Alright, every year we consider going back and reviewing our preseason prospect reports to see how well the player did, and whether they’re trending up, down, or neutral at the end of the year. This happens as a matter of course as we study each player’s season and consider what we got right or wrong before diving into the next full system collection of scouting reports for next year, but maybe it’s worth a quick look back right now while memories are fresh.
We’ll start with the 11 players at the bottom
of the list, and then switch to 10 players each over the four review articles to come. Keep in mind that we’re starting at the bottom with the fringe prospects. These are all longshot bets, so don’t be discouraged. Most of these players struggled, and that’s generally how it goes. On the other hand, the Tigers had a lot of young players break out of the Complex League this year, while a few others came out of nowhere. The farm system doesn’t boast the true blue chip prospects now that Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark have graduated, but it’s also a much deeper prospect pool than the Tigers have had before with a lot of positive signs finally from the international free agent side of the ledger.
Obviously, this is a review of our preseason reports, so this brief series won’t touch on some of the top prospects the Tigers acquired at the deadline nor in the 2026 amateur draft. We also don’t really get a good look at anyone until they reach Single-A Lakeland, so 2026 breakout players from the Complex League like RHP Jhonan Coba, OF Jesus Pinto, SS Angel de los Santos, LHP Carlos Rodriguez, and others won’t come up here either. Those names will be prominent in our next round of preseason scouting reports, however. Likewise, Zyhir Hope, LHP Kash Mayfield, and RHP Brady Smith were all nice additions to the farm system from the Skubal/Mize trades, but we’re just going through the preseason rankings right now. Hope and Mayfield in particular could be a big part of the Tigers future, and we’ll certainly cover them in depth this offseason.
This is mainly just to see how each player trended by season’s end. The original preseason report is linked to each player’s name here for comparison.
41. RHP Yosber Sanchez
Of this group, Sanchez was the only one in the 40 future value tier and that was a risky bet on his potential. The rest are in the fringe 35+ FV tier of players.
Sanchez’s stock was in decline after struggling to make the jump to Double-A in 2025. His control needed to show improvement, and some minor injuries and inconsistent velocity led us to point to this season as the year in which the now 25-year-old needed to make something happen.
Unfortunately, it was another year of struggle. Sanchez couldn’t get back to the 99-100 mph that got him on the radar originally, and he continued to struggle with control. He stumbled to a 5.89 ERA/5.13 FIP with the Double-A Erie SeaWolves as a result. Sanchez is still typically in the high 90’s with solid fastball shape, and his slider is still flashing above average, but with subpar extension he really needs to be comfortably 98-99 mph to really overpower hitters. Unless his fastball command really progresses, there just isn’t enough margin for error with the heater to consider him a future high leverage relief prospect.
Sanchez gets a solid share of both strikeouts and ground balls, and he’s still young enough to have a shot at a breakout that could get him quickly to the major leagues, but after two years of minimal progress it looks unlikely at this point.
Stock: Down
42. LHP Gabriel Reyes
There’s a reason these guys are deep down on our list. They’re longshots, but they do have a developing major league caliber tool or two. Southpaw Gabriel Reyes was another minor disappointment this season, continuing an unfortunate trend over the past two years and spending much of the year on the injured list.
Reyes was signed by the Tigers out of the Dominican Republic in 2020 as an 18-year-old. It took some time for him to get to A-ball after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023. He returned with strikeout rates over 30 percent, solid control, and fairly impressive stuff for the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2024. His slider was nasty, if erratic, and the fastball was starting to pop mid-90’s from an angle that seemed to give young hitters a lot of trouble. That was all enough to put a 40+ grade on him. I really liked his potential as a future backend starter or reliever. Reyes then had a tough 2025 where he struggled in camp and was held back in extended spring training for a little while. Needing to get a move on and show better control, he failed and couldn’t even crack the High-A level in his age 21 season.
The 2026 season was even worse for Reyes. He got to High-A but was really wild and his velocity was more erratic as well. That proved a precursor to injury and in late May he hit the injured list and never returned. That early peak when he was 20-21 and touching 95 mph with a funky angle, a filthy sweeping slider, and consistent strike throwing was really promising, but everything has backed up over the past two seasons, including his health. He was always on the small side and while he’s added a little muscle he hasn’t really filled out as hoped. He’s still only 23 years old, but a major transformation is going to have to happen to get him back on track.
Stock: Down
43. RHP Joseph Montalvo
This right-hander was acquired for reliever Andrew Chafin at the 2024 trade deadline in a deal with the Rangers. Montalvo’s fastball was a little light at that point, but he boasted a good slider-changeup combination, advanced command, and good extension, while his slender frame and good overall athleticism pointed to future stuff upgrades as he filled out. He had the look of a future backend starter as he filled out a little more and added a little velocity to his typically 93 mph fourseam fastball.
