The Tigers’ draft habits under Scott Harris have leaned a certain way, and that’s part of what makes The Athletic’s latest mock so interesting. Keith Law has Detroit taking Coastal Carolina right-hander Cameron Flukey with the 22nd overall pick, a move he called an “opportunistic pick” after Flukey’s stock climbed before a stress reaction in his rib cage sidelined him for two months.
That would mark a notable break from a pattern Detroit has mostly followed in recent years. The Tigers haven’t taken a college player in the first round since Spencer Torkelson in 2020, when Al Avila was still in charge, and they haven’t drafted a college pitcher in the first round since Casey Mize in 2018. Under Harris, they’ve generally preferred high school talent and a longer development path.
That’s why last year’s first-round choice of high school shortstop Jordan Yost raised eyebrows. Yost showed up on top 100 lists, but many evaluators didn’t see him as a first-rounder, and the expectation around the industry was that Detroit might go the college-pitching route instead. The Tigers have also shown they can zig when the board breaks their way, as they did with Bryce Rainer in 2024 and Max Clark in 2023.
Flukey’s background makes him an intriguing candidate. He was already on the draft radar out of high school, ranked No. 149 in 2023 by MLB Pipeline, but he went undrafted and headed to Coastal Carolina. He helped the Chanticleers reach the College World Series in 2025 as part of the starting rotation before they lost to LSU and 2025 third overall pick Kade Anderson.
The numbers are solid, if not flashy: a 4.08 career ERA across three college seasons. In 2026, though, he was limited to 24 innings before and after the injury.
MLB Pipeline currently has Flukey ranked as its No. 15 draft prospect, but Detroit’s history under Harris is a reminder that mock boards and real draft boards don’t always line up. The Tigers could still go in another direction entirely, even back to a high school infielder.
If they do land Flukey, the upside is obvious enough. He’d give them another arm with a chance to reach the majors as early as the second half of 2027, which could help offset the possibility of losing Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty, and Justin Verlander in a hurry.
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Tigers Finally Have A Flaherty Trade Prospect Worth Watching Again
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Baseball America Just Delivered A Brutal Reality Check On Tigers Prospects
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The Tigers have already watched Kevin McGonigle and Hao-Yu Lee graduate from the system, and the depth behind them has been thinned by a wave of injuries across the organization. Even with Max Clark and Bryce Rainer still among Baseball Americas top-100 prospects, the ranking underscores how much pressure is now on the rest of the farm to rebound and restore some of the luster that made Detroits system so highly regarded not long ago. [Read more 🡒]