This is installment three of our look back at the 2026 BYB preseason prospect rankings and scouting reports for the Detroit Tigers. Typically, we don’t revisit each prospect on our rankings until we re-grade them for next year’s reports and rankings in the leadup to spring training. This year, with a potentially much longer offseason while the CBA negotiations go one, we thought we’d revisit the full rankings and just give a quick assessment of the year went for each player, what improvements they
made, or still need to make, and whether their prospect stock is trending up, down, or neutral as the offseason begins.
Most of the players in this ground from the 21st spot to the 30th spot are 40+ FV prospects. Izaac Pacheco, at 30, is the only one from the 40 FV tier in this article. You can find the full prospect list, withlinks to each individual scouting report right here.Once again, this is just a look back at the preseason grades and rankings, so players added during the season either in trade or via the draft, aren’t included.
21- RHP Dylan Smith
One of the more surprising DFA decisions of the Tigers season came right as they set their Opening Day roster and decided to put this 25-year-old right-handed reliever on waivers, ultimately trading him to the Giants for cash considerations. Smith went on to throw 39.2 innings for the Giants, collecting four saves while blowing five, with a 3.86 ERA and a 3.63 FIP on the year, good for 0.5 fWAR. That’s about as much as they could’ve hoped for when they dealt for Smith. He doesn’t have closer caliber stuff, and wouldn’t crack the setup man level for many teams.
We’re not going to lose a ton of sleep over a middle reliever with modest ability to handle a setup role, but right-handers like that were in rather short supply for the Tigers at multiple points during the 2026 season. Just a strange bit of roster mismanagement perhaps indicating some overconfidence in their bullpen depth back in March. Smith’s fourseam-slider combination was effective enough for a solid strikeout rate with the Giants and he limited home runs, but some of that is probably related to Oracle Park being a difficult place to hit homers, as Smith allowed a much higher fly ball percentage than he did in the minors. There may have been an element of pitching to the park as well. He still needs to command both pitches more consistently and limit walks to move into regular high leverage setup work, but he took a pretty nice step in his first full year in the major leagues.
Stock: Neutral
22- RHP Ty Madden
Ty Madden spent years in the Tigers system trying to overcome a fourseam fastball with mediocre shape and declining velocity. His command developed pretty nicely considering the deep pitch mix he wields, but some of his issues have never been fully worked out. The club’s competitive balance pick in Round A back in 2021, much was expected of Madden at the time, and very little has been produced. He made a short debut in 2024 and then missed the 2025 season with a rotator cuff injury. Heading into his age 26 season, we still held out hope that Madden would provide some value in relief.
His pre-injury velocity did not fully come back, but Madden thrived pretty well anyway, utilizing his deep pitch mix more effectively in 2026. It took him some time to get on track at Triple-A, but he eventually started finding his groove and eventually threw 46 innings of middle relief for the Tigers with a 3.26 ERA and a 3.55 FIP combination. Putting a 40+ grade on him was a bit ambitious coming back from major shoulder issues, but Madden lived up to the billing. He knows how to pitch and has learned to mix fourseamers, sinkers, and cutters to take pressure off the fourseamer. With a good slider and a decent splitter and knuckle curve, Madden has the arsenal of a starter, but the pitchability of a potentially valuable middle reliever who can handle going through an order multiple times.
I’m not sure there’s much left to squeeze out of his game at this point. The high 90’s velocity he had as a premier college starter has faded a bit, and unless some radical development occurs, this is probably pretty close to his level. The Tigers have been trying to build more ride into the fourseamer for years, and despite a little higher arm slot this year it’s still pretty mediocre action on it. Still, as the first year after a pretty major injury, it was a success. If Madden can get back to his old consistency with his breaking stuff and punch out more hitters nex year, he’ll be even better equipped to handle a mix of longer relief work along with some setup opportunities. It’s just a pretty similar profile to Drew Anderson’s likely position in the bullpen.
Stock: Neutral
23. RHP Michael Massey
Wake Forest alum Michael Massey might be the best pure relief arm in the Tigers’ system. They drafted him in the 4th round of the 2024 draft, and then watched him follow so many of the Tigers top pitchers drafted onto the injury list in his first year of pro ball. After missing all that time for Tommy John surgery and rehab, all we really wanted this year was to see him back on the mound. We got that much as Massey made two short starts late in the year.
Happily, the stuff is still really good. Massey was steadily 94-95 mph with over seven feet of extension to the plate. His most notable quality is the enormous riding action on that fastball due to his high arm slot and release, and that returned intact as well. He averaged nearly 20 inches of induced vertical break, and while we’d love to see him build up to 97-98 mph over the next year or two, the movement and extension makes this a plus fastball already with good potential for more.
