The Detroit Tigers prep leaning draft classes under Scott Harris have pointed the organization in a new direction in talent acquisition over the last three years. While his draft classes were more college heavy, former GM Al Avila had some success in the prep ranks as well, drafting Riley Greene and then hitting on Colt Keith in the fifth round of the shortened 2020 draft. That led to the 2021 draft, when the Tigers took top prep pitcher Jackson Jobe in the first round and then followed it up with
a bruising teenaged infielder named Izaac Pacheco in the second round.
Pacheco arrived with standout power for his age and projected to grow into potential double-plus raw power. Those projections have proven accurate, but so have early warnings that his long levers and modest bat-to-ball skills would make him very strikeout prone. For three seasons, the third baseman’s progress was slow, if not stagnant. Not only did the strikeouts pile up, but there was a disturbing lack of hard contact despite the sometimes eye-popping exit velocities he produced when he squared up a pitch. In 2025, just as much of the industry, including yours truly, was starting to give up on him, Pacheco finally made some adjustments that led him to his best season of pro ball and finally conquered the High-A level.
That doesn’t mean he’s figured it all out, however. Pacheco hit 17 home runs and posted a monster .388 on-base percentage, walking in 17.4 percent of his at-bats. Pitchers finally had real cause to fear him, and he was able to take advantage and get on-base constantly. On the other hand, he still struck out 28.9 percent of the time, with a swinging strike rate of 14 percent. He was only 22 years old during the season, turning 23 in November, so he was the same age as a 2024 college draft pick making his full season debut. That’s a bit of a mitigating factor, but hitters who strike out that much in their first full season out of college only occasionally develop into good MLB caliber hitters, and Pacheco already had tons of experience with pitching at the High-A level.
What makes Pacheco a little different from the standard bat only slugging prospect, is the fact that he’s actually a decent third baseman who has enough defensive tools to approach MLB average there with more work. His range isn’t great, but he has better reactions and more agility than many 6’3” 225 pound corner infielders. He also has plenty of arm for the position. His hands are just okay and he’ll sometimes struggle with his transfer, but if keeps grinding at the finer points of the position, he’ll be decent there. Not ideal, but playable both there and at first base, where he started working a bit in 2025 as well.
Over the past two seasons Pacheco has worked to counter the fact that his long levers and mediocre feel for the barrel will get him into trouble. He lowered his hands and sets up with them close to his body now. He’s also worked on getting more of his power from his legs to shorten his swing without sacrificing batspeed. That finally started to pay dividends in 2025 as he upped his fly ball percentage while trimming his pop-up percentage, and continued to hit a good amount of line drives. He also really tried to lock in on his hot zones, especially down and in, and take more pitches when they weren’t in those sweet spots, resulting in the huge walk rate.
Pachecho has better than plus raw power as a left-handed hitter, a good eye for the strike zone, and is a serviceable corner infielder. The attributes are enough to put him in the 40 tier, but we still have to be reasonable here. Striking out 28.9 percent of the time in a third straight year at the High-A level isn’t good. It’s an improvement, but not enough to forecast Pacheco storming into the upper minors. He’s going to see better stuff and fewer mistakes to mash, and his path to a future big league role is going to require him becoming very selective against better stuff. He’s just not going to develop into a guy who hits .260-.270 every year. If he makes it to the majors, he’ll be walking a good amount, and doing enough damage to balance out the strikeouts.
That’s a narrow path to walk to the major leagues, but it does help that Pacheco isn’t just a 1B/DH type. A little added versatility makes him more viable as a part-time role player whose job is to hit for power against right-handed pitching. The likely outcome is probably just a second tier bench player who doesn’t have a long career. The upside, is that if Pacheco gets the most out of his tools you have an Alex Avila type three true outcomes hitter who can can handle third base on a part-time basis. Huge raw power is a great force multiplier if Pacheco can continue to refine his approach against a better class of pitchers in the upper minors.
So, Pacheco has pretty high risk of busting entirely based on a the in-zone contact rate and the strikeouts. It’s fair to be skeptical that he can really break out from here, but his 2025 season finally showed progress and momentum after spinning his wheels for two years. Now 23, he’s got a little time to establish himself in the upper minors. If he manages to make the jump and build on his progress, he’ll become a lot more interesting as a future role player or trade chip.