He was an arm well worth taking a chance on for a reliever rental, but again things have gone pretty poorly here. Montalvo struggled in 2025 and eventually had Tommy John surgery. Presumably, if things have gone well we’ll see him back on the mound in 2027, but there isn’t much else to report. He’ll be 25 next May, so if there’s going to be a bump in velocity it’s going to have to show up next spring after his rehabilitation. Montalvo has a pretty good mix of secondary pitches, and it’s certainly possible he returns from rehabilitation with a little more velocity and durability both and eventually takes the next step, but it’s been a rough go since the Tigers acquired him.
Stock: Down
44. OF Nick Dumensil
This 22-year-old center fielder was the Tigers 8th round pick in 2025, and showed really good plate discipline and solid raw power in his brief post-draft debut. There were a ton of questions about the hit tool, so despite the speed-defense-raw power combination, we could only give him a nod as a fringe prospect considering the tiny sample of games played. That turned out to be pretty accurate during his full season debut with the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, though Dumensil missed plenty of time to injury as well, appearing in just 59 games.
Dumensil’s plate discipline proved worse over a full season. His 24.3 O-Swing percentage in 2025 turned into a 32.3 percent mark in 2026. He still took his walks, posting a solid 11.6 percent mark, and his 23.2 percent strikeout rate wasn’t bad, but he got himself out on a lot of pitcher’s pitches and put the ball on the ground too much to tap into his power. He’s still very likely to reach average or a little better raw power, but his approach, discipline, and ability to pull more balls in the air all need to improve in 2027 as he makes the jump to High-A to get to it in-game more consistently.
He was a bit of a speculative addition to our list back in the spring and will be on the cutline when we re-rank the Tigers prospects this winter. Still, he’s another example of the Tigers finding a few undervalued, athletic players in each draft with some hitting ability and solid all around tools. The system is deep in this type of player, and if just 1-2 break out they’ll have a pair of solid all-around major leaguers. If not, they should at least build a deep homegrown bench. Dumesnil just has a long way to go to reach a point where he looks like one of the likelier candidates.
Stock: Neutral
45. RHP Preston Howey
Now 24 years old, Howey attracted some minor attention in 2025 as he suppressed home runs really well and saw an increase in velocity from the 92-94 mph he arrived in pro ball with, up to 94-96 mph with a bit more in the tank when needed. The problem was that he didn’t miss enough bats and his cutter was pretty inconsistent. However, he showed solid control for a first year player, got a ton of pop-ups, and kept the ball in the park. That was fairly impressive for a college reliever who the Tigers were experimenting with in a starting role.
Unfortunately, the experiment ended as Howey worked exclusively as a reliever this year, and the upgrade in breaking stuff and whiffs didn’t arrive. While Howey is out working in the Arizona Fall League, the lack of progress will see him bounced off the list this winter. Once again, we’re dealing with wild cards this far down the rankings in the first place. This one didn’t hit, but he’ll have the 2027 season to try and make progress and break through into the upper minors. Right now he’s trending like his best, realistic outcome is a middle reliever but that feels very unlikely at the moment.
Stock: Down
46. UT Woody Hadeen
One player who did take a step up this year was utilityman Woody Hadeen. The 24-year-old switch hitter broke into Double-A this season and continued to hit and steal plenty of bases while playing quality defense pretty much anywhere you want to put him, though he played less center field this season and was mostly deployed at shortstop and second base.
Hadeen posted a 15.2 percent walk rate and a 17.9 percent strikeout rate in 57 games at High-A this year. He then moved up to Double-A Erie and his marks held up reasonably well. He walked 11.9 percent of the time, striking out 19.5 percent of the time with the SeaWolves.
Hadeen puts the ball in play quite a lot, plays pretty good defense in the middle infield, and has enough speed to wreak some havoc on opposing defenses with soft tappers, choppers, and if the Tigers decide to lean into trend finally, more bunts. He’s an okay candidate to become the type of pesky hitting, versatile defender with speed that the Brewers and Rays are rounding out their rosters with if he can continue working on those pure hitting elements. Still, he does all his best work left-handed, negating the switch-hitting angle, and his lack of power makes this a very hard road. If can maximize his strengths and just find his way to more gap power, he may yet make a nice 26th man on someone’s roster for a while.
Stock: Up
47. RHP Carlos Marcano
I kept this 23-year-old, Venezuelan right-hander on the list this season because I’ve always liked his mechanics, his strike-throwing, and his sinker. His 2025 season was plagued by a shoulder injury that cost him several months of the season. However, he returned late in the year throwing 95-97 mph sinkers, a significant uptick in velocity. With a solid changeup and mediocre breaking stuff, Marcano still had plenty of work ahead but looked like a potential depth starter, or role reliever in development. Not exciting, but the extra gas and good sink gave him a major league caliber weapon to work with.
