Slater de Brun earns praise for his contact and defense in centerfield.
With the MLB Draft less than two weeks away, BaseballAmerica’s most recent mock draft was released. The top of this draft is particularly deep in a mix of similarly valued players, so organizational preferences for different archetypes of hitters could dictate the first 4 to 6 picks. There’s no run-away favorite like Paul Skenes, which leaves the top of the draft very fluid. That uncertainty cascades all the way down.
The Detroit Tigers ’ first pick comes at 24th overall. For the first time since taking Alex Faedo at 18th overall in 2017, the club picks in the bottom half of the draft. Based on recent history, the expectation is for high school talent to dominant Scott Harris’ draft board. Both drafts under Harris have seen Detroit sign a premier high schooler early, save money in the middle rounds with interesting college assets, and then chase upside throughout the end of the draft by returning to the high school ranks. Picking 24th limits their signing bonus pool, so this strategy might be hard to replicate, but it’s a reasonable baseline for expectations.
This mock has the Tigers taking lefty centerfielder Slater de Brun out of Summit High School in Oregon. He’s relatively small for a baseball player, listed at 5’10’’ and 185 pounds, but is lauded for his feel for contact, defense and speed. At his size, there likely isn’t room for much power projection, but whoever drafts him will be counting on average power that plays up thanks to a good eye at the plate and strong feel for the barrel. If that’s not Harris’ type of player, what is?
Baseball America mentions a couple other names for Detroit, both high schoolers: shortstop Kayson Cunningham and third baseman Coy James. Cunningham is a strong defender with a plus hit tool who’d have to slide a bit to get to Detroit’s pick, while James is a powerful hitter who had a rough senior spring and is committed to the University of Mississippi. It’d be a surprise to see James taken this early, but he presents an overslot candidate for later in the draft. For my money, Cunningham is the best player of the three, but that’s why he’s largely expected to go in the top half.
de Brun represents a fairly high-floor option, especially in the more volatile high school class. Building off of a contact-and-defense profile up the middle makes for a very strong foundation even if the power doesn’t materialize. The great outcome of this profile is reminiscent of our very own Kevin McGonigle, an outcome we’d all relish.
For now, we’re in wait and see mode. The draft starts on July 13th, and frankly, Detroit won’t likely be keyed in on any singular player until the rest of the draft takes shape that afternoon. Expect further coverage throughout these two weeks as the draft starts to take shape.