Tenacious D Posted July 11 Posted July 11 You do have to wonder if the McGonigle effect has impacted this draft? From the coverage, it sounds like a lot of the early position players fit his profile. Quote
gehringer_2 Posted July 11 Posted July 11 Just now, Tenacious D said: You do have to wonder if the McGonigle effect has impacted this draft? From the coverage, it sounds like a lot of the early position players fit his profile. There can be only one. 1 1 1 Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 11 Posted July 11 Yeah... all the high hit tool guys were getting snapped up at the top of the draft. Definitely, IMO, with visions of Kevin McGonigle dancing in their heads... Quote
Tenacious D Posted July 11 Posted July 11 1 minute ago, gehringer_2 said: There can be only one. Quote
IdahoBert Posted July 11 Posted July 11 Breaking the usual choose a high school kid thing by instead drafting a college boy hurler from fancy Coastal Carolina. Change is good. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 11 Posted July 11 If you like bloodlines... Joe (son of Jose) Contreras and Peyton Bonds (son of Bobby Jr., grandson of Bobby, nephew of Barry...) are in range. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 11 Posted July 11 (edited) Tyson LeBlanc... RH'd shortstop (profiles better at 2B or 3B) and has some pop in his bat with decent plate discipline. Not spectacular... but has some skills... PS: college guy could save a few $'s on slot... Edited July 11 by 1984Echoes Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 11 Posted July 11 (edited) Another RH'er 20 years old with high spin and decent (not great) fastball. Also plays OF as a 2-way... Oops: Evan Dempsey Edited July 11 by 1984Echoes Quote
AlaskanTigersFan Posted July 11 Posted July 11 I'd like them to be risky with their picks. Looks like they are doing safe picks so far..... Quote
Edman85 Posted July 11 Posted July 11 4 hours ago, SeattleMike said: Where's the wall-to-wall ESPN coverage? They didn't retain it when the new deal kicked in. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 11 Posted July 11 1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said: Dempsey has 3,000 rpm on pitches? Reportedly on his breaking balls: both his slider and curve. low 90's FB that touches 95... but maybe if he drops the OF and concentrates on pitching that ticks up a bit. Uncertain if he has that spin on the FB... but again, no OF and only pitching maybe it ramps up...? Quote
papalawrence Posted July 12 Posted July 12 Dempsey looks like he could be Reece Olson's brother Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 17 hours ago, AlaskanTigersFan said: I'd like them to be risky with their picks. Looks like they are doing safe picks so far..... The upside with Dempsey is that he was a 2-way not 100% focused on pitching. Ditching offense for focusing solely on pitching... scouts think will give him a nice tick up in fastball at least, possibly better shapes/ tunneling/ changeup... I'm particularly interested in his fastball though. If it does indeed tick up to mid/high 90's... with his high-spin breaking balls... Seems like he could have a lot more upside in his profile. Maybe mid-rotation type... but... we'll see (in a couple of years). LeBlanc and Pellegrin both seem like high energy/ high character/ athletic RH'd SS that could end up anywhere in the field (if they don't stick at shortstop). I don't know if that means utility or if they can actually take a starting position somewhere but... a long ways away and the road to MLB is always treacherous. So... we'll see. I'm just sayin'... it appears that they did take some upside guys. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 17 hours ago, AlaskanTigersFan said: I'd like them to be risky with their picks. Looks like they are doing safe picks so far..... PS: Flukey has a Verlander like profile ("carries high-90's FB late into games", etc...) But... Then again... Didn't Matt Manning also...? Quote
chasfh Posted July 12 Posted July 12 Seems as though guys who write for a living really like this pick. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/draft/2026/07/11/mlb-draft-grades-live-picks-analysis/90885800007/ No. 22 - Detroit Tigers: Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina. Grade: A Flukey was pegged as early as the top 10 and the first arm off the board at various points this spring, which makes the Tigers’ value grab very prudent right here. Flukey’s junior year was slowed by a rib fracture but he struck out 11.6 per nine in three seasons in Conway. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2026-mlb-draft-grades-analysis-first-round-picks/live/ No. 22: Tigers select Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina Flukey was arguably the second best college pitcher in the draft behind Flora. His curveball might be the best breaking ball in the draft class period, and his fastball has plenty of velocity. He also throws strikes with relative ease. Flukey suffered a rib fracture in his first start and missed roughly two months, so teams didn't get much of a look at him this spring. That led to him being undervalued, I think. Grade: A Mike Axisa https://fansided.com/mlb/mlb-draft-grades-2026-full-reactions-to-the-top-40-picks 22. Detroit Tigers: Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina NCAA Division I Baseball Championships | Jay Biggerstaff/GettyImages Some evaluators had Cameron Flukey as the SP2 behind Jackson Flora. While I