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Can Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal End Detroit’s Long Draft Drought?

The hapless Tigers began a new era on Monday, calling up their top three prospects in the hopes of finally producing some major-league talent.

Dave Hogg
11 min readAug 20, 2020
Late Tigers owner Mike Ilitch poses with two of Detroit’s best recent draft picks, Justin Verlander and Alex Avila. (photo by the author)

For the Detroit Tigers — baseball’s worst franchise — the future has arrived.

Al Avila needs it to be a bright one.

The Tigers general manager rolled the dice on Monday, calling up three of the franchise’s top prospects, including a pair of pitchers ranked in MLB’s top 100. Third baseman Isaac Paredes made his major-league debut that night in a loss to the White Sox and 51st-rated Tarik Skubal started on Tuesday, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk in two innings.

Wednesday, though, is the day Tigers fans have been waiting a long time to see — the debut of Casey Mize. Ranked #8 by MLB.com, Mize is expected to be the anchor of the next great Detroit rotation, joining prospects like Skubal, Matt Manning (#26 overall), and Alex Faedo.

If one of the four hits it big or 27-year-old Spencer Turnbull continues to take steps forward, they could finally end an embarrassing run of draft flops in Detroit.

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Dave Hogg
Dave Hogg

Written by Dave Hogg

Freelance writer and data scientist in Metro Detroit. Covered pro sports for NHL.com and the Associated Press before COVID-19. Mentally ill and not ashamed.

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