The well-rounded outfielder from Indiana would be a different approach for Detroit under Harris.
And we’re back! It’s July in the baseball world, and you know what that means. Another day, another mock draft , this time from ESPN. The real MLB Draft starts on July 13th, so we’ll be highlighting the best insights across baseball until then.
ESPN’s mock follows a similar top tier as others, but connects the Detroit Tigers to a new, rather unexpected face. In addition, they switch things up by assigning their top baseball analysts – Jeff Passan, Kiley McDaniels and David Schoenfield – to be in charge of each team’s drafts. Their goal is to combine rumors and rumblings from their sources with their baseball expertise to make the best pick for each team.
This exercise has the Tigers taking Devin Taylor, a lefty hitting corner outfielder from Indiana University. Taylor is a polished, bat-first outfield prospect. Reports generally praise his plate discipline and ability to actualize his above-average raw power without compromising his feel for contact. This was particularly noticeable in 2025 when he walked 52 times to 30 strike outs. There’s less optimism in his glove, as most project him to left field as a professional. Still, there’s enough juice in the bat to be a productive full-time corner outfielder if things develop well, and Detroit would probably be able to sign him underslot to free themselves up for more fun later.
That said, taking Taylor would be a pretty notable surprise from Scott Harris and the rest of the scouting department. They’ve shown a preference for up the middle high schoolers, so this would be a departure from that. Taylor did rake for Indiana; his .374/.494/.706 stands out, even in college. He also hit well with wooden bats this summer, which is a strong signal for translating his offense to the pros, so there’s room for Taylor to be a quick-moving college slugger. Unfortunately, his Hoosiers didn’t make the College World Series, so scouts didn’t see him against college baseball ’s best arms.
In a word, Taylor has to really mash to make noise in the minors, so his path to success is limited. What makes this even more notable is four of the five taken immediately after Taylor are highly regarded, up the middle high schoolers. It’s just an early July mock, but this isn’t the first time ESPN has linked the Tigers to a surprising college bat. It does make you wonder what they’re hearing, and how much of it is just smoke from a tight-lipped organization.
Ultimately, mock drafts in early July are little more than an interesting thought experiment. Taylor is an accomplished college hitter, but it would be a surprise to see the Tigers make him a priority in the first round. However, if it lets them pull from the deep second and third tiers of the high school ranks later on Day 1 and into Day 2, it could set them up for another very strong draft under Harris.