Not since a man named Alan Trammell, who owns a second home in the Baseball Hall of Fame, was dazzling Detroit for two decades have the Tigers found a home-grown, franchise-grade shortstop.
They might have snagged one Sunday night in the MLB Draft.
They got a break when California prep dazzler Bryce Rainer was unclaimed at No. 11 overall and the Tigers happily bit on a left-handed hitter, 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, who this year hit .505 in 33 games for elite national high school, Harvard-Westlake, in Westwood.
Rainer was expected to go within Sunday’s top 10 picks. But a couple of surprises, typical in any year’s MLB Draft, came Detroit’s way, allowing the Tigers to snatch Rainer at 11.
With their second turn Sunday night, at 49 overall, the Tigers tabbed Owen Hall, 18, from Edmond North High in Edmond, Oklahoma. Hall is 6-3, 185, with a fastball that can touch 98.
With pick No. 79, a Competitive Balance slot ahead of the third round, Detroit again stayed prep, and again with a pitcher: Ethan Schiefelbein, a left-handed recruit, 6-1, 180, from Corona (California) High.
Rainer ranked for the Tigers as an easy choice after the Angels, at No. 8, took Christian Moore of NCAA champion Tennessee; the Pirates followed with fellow prep super-shortstop Konnor Griffin; and the Nationals opted for Wake Forest shortstop Seaver King.
The Tigers rubbed their hands and pulled Rainer from Sunday night’s cavalcade of amateur talent. A team that last July chose prep dandies with its first two picks in Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, stuck with teen talent in scooping up Rainer, who at 19 is a bit older than the norm.
“We’ve seen Bryce on the circuit for quite a while,” said Mark Conner, the Tigers director of amateur scouting, who watched Rainer’s hitting in 2024 soar in various ways, with particular focus on that Tigers tenet under front-office chief Scott Harris: controlling the strike zone, and, said Conner, “hunting pitches he could do damage on.”
Also, the Tigers believe they have an exceptional shortstop who will be just that, for the long haul.
“One thing he improved a lot on was his defense,” Conner said. “He’s got that big body, but he’s a smooth mover. It was a huge jump from one year to another. All that stuff caught our eye.”
Rainer’s arm is good enough to have earned him dual draft status — as a pitcher. But the Tigers like him as that shortstop they’ve been chasing, seemingly for decades.
“For as big of a body as he has, he has excellent body control,” Conner said. “His feet are probably some of the best in his class. Footwork, body-control — he definitely can stay at shortstop long-term.
“And probably one of the easiest arms I’ve scouted. He can really throw.
“He has a chance to be a pretty dynamic player.”
Tigers scouts thought they had scored, as well, Sunday night with their two pitchers in an all-prep draft foray: Hall and Schiefelbein.
“I think both are the types of athletes on the mound we’re looking for,” said Rob Metzler, the Tigers assistant general manager who directs amateur scouting. “Owen, his arm strength and ability to spin the ball and use the change-up is very advanced for his class.
“With all the little things he could do with the ball, and with his body and power, all the things added up to a really good starting pitcher. And we felt strong about the person, as well.
“Ethan was similar to Bryce in that we were scouting him on the California side,” Metzler said. “We’ve seen him for quite some time. The first thing that sticks out is his ability to spin the ball. He has really good starting-pitching projection. He’s a strike-thrower, with power. We saw the fastball this spring — and it’s a really good fastball.”
Rainer had little sense Detroit would be his new team as Draft Day approached and he prepared for any number of clubs biting on him.
He admitted the Tigers perhaps might not have been his favorite MLB gang after they bopped his longtime love, the Dodgers, with Saturday and Sunday comebacks.
“I wouldn’t say hate,” Rainer said Sunday night, describing his feelings as the Tigers gut-punched the Dodgers in back-to-back games ahead of this week’s All-Star break. “But I would say I was a little confused. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching both games and wondering how in the hell did the Dodgers lose those games?
“I think I’m going to change to the Tigers,” said Rainer, who was as deft with the humor Sunday as he is at shortstop.
Rainer will sign with the Tigers rather than choose his University of Texas scholarship. But he conceded, as the Tigers would have known Sunday, that he’ll be chasing a signing bonus higher than the MLB-recommended price for an 11th overall pick: $5.7 million.
Rainer comes from the same school that has as alums Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty, as well as past Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch. Rainer was viewed as the best prep shortstop in America, alongside Griffin of Flowood, Mississippi, who was snagged by the Pirates with Sunday’s ninth pick.
“When you pick at 11, you never know for sure how the (draft) board is going to unfold,” Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg said. “We’re extremely excited to bring in an impact athlete with a combination of size and athleticism, a left-hand bat at a premium position.
“These are foundational traits we want to build around. Bryce brings so many of those things to the table. The intangibles, the character, we’ve gotten to see all of this throughout the scouting season. We’re thrilled to take him at 11.”
In his 33 games this season for Harvard-Westlake, Rainer hit .505, with five home runs, 28 walks and 14 strikeouts.
Rainer said he had no serious interviews with the Tigers, nor had he gone through any exclusive workouts with Detroit. All he knew was that Detroit scouts were watching him — a sight-seeing tour 29 other MLB teams were taking in 2024 as Rainer became a consensus top-prep target.
Asked what he knew of the Tigers or Detroit or manager AJ Hinch, Rainer, who was speaking by way of a Zoom session at a friend’s home, said, languidly:
“Not much. I know AJ Hinch was the manager of the Astros. I know Prince Fielder played for the Tigers a long time ago.
“But I’ve been a Los Angeles guy my whole life.”
Did he know anything about the Tigers minor-league headquarters, or spring-training site?
“I know they’re in Florida,” he said before being filled-in that the Tigers’ second baseball home is Lakeland.
“That’s exactly what I was gonna say!” Rainer said, with a wry grin.
The Tigers will continue shopping Monday in concert with their MLB colleagues during the MLB Draft’s Rounds 3-10. The Draft wraps up Tuesday with Rounds 11-20.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and retired Detroit News sports reporter.
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.