The six-foot-five, 230 pounder has the frame to keep building velocity into his mid-20’s. His curveball is another plus pitch, pairing really well with the heater out of Massey’s high arm slot. He packs a pretty good slider as well. Now the challenge is to stay healthy in 2027, build up his arm, and get on with refining his command. That high arm slot requires him to clear his head off the target line a little early, and timing that up can be tricky, but he has the athleticism to make it work. Massey should move very quickly as long as the Tigers develop him as a reliever as expected.
Until we see him settle in for a full season and improve his strike-throwing, we’ll hold him with a 40+ grade, but he has really high end potential in the bullpen. If the velocity and command develop as projected, Massey could be a closing option for the Tigers down the road. The only goal in 2026 was just to get back on the mound. We’ll see where things go from there.
Stock: Neutral
24- C/1B Eduardo Valencia
We were very impressed with Valencia’s breakout at the plate in 2025, but it was still hard to envision a regular role for him with the Tigers, limiting his upside. A decidedly bat first player with a good approach, letting fastballs travel and taking them the opposite way while turning on and crushing breaking balls and changeups, there was a lot to like coming into 2026, and Valencia proved the breakout was real with a really nice major league debut. He hit 8 homers in 42 games while batting .341 and coming up with plenty of big knocks along the way. There was plenty of good fortune on balls in play, and I don’t think Valencia is going to be a consistent .300 hitter, but he is dangerous and kept the strikeouts in check fairly well. If he can be a little more selective in his swing decisions, he should remain a very productive hitter.
The really interesting part of his season was the improvements behind the plate. I still don’t love him as a second catcher, as teams are running more and Valencia’s arm is pretty stretched behind the plate. On the other hand, his framing, blocking, and game calling were all improved to roughly average levels after an impressive offseason’s work. Coming into the season I thought we might have just have a pinch-hitting specialist who could possibly improve as a first baseman but wouldn’t end up catching that much. Instead, Valencia turned himself into a more viable backup to Dillon Dingler and also showed leadership ability and a knack for the big moment. His teammates really seemed to rally around him at times.
Those defensive improvements really help the profile, and bump him up a full grade as he graduates from the system. Valencia is not really built to be an everyday player, but as a backup catcher who will get a lot of plate appearances in the DH slot, he’s got a regular role carved out for himself next year.
Stock: Up
25- RHP Rayner Castillo
This 22-year-old sinkerballer made a fairly impressive full season debut in Single-A back in 2024, but hasn’t been able to take the next steps to break into the upper minors. That’s not surprising considering his age, but now we have back-to-back years with only minor progress. Castillo has a smooth, easy delivery that was steadily producing a tough mid-90’s sinker in 2024 and 2025, but the secondary pitches were still behind the curve. He had a tough go again for parts of this season, but eventually the slider started rounding into form. Just as the strikeouts started to pile up late in the year, he was knocked out in a rough start on September 1 and was shut down at 87.1 innings.
Castillo projected as a future depth starter with possible mid-rotation upside due to his youth and raw stuff. His slider improved this year, but his command of the slider and changeup was still pretty spotty. Still, it’s the glimpses of easy mid-90’s velocity, nasty sink, and high ground ball rate that make him a name worth watching. The fastball command should continue to improve, and he’s still young enough to be optimistic about his secondary pitches becoming more trustworthy weapons. The Tigers may have a pretty good starting pitcher here in time. So, we’ll hold him around this level with a 40+ grade and see if he can put it together and conquer High-A in 2027.
Stock: Neutral
26- OF Brett Callahan
We were higher on Callahan than most in 2024-2025 as he battled a litany of small injuries. Heading into 2026, he finally got some national love and some overcompensated for being late on him by getting a bit too excited. He did reward our confidence in his all around game with a strong campaign at Double-A Erie before leaping quickly through Triple-A to reach the major leagues. Unfortunately, his free swinging ways continued and Callahan got himself out a lot by chasing. As a result, he didn’t tap into his above average raw power much at all after hitting 12 homers in 60 games at Double-A in the first half.
Callahan is a well rounded player, but whether he can lay off chase pitches enough to contribute offensively remains an open question. His rapid trajectory to the majors this year certainly pressed the issue, but he made no progress in his swing decisions. The leap in pitching was just too much for him as he put up a chase rate of 40.1 percent and didn’t make much hard contact. That isn’t sustainable at the big league level, but he didn’t get much time to acclimate himself either. My sense is that Callahan was a little overwhelmed by the rapid promotions and just never settled in after leaving Erie.
The now 25-year-old needs to adapt and improve his approach significantly to get better pitches to hit. If he does, he should do enough damage to earn regular playing time, as the rest of his game is pretty solid, but it’s just a depth outfielder profile unless he can take that big step in 2027. Expect Callahan to work out of Toledo next season while the Tigers see what they have left in Kerry Carpenter and Parker Meadows. That will give him time to work on his approach, and opportunities to get back to the majors will be his for the taking if he can improve.
