The Detroit Tigers have struggled to draft position players in recent years. Since 2000, the Tigers have drafted seven positions players in the first or supplemental first round. Of those seven, only two have a career bWAR over 1.0: Cameron Maybin and Nick Castellanos (one of them is Christin Stewart, who will hopefully eclipse that next season). For second rounders, only James McCann is over zero.
By and large this team has struggled to draft and develop hitting talent. 2017 second round pick Rey Rivera will strive to be one of Detroit’s few success stories, but the early returns have not been too promising.