The 17-Year-Old Sensation Standing Out in the Tigers’ Loaded Farm System
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The Detroit Tigers farm system is full of notable talent. Their top three prospects on MLB Pipeline have all climbed the minor league ranks together. Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, and Josue Briceño continue to stand out above the majority, but not all other Tigers prospects.
Even outside of Detroit’s top three there are very notable names to watch out for. Max Anderson has excelled this year and into the Arizona Fall League. Young bats like Bryce Rainer showed great potential before going down with an injury as well.
One name however in the lower levels of the minor leagues stood out in a big way. In his debut season in the Dominican Summer League, Santo Domingo native Cris Rodriguez put together eye-catching production in 50 games.
Rodriguez would record a .308/.340/.564 slashline in his first season of professional baseball. He flashed his impressive power all season, recording 10 home runs, 12 doubles, and 39 runs batted in during that 50 game stretch.
Rodriguez was, in fact, the only Detroit prospect in the DSL to rank within the top 20 in home runs among all Tigers minor leaguers. It’s not a surprise that Rodriguez was able to showcase so much power this season.
Among his scouting grades on MLB Pipeline, his power tool is graded as one of two tools with a 60-grade. Very high praise for a teenager who won’t turn 18 until late January 2026. He’d showcase some speed as well, recording 10 stolen bases to pair with the 10 homers.
While the power output already is incredibly encouraging, there are still some areas where Rodriguez could use some improvements. Naturally for a 17-year-old hitting for power, the swing-and-miss concerns are there.
Rodriguez showed an aggressive approach this season, swinging 57% of the time. If he can be more selective with the pitches he swings at, he could likely see his walk rate rise, as well as his contact rates go up, with less swing-and-miss.
While the walk rate from 2025 was low, he did manage to limit the strikeout rate to 22.3%. Again, at just 17 years old, the approach is something that should refine itself more as he continues to rise up the minor league system.
At 6-ft-3, 203 pounds, Detroit’s now No. 7 prospect on MLB Pipeline has managed to rise nearly to the top of the organization’s rankings. As current prospects continue to graduate, Rodriguez should only rise as well up the board of Tigers top prospects.
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Tobey Schulman is a freelance writer currently covering baseball in the South Florida area, independently on X and SubStack. Prior to freelancing, Tobey was a writer for The Skippers View, covering both Major and Minor League Baseball. Over the past year, he has grown a following of almost 10,000 on X, while covering all things across the sport, both professional and amateur. In his free time he produces and live streams a podcast ‘Inside The Diamond’, where he co-hosts player interviews, breakdowns, and game watch parties.