple digits and comes in with plenty of life. He backs it up with a cutter that climbs into the 90s as a weapon at the top of the zone and a wipeout slider that he uses as his strikeout pitch. The changeup is his least impressive offering, but it is useable to keep lefties on their toes.
Based on pure quality of his pitches, Quick deserves to go a lot higher than where the Tigers will be drafting, but he struggled to spot his pitches at times and didn’t post high end statistical results in the SEC. His stock rose throughout the season and a team who falls in love with him will have to believe that the up arrow next to his name will remain in pro ball. It’s not hard to believe the Tigers pitching development staff is pulling to add this type of front-line stuff to the farm for them to polish as Quick puts his injury behind him.
If Quick’s injury history and poor statistical track record in the SEC cause him to last into the 30s, Detroit is well positioned to grab him. Pairing a high end prepster and a college arm they’re high on relative to the rest of the league is the easiest way to maximize their slot bonus pool early on. Starting this way, or similarly, would set the Tigers up for a very strong first day of the draft.