With the fifth overall pick the in MLB first-year player draft, the Tigers took outfielder Riley Greene out of Hagerty High School in Florida.
According to scouts, Greene is one of the best pure high school hitters in the Country and provides the Tigers with a high-end positional prospect in a system full of plenty of pitching talent.
Via Baseball America:
“He’s hit top-level pitching so consistently that some teams have pegged him as a future 70-grade hitter, which is rare for prep bats.” He won’t add much defensively and could wind up limited to left field, but his middle-of-the-order upside more than makes up for those shortcomings
With the selection of Greene, it also marked the first time since 2015 that the Tigers didn’t take a pitcher in the first round. That year they took outfielder Christin Stewart out of the University of Tennessee.
