National prospect list season continues with the latest iteration from Baseball America. You won’t be surprised to learn that the Detroit Tigers placed four prospects on BA’s new list, but there are some pretty interesting tools grades assigned. As we continue to work through the fringe prospects and potential role players in our 2026 scouting reports on the system, the big boys are still a long way away, so let’s take a moment to see what Baseball America has to say.
While Pirates shortstop prospect
Konnor Griffin continues to hold the top spot, Tigers shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle holds the second position on BA’s top 100 and gets an adjusted 65 future value grade, projecting multiple All-Star game appearances in his 20’s.
McGonigle’s most notable tool grade on the 20-80 scale is a rare 80 hit tool projection. Based on the incredible levels of hard contact, lack of strikeouts, and excellent walk rates, this isn’t too big a surprise but an 80 hit is pretty hard to come by. That’s a testament to just how prodigous a pure hitter the 21-year-old Pennsylvanian is at a young age. He should be an OBP machine for the next decade to come, and his developing hard contact in the air to pull field earns him a 60 grade, or plus, for his power. He also gets a 55 for his baserunning and defense, while his arm is the only drawback at 45. The arm strength is the main thing pushing many to think he’ll have to move to second base once the Tigers have a better option.
Max Clark is the Tigers second ranked prospect, and he’s getting a lot more love this year as well after showing developing power potential in 2025. He takes the sixth spot on BA’s list with a 55 grade, though they give him a 65 regular grade, which I assume suggests his upside as, like McGonigle, a repeat All-Star caliber season type of player. He gets a 65 grade in running, 60’s for his defense and arm, and 60 hit and 50 power.
The way Baseball America does this, giving a main grade, and then an adjusted grade based on risk, feels like a funky equivocation in their grading system to some. Risk is a part of grading players generally, so it feels a little clunky to me too, but suggesting current grade and potential upside is fine. So we’ll take it that way. Here’s the top 100 article but it does require a subscription.
The player who is most in question after a stellar, but quite brief, pro debut is shortstop Bryce Rainer. The 20-year-old’s first 35 games were extremely impressive at the Single-A level, but a right shoulder injury on a dive back to first base in May cost him the rest of the season. Rainer and the Tigers decided to have surgery to repair the shoulder after the dislocation, and that’s probably for the best. Colt Keith could throw in the mid-90’s coming out of high school as a part-time pitcher, and after suffering the same injury, he and the Tigers elected to rehab the injury back in 2022. It’s taken a long time for the arm strength to return and he’s probably still not quite where he was in high school.
Rainer gets a 65 grade, but the risk level associated with such a young, inexperienced hitter brings his adjusted grade down to a 50. He gets tool grades of 55 hit, 55 power, 55 run, 55 field, and 70 arm. That arm strength is a big part of his long term future at the shortstop position, so all eyes will be on his throws this summer once he’s gotten some time to build himself up and shake the dust off.
Considering that Rainer was just 19 and seeing his first professional pitching last spring, the fact that he put up a 90th percentile exit velocity mark of 108 mph was pretty crazy. It’s particularly eye-opening for a left-handed hitting shortstop. He’s still got plenty of room on his frame to get stronger, and he hammered even high velocity fastballs with no problem at all, showing a lot of ability to use the left center field gap and hit the ball out of the park to the opposite field. We’ll just have to see how he adjusts as he sees a better brand of breaking and offspeed stuff, and better command, as moves through the system. He could move very rapidly this season as long as he’s back to full strength.
Finally we come to catcher, though much more likely a first baseman and designated hitter, Josue Briceño. He checks in 78th on BA’s top 100. It was an extremely impressive 2025 season for him as he lit up the High-A level in his age 20 season. He hit 15 home runs in 55 games for the West Michigan Whitecaps, walking 16.8 percent of the time while strikeing out just 16.4 percent of the time. He struggled a little more once he moved up to the Double-A level, but he was one of the youngest players in the league, while also carrying the burden of the tools of ignorance.
There isn’t a whole lot new to say here, and BA doesn’t say anything new either. Briceño looks like a very good left-handed power hitting in the making. It’s just a question of whether the Tigers want to take the time to develop him further behind the plate into a backup catcher, or if they give up on it to a degree, let him focus on hitting, and get him to the major leagues more quickly. They give him a 60 grade, 45 adjusted. His tool grades are 45 hit, 65 power, 30 run, 40 field, 55 arm.
Overall there really isn’t anything new here. It’s just a good reminder that we’ll get to see all but Rainer in major league camp in a few weeks, and it will be exciting to get eyes on them after the offseason. McGonigle, Clark, and Briceño will probably play in the spring futures game, and I suspect we’ll get a few looks at Rainer as well.