Stock: Neutral
27- OF Jackson Strong
Another small college outfielder like Callahan, the 23-year-old Strong is developing into a good center fielder, but there are plenty of issues with the hit tool as well. He has some pop and good speed, and does a decent job controlling the strike zone and taking his walks. He hit 17 homers and stole 22 bases for the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps this season while walking a whopping 15.6 percent of the time and playing a pretty nice center field. Unfortunately, he also swings and misses a lot even in the zone, and that was the issue we were looking for improvement with this season. Instead, he struck out nearly 30 percent of the time.
Strong is still working with a fairly grooved swing. He’s a low ball hitter who struggles to cover the upper half of the zone, and is often caught chasing breaking balls and changeups as he hunts for pitches down in the zone. He does show flashes of above average power, but getting to more of it as he progresses is going to be difficult with a lot of chase and too many whiffs as well. The learning curve is steeper for small college hitters who didn’t see much high level stuff, which was part of the pitch for patience with Strong last year. Even so, there aren’t too many hitters who break through and become major league regulars after punching out this much in A-ball.
His speed and defensive ability certainly give him a clean path to an eventual big league role, but the bat has a lot of catching up to do to carry him that far. We gave Strong some benefit of the doubt last spring, and it just didn’t come together. He’s still young enough to wait on, but it got harder to buy into Strong’s bat this year. Even so, legit center fielders with power don’t grow on trees, so the Tigers will have plenty of patience with him.
Stock: Down
28- RHP Moises Rodriguez
This 24-year-old right-hander has a nasty sinker that sometimes touches triple digits. One of the few really interesting pure relief prospects in the system, Rodriguez entered the season at Double-A in need of better command of both the sinker and his slider and unfortunately didn’t make any real progress. He still racked up a massive ground ball rate just shy of 59 percent and rarely allows any home runs, but it remains a difficult profile to float without better command of the sinker. I’d like to see him add some muscle and improve his lower half stability this offseason and hopefully become more consistent in spotting it to both sides of the plate. He’s still an interesting relief option who could develop into something like prime Jason Foley, but while he posted a 2.57 ERA in making the jump to Double-A, there just aren’t enough whiffs in the profile to project much of a major league career if can’t make that happen.
Stock: Down
29- CF Seth Stephenson
After finally conquering High-A with a 2025 season that saw Stephenson make notable improvements in his batspeed and tap into more power, it looked like his contact and speed game had finally gotten the needed boost. Instead, Stephenson struck out more in his first full season at the Double-A level and the power dried up completely. He missed a little time to injury in May, tore it up in June upon his return, but then really faded again in July and August. He did steal 66 bases, illustrating the traits that keep him an interesting young player at a point where the game seems to be valuing speed and contact more highly again. The Eastern League limited pickoff throws to just one this year, and Stephenson and teammate Peyton Graham took full advantage.
There’s still a chance for a Chandler Simpson type player who sprays the ball around and uses his feet to help him hit for average. The problem is that after doing a lot better job of it at the High-A level last year, Stephenson stopped catching balls solidly out in front of the plate and was back in slap and dash mode for most of the year. Most of his fly balls were either pop-ups or routine flyouts where he’s a little late. Getting to even decent gap power looks less likely now, and while his top shelf speed makes him an above average center fielder, Stephenson’s route running and closing ability remain rough around the edges. There’s a role for this type of player but only if he can start driving better pitching more often next year. He’ll be 26 in January, so further progress needs to come quickly.
30- 3B/1B Izaac Pacheco
Pacheco was the one player in this group with a 40 grade last offseason. After four straight years trying to break out of the High-A level, the slugging third baseman finally managed a much improved season in 2025 and got himself back on the radar to a degree. Unfortunately, all the same issues reared their heads at the Double-A level. His power potential remains enormous, and he did a little better job getting to it this season, hitting 24 home runs, 21 of them at the Double-A level. On the other hand, better pitching carved him up routinely as Pacheco posted a brutal 33.9 percent strikeout rate. After years of adjustments and swing changes, he’s tapping into his power at the bottom of the zone but still struggles to cover the rest of the plate with any real consistency even against fastballs. There are just so many comfortable ways for better pitchers to get him out while avoiding Pacheco’s sweet spots in the strike zone.
One saving grace is that his defense at the corners is actually pretty solid. He’s more than a future possible DH. There’s still a pathway to the major leagues for Pacheco, but it remains very narrow. He’s refined his swing and approach to hit a lot of fly balls to the pull field specifically because he has to maximize the damage on his limited amounts of hard contact. To carry that approach to the majors, he’s got to become more selective in his swing decisions. This three true outcomes type of hitting profile is rapidly disappearing around the game, and only players with a great eye for doing damage, like Munetaka Murakami, are really making it work. Pacheco will turn 24 in two weeks, so he really needs to make some adjustments and conquer upper level pitching next season or he’ll be left behind as the next waves of Tigers prospects pass him by.
Stock: Down
