Two Elite Detroit Tigers Prospects Receive Spring Training Invites

The Detroit Tigers have released their official final spring roster, and there are some interesting names both included as well as left off the invitations list.

Of course, everyone on the big league roster was going to be in the spring training group, but it's always fascinating to see which prospects have progressed enough to earn the chance to show what they can do in the spring and which ones the franchise feels just is not ready yet.

There are two notable prospects included on the list are deadline acquisitions Thayron Liranzo as well as Hao-Yu Lee, but perhaps just as interesting is who's not on the list. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 prospects in the organization, Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, will not be starting spring with the Tigers.

Liranzo - who has yet to play a level above High-A - was acquired in the Jack Flaherty trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, an addition made even more sweet by the fact Detroit brought Flaherty back. After arriving to West Michigan, Liranzo began to put up huge numbers with a .315 average and 1.031 OPS in his final 26 games of the year.

He continued that success in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .375 and posting a 1.158 OPS in his 15 games there.

Lee was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies at the deadline in 2023 as the return for Michael Lorenzen. In 87 games for Double-A Erie this past season, the infielder had a .298 batting average and OPS of .851.

Clark and McGonigle on the other hand have played most of their professional careers thus far in rookie and Low-A ball. The exciting duo has less than a combined total of 50 games at the High-A level, and clearly the team feels neither is ready for the big step of big league spring training.

Both are expected to be key future pieces for Detroit and are ranked significantly higher than Lee and Liranzo, but rushing things along just so fans can get a quicker look is not in anyone's best interest. Clark's and McGonigle's time will come sooner rather than later, just not yet this spring.

In the meantime, Tigers fans have two names to keep their eye on in Lakeland.

The first game of spring training for Detroit is just under two weeks away, taking on the Phillies on the afternoon of Saturday, February 22.

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