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Why Matt Manning's rising star is win for Detroit Tigers development staff

Tigers 1st-round pick Riley Greene HRs twice in first game for GCL Tigers West, June 24, 2019, in Lakeland, Fla. Video provided by a spectator. Wochit

ERIE, Pennsylvania — When the Detroit Tigers took Matt Manning in the first round of the 2016 MLB draft, he was a project prospect, with a magical arm stuck to a basketball player’s body.

He had scant baseball experience, didn’t know what he was doing on the mound and had little control of his pitches. “My control was just trying to throw it somewhere hittable,” Manning said. “It was paint two on the outside and (accidentally) throw at someone’s head.