Unfortunately, his control was suddenly the problem in 2026, and he didn’t make any notable progress with his breaking stuff. His outings were kept short, and that felt like a bad sign. Eventually he hit the full season injured list with an apparent arm injury in late July. We don’t have specifics on the injury, but either way Marcano is another who will probably slip off the rankings this winter unless some positive news about his status emerges. He’ll be 24 next season, so there’s time but for now the development trendline is heading the wrong direction and he was on the fringes of the system to begin with.
Stock: Down
48. RHP Eric Silva
Eric Silva was the Tigers return in 2024 when they traded Mark Canha to the San Francisco Giants. The reliever has shown a nasty, high spin curveball along with flashes of improving velocity, but despite good strikeout rates he’s battled injury and control for two seasons now. In 2026, he moved up to Double-A and spent a little time at the Triple-A level as well, but despite a healthy season, his results continue to be wildly erratic.
There have been short stretches where Silva has been close to sitting 95 mph, but for most of 2026 the 24-year-old was right back in the 92-93 mph band where he was sitting when the Tigers acquired him. Like most of the low ranked prospects here, he has a weapon that could carry him to the major leagues if the rest of the package came together, but there’s really been no progress of note in two seasons. I’d say his time is up without a truly stunning breakout in terms of velo and command of his fastball.
Stock: Down
49. INF Jude Warwick
One player who does continue to look interesting is the now 21-year-old middle infielder. As mentioned in his profile, Warwick was one of the earliest examples of the Scott Harris led front office supplementing their overslot bonuses by taking inexpensive, undersized but athletic types with some feel to hit. The Tigers were able to land the Downers Grove High School grad in 2024 for just $247,500. Snatching up talented prep shortstops with speed and a quality bat is wise policy at that price.
Of course, there was also a reason Warwick wasn’t a big bonus prep shortstop. He handled the Complex League really well last year, but through 129 games at the Single-A level he’s still trying to deal with the pitching and striking out quite a lot. On the plus side, the juice started to show up this year as he posted several balls over 109 mph off the bat. Warwick has plus speed and now looks like he should get to average power. He also plays a pretty decent second base and shortstop, though there’s plenty of work ahead to refine his defensive game.
With an O-swing rate over 30 percent and a strikeout rate of 28 percent this year, it’s going to take a nice breakout in his hitting ability to keep progressing up the chain as a legit prospect. Still, if he’d gone to college he’d be on draft boards for next summer. Warwick is ahead of the curve as a result and his secondary tools are pretty nice. We’ll have to see if he can take the next steps with his bat, but he’s starting to fill out with some good muscle and will be well worth keeping tabs on next year.
Stock: Up
50. 1B/3B Cristian Santana
The now 22-year-old Santana has been slowly bouncing down through our rankings for a half decade. As a teenager he was a potential third baseman with power who showed good control of the strikezone. That’s still the case, but Santana’s pull happy, uppercut approach just hasn’t been refined much at all the past few years. He finally reached High-A this year and mashed 16 home runs, but he continues to strike out a lot while making a ton of weak outs in the air.
Santana’s 15.3 percent walk rate at High-A illustrates his solid discipline, and his 26 percent strikeout rate isn’t egregious. He continues to post good on-base numbers but his batted ball profile rarely results in singles, and he’s consistently been just under the Mendoza line. The Tigers have tried to level him out at the plate, but Santana continues to hit over 50 percent of his balls in the air, with 30 percent of them pop-ups.
He has raw power, plate discipline, and a solid enough glove to be alright at third and first base, where he played this year for the West Michigan Whitecaps. But this extreme three-true-outcomes style of hitting has resisted the Tigers attempts to improve his swing mechanics and quality of contact. Hopes of a big breakout are pretty faded at this point, but he did just enough this season to stay tuned for 2027.
Stock: Neutral
51. RHP Jatnk Diaz
Diaz’s fascinating ride to getting drafted back in 2023 left me with a soft spot for him. He was so raw coming out of high school, where due to COVID red tape he was unable to play and instead trained himself to pitch on his own through instructional videos, that I figured he deserved two years just to actually learn how to pitch. Progress has been really slow, unfortunately.
Diaz’s muscular, six-foot-four frame promised velocity, but while he was occasionally touching 96-97 mph in high school max effort side sessions, his cruising speed in pro ball is still typically in the low-90’s. He does get a lot of weak contact and keeps the ball on the ground with a mix of sinkers and fourseamers, along with a fringy curveball that needs to be thrown harder, but his control is still missing in action. Efforts to develop a changeup are going better, but the slider they’re working on with him is still a work in progress.
Diaz’s limited experience was a good reason to give him a few years to settle into pro ball and really just to learn how to pitch, but there’s really nothing to write home about happening at this point. If he starts repeating his delivery, throwing more strikes, and fulfills the promise of his physique with significantly more velocity, he’ll become interesting again, but at this point he’s a pretty non-descript young org arm and really needs to make major progress next year to keep his pro career afloat.
Stock: Down
