Tigers Up and Coming Infielder Receives Recognition for Breakout 2025 Season
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There are plenty of questions surrounding the uneven infield that the Detroit Tigers currently have but an answer they are currently searching for might be sitting in their farm system. It could be sooner rather than later that he makes his major league debut as he just received high praise from a trio of MLB insiders after a breakout 2025.
Johnathan Mayo, Jim Callis and Sam Dykstra just came out with their list of top prospects on each ballclub and infielder Max Anderson was their pick for the Tigers, rightfully so. This was his second full season in their system and he posted career highs across the board as he batted .296 with an OPS over .820.
Anderson has primarily suited up as a second baseman in the minors but has spent a fair amount of time at third making him even more enticing to the Tigers.
Anderson's 2025
Anderson was just drafted in 2023, and he started playing immediately in the system in Single-A. He is seemingly getting more impressive, but going into 2025, he had yet to break through the .800 OPS threshold.
He started this last season in Double-A and was a true nightmare for pitchers in the 90 games that he played. Anderson finished his time in that league with a .306/.358/.499, hitting 14 long balls and batting in 64 runs.
They eventually moved him up to Triple-A where he closed out the year, and even though he wasn't quite as impressive (which is to be expected), he still batted .267 and had 23 RBI with five home runs in only 32 games.
Max is Mashin’ his way to Motor City
— MLB's Arizona Fall League (@MLBazFallLeague) December 3, 2025
Tigers No. 9 prospect Max Anderson had quite the Fall leading all qualified batters in average, on base percentage and OPS while also coming in among the top five in SLG, HR and BB. pic.twitter.com/5PEPJpi3Xt
The Tigers then sent him to the Arizona Fall League where he did nothing but draw attention to himself in the most positive way as one of the top bats there. In the 14 games he played in Scottsdale, he slashed .447/.609/.809 with 13 RBI, four homers, and 18 drawn walks. It was a truly incredible performance.
After his performance in the Fall League, it seems like he might have earned a chance to attend spring training with the Tigers when that rolls around. Will he be on that roster? It seems like he might at least have earned the opportunity.
There is nothing but excitement surrounding Anderson right now, and with the struggles that the Tigers' offense saw in the playoffs, it will be nice to have him in AJ Hinch's back pocket for 2026.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.