Under-the-Radar Tigers Prospect Has Chance To Emerge After Bryce Rainer's Injury

The Detroit Tigers are enjoying a fantastic year at the Major League level, and because of that, there isn't much attention on their farm system despite it being one of the best in the sport.

With prospects labeled future superstars in their pipeline, it's easy to envision a future where the Tigers are contending for World Series titles during the next decade and more.

However, the farm took a blow when Bryce Rainer went down with an injury.

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Taken 11th overall in the 2024 draft out of high school, the young infielder was impressive enough on the prep circuit to vault into the third spot in Detroit's prospect rankings.

It was easy to see why that was the case this year.

Rainer had slashed .288/.383/.448 across his 35 games with five homers, five doubles and 22 RBI before he dislocated his shoulder, requiring season-ending surgery to repair it.

Now, Single-A Lakeland is searching for players who can replace their star.

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With that comes opportunities for others to step up, and this could be the moment that Franyerber Montilla gets his name back into the spotlight.

Signed out of Venezuela as an international free agent in 2022, the 20-year-old had a solid showing during his time with the Dominican Summer League Tigers before he arrived to their rookie complex in Florida for the start of the 2024 campaign.

Montilla had a good performance there, but when he first arrived to Single-A, he had struggles that took some shine off of himself.

Still, ranked 11th in Detroit's pipeline, he appears to have a high ceiling.

And now that Rainer is out, this could be when Montilla starts getting back into the spotlight.

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"It's a big jump. But he is getting used to the league, taking better at-bats lately, and hopefully it clicks," Single-A Lakeland manager Rene Rivera said, per Lynn Henning of The Detroit News. "We know what he's capable of doing. Lately he's hitting the ball better. When our hitting department looks at his contact rate, his hard-hit-ball rate and all that, his numbers are pretty good."

In 20 Single-A games last year, Montilla slashed .095/.278/.127 with no homers and one RBI.

In 44 Single-A games this year, Montilla has slashed .244/.349/.335 with two homers and 15 RBI.

He looks much improved this time around compared to his first stint at that level. And with pressure on him to replace one of the best prospects in the sport, if he is able to do that, then Montilla might no longer be under-the-radar when 2025 comes to a close.

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