The Detroit Tigers made some noise in the 2025 MLB Draft by shelling out above-slot money for a few high-upside arms, and right-hander Cale Wetwiska fits that mold perfectly. Drafted in the seventh round out of Northern Oklahoma College-Enid, Wetwiska signed for $647,500-more than double the typical slot value at that point in the draft. That’s not pocket change, especially for a junior college pitcher, but the Tigers clearly saw something worth investing in.
At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Wetwiska brings a mix of athleticism and projection that’s tough to find. He won’t turn 21 until April, and he already looks the part. A former high school quarterback and two-way player in college, he’s got the kind of physical tools that suggest he’s just scratching the surface of what he could become on the mound.
The fastball is already a legitimate weapon. He typically sits in the 93-94 mph range, but he touched 96 during a brief stint at Single-A Lakeland after the draft.
What stands out isn’t just the velocity-it’s the way the pitch plays. Wetwiska generates above-average extension and induced vertical break, two traits the Tigers have prioritized in recent years.
It’s the kind of fastball that can miss bats up in the zone, and there’s reason to believe it could get even better with pro-level development.
As for the secondary stuff, it’s a work in progress-but there are flashes. His primary secondary offering right now is a hard cutter that comes in around 87-88 mph.
It doesn’t have a ton of depth yet, but it’s firm and gives hitters a different look. He also showed a truer slider at 84 mph during his time in Lakeland, with more downward action, though he didn’t throw it often.
The changeup is the least developed of the bunch, lacking both movement and velocity separation from the fastball. Given his high arm slot and vertical release, a straight change or even a splitter might be a better long-term fit if he can get a feel for it.
Mechanically, Wetwiska has a fairly high slot and a vertical forearm position into release-a delivery type that often produces strong north-south movement but can limit horizontal action. That’s a double-edged sword: it helps the fastball and slider play well up and down, but it can also pigeonhole a pitcher into a one-dimensional approach if the offspeed stuff doesn’t come along. That’s where some of the relief risk creeps in.
Right now, Wetwiska profiles more like a potential bullpen arm than a surefire starting pitcher. But that’s not a knock-it’s just where he’s at in his development.
He’s still raw, with limited experience and a relatively simple pitch mix, but the ingredients are there. He’s already throwing strikes at a solid clip for someone just a few months removed from his 20th birthday, and his feel for sequencing is better than you’d expect from a JUCO product.
What makes Wetwiska especially interesting is that he’s coming from a program without the bells and whistles of a major D1 pitching lab. That means he hasn’t been maxed out yet.
There’s real upside here, and the Tigers seem to believe they can help him unlock it. With a few professional innings already under his belt, he’s expected to open the season back in Lakeland, with an eye toward a midseason move to West Michigan if things go well.
Bottom line: Cale Wetwiska is a developmental project, but a fascinating one. He’s young, athletic, and already has a fastball with traits that major league teams covet. If the Tigers can help him sharpen his secondary pitches and maybe add a true third weapon, there’s a lot of potential value here-possibly even more than you typically find in a seventh-round pick.