didn't rank him quite that highly, it's easy to assume the Detroit Tigers got a steal here. Not only does Flukey throw hard, but his curveball might be the best breaking pitch of any in this year's class, and he commands his pitches as well. A rib injury cost him some time, and perhaps that's why he fell out of the top 20, but for a Tigers team preparing to lose Tarik Skubal, they have to be awfully happy landing Flukey where they did. Grade: A https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7437659/2026/07/12/mlb-draft-2026-day-1-picks-results-analysis/ Pick 22: Detroit Tigers — Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina Live blog analysis: The Tigers make an opportunistic pick with Cameron Flukey, who missed three months this spring with a fractured rib, but came into the spring with some top-10 buzz and still had the same stuff upon his return. He has a very high slot, getting up to 97 with a lot of depth on a 12/6 curveball, without a changeup or split for lefties and only a short slider to help him work more east/west. He has above-average control but fringy command. I think he can be a mid-rotation starter, probably not more than that with his present stuff. — Keith Law Keith Law scouting report: Flukey missed three months with a fractured rib, but returned in time to make six starts for the Chanticleers, getting up to 69 pitches in his penultimate start, with the same stuff he’d shown prior to the injury but not quite the command. He comes from a high slot and gets up to 97 with a flat four-seamer, getting a ton of whiffs on a plus 12/6 curveball, with a short slider as his third pitch. He doesn’t use a changeup or splitter; he had a sizable platoon split in 2025, giving up five of his six homers to lefties, but basically none in a small sample this year. He projects as a mid-rotation starter, but perhaps needs a more effective fastball and/or a real change-of-pace pitch to be more than that. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 Looks like they're trying to build up some pitching depth in the system... Declan Dahl... another 4-year RH'd pitcher. Has polish... but not much stuff. Low-90's low-arm-slot guy. Maybe pitching development system can work him up some. Otherwise... Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 3 RH'd pitchers and 3 RH'd SS's... weird draft for the Tigers. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 Maddox Moloney: 6'2" has power and a big arm, but only so-so in the field, and not a good hit tool so getting to that power is highly suspect once in the pros. Doesn't swing-n-miss in the zone and has really good bat speed so I guess it's just not a good swing plane or eye-to-bat mechanics? Does he need a pair of glasses? Probably won't stay at SS but sounds like he could work at 3B or RF (if he can fix his hit tool deficiencies...). Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 (edited) PS: From what I am seeing so far... it looks like they could be getting some decent slot savings at every pick, if they wanted. So I'm guessing: They might be thinking to draft high-bonus-demand High Schoolers in the 11th-13th rounds trying to snag one with the right bonus offer with above-stated slot savings possibilities... Just something to keep an eye on IMO... Edited July 12 by 1984Echoes Quote
gehringer_2 Posted July 12 Posted July 12 2 hours ago, 1984Echoes said: PS: Flukey has a Verlander like profile ("carries high-90's FB late into games", etc...) But... Then again... Didn't Matt Manning also...? Matt did have great stuff when he started out. Accumulation of injuries killed his FB. Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 7th rounder: MLB says upside guy in 1B'man Brady Ballinger, 6'2" 225 # Lefty, who showed huge power last year but timing was off this year so his hit tool and power were off and he dropped in the draft... but get his timing back and he has more upside then where he was drafted? Another 4-year guy where slot savings may be had... Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 HS'er ALERT: Lefty 3B'man Robert Omidi, from Ontario Canada... Has some pop, not much on the hit tool, average tools across the board it looks like... I'm not certain I get the attraction. He's been on some East Coast circuits so they had a chance to scout him there... Maybe Tigers scouts see something they like (I mean... obviously). 8th rounder so we'll see what he does with his long-shot bid. My guess is he is not quite the bonus baby HS'er I was thinking of... Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 (edited) 9th rounder: Kenneth Ward, 4-year RH'ed pitcher that is either 6'5" 255 or 6'6" 265... not that that makes much difference... MLB.tv says big fastball... not certain what else... Already 24 in January so 25 when he starts next year (assuming he stays in Lakeland this year, just with pitching coaches and not on a team...). All the stats I can find show high K-rates but also high BB-rates... He just looks truly raw... I'm guessing Tigers scouts/ pitching department believe they can do something with him... or maybe he can turn into a high-leverage reliever... We'll see... Edited July 12 by 1984Echoes Quote
1984Echoes Posted July 12 Posted July 12 (edited) 10th rounder: 4-year RH'er Jack Turner, 6'1" 195 #'s New Mexico State University. 1.70 WHIP average so... lots of walks... and lots of hits given up... Hmmm... the attraction...? Edited July 12 by 1984Echoes Quote
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