Could This College Slugger Be the Tigers’ Next Draft Steal? |

The Tigers might be sitting in a good spot come Draft night. ESPN's latest mock draft suggests they could use it to add a high-impact college bat.

In ESPN's three-person mock draft released this week, analyst David Schoenfield projects the Tigers to select Indiana outfielder Devin Taylor with the No. 24 overall pick. Taylor, a lefty slugger who tore up the Big Ten, slashed an eye-popping .374/.494/.706 with 18 home runs and more walks (52) than strikeouts (30) this spring.

Tigers fans may not have seen much of Taylor, but the numbers and the scouting notes are impressive. He's a corner outfielder, so don't expect elite range, but he's got legit bat speed and strength. Taylor also performed well in the Cape Cod League, the wood bat summer league, which carries weight with evaluators. He's proven himself against good pitching.

Schoenfield notes the Tigers have depth in the organization and could go in a number of directions with this pick, including pitching or high-upside prep talent. His projection of Taylor is based more on value than need, which aligns with how Detroit has approached recent drafts under president of baseball operations Scott Harris.

That said, ESPN's Kylie McDaniel teased that he and fellow mock participant Jeff Passan might go a different route - leaning toward prep talent with more upside. In that sense, this mock might not reflect how the Tigers are truly leaning, but it gives fans a name worth knowing.

If the bat plays in the pros like it did in Bloomington, Devin Taylor could end up as another middle-of-the-order threat in a system already stacked with power.

Kristie Ackert

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Aaron Moody is a sports and general reporter for the News & Observer. Here is a second sentence for the bio because it will probably be longer than this. Maybe even longer I don't know. Support my work with a digital subscription

This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 5:40 PM