Minor League Baseball

Detroit Tigers' Highly-Regarded Prospect Earns Big Honor After Productive Week

Bryce Rainer was named the Hitter of the Week in the Florida State League after putting together a big week for the Lakeland Flying Tigers.
Brady Farkas|
The Detroit Tigers draft Bryce Rainer with the eleventh pick during the first round of the MLB Draft at Cowtown Coliseum in 2024.
The Detroit Tigers draft Bryce Rainer with the eleventh pick during the first round of the MLB Draft at Cowtown Coliseum in 2024. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

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Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers' top prospect Bryce Rainer was named as the Hitter of the Week in the Florida State League after putting together a solid week for the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

The Flying Tigers are the High-A affiliate of the Tigers. Rainer had two home runs, six walks, five RBIs and a 1.271 OPS.

Rainer, 19, is the No. 4 prospect in the organization and the No. 49 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. He was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2024 draft out of the California high school ranks.

He's hitting .226 through the first 10 games of the year, also belting two doubles and stealing two bases. A shortstop, he's projected to make his major league debut in 2028.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Rainer most impressed scouts as an amateur by using added strength from his 6-foot-3 frame and a tightened swing to drive the ball as a left-handed hitter. There can still be length in his movements in the box, and a bat wrap gave evaluators some pause. But everything was trending in the right direction, as evidenced by him having the NHSI’s top four exit velocities last April. A solid approach helped the belief that he could be an above-average hitter in time as he continues to try to get the most out of that loud contact.

At the big-league level, the Tigers are 18-10 and in first place in the American League Central. They'll battle the Houston Astros on Monday night at 8:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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