Recent First-Round Draft Picks Each Move Up in Tigers' Farm System

Detroit prospects have been in the headlines this year

Streets and parking lots surrounding Comerica Park in downtown Detroit were nearly empty on Friday, March 27, 2020, during a state order for residents to stay at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Opening Day Comp 1 tiger statue, Comerica Park logo | Brian Kaufman via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Two of the Detroit Tigers' top shortstop prospects have been promoted to the next level in their minor league journeys.

Bryce Rainer, the Tigers' 2024 first-round draft pick and No. 3 prospect on MLB Pipeline for 2026, is being bumped up from the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers to the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps, the teams announced on Monday. In addition, Jordan Yost, Detroit's first-round pick in 2025 and No. 9 prospect on MLB Pipeline, is joining Lakeland, seemingly to fill Rainer's spot at shortstop.

The 19-year-old Yost most notably made some noise last month when he hit a grand slam in his first major league spring training at-bat. The 20-year-old Rainer, on the other hand, was limited to just 35 Single-A games last year after dislocating his right shoulder. With the immediate MLB success this year of another Detroit infield prospect, Kevin McGonigle, heavily invested Tigers fans might already be thinking ahead and keeping an eye on these other young shortstops in the team's farm system.

Bryce Rainer's promotion comes at an interesting time

Detroit Tigers prospect Bryce Rainer watches practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland on Friday, Feb. 20, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One intriguing component of Rainer moving up to High-A right now is the fact that he hasn't had the hottest start at the plate so far this year. In 11 Single-A games in 2026, the 20-year-old is 7-for-42 with one home run, five RBIs, and four stolen bases. In his 35 games with Lakeland last year, though, the 2024 first-round pick hit .288 with five homers, 22 RBIs, and nine stolen bases.

It's obviously possible that Rainer still isn't at 100 percent yet after dealing with his season-ending shoulder injury in 2025. But, regardless of his numbers at Single-A so far this year, many Tigers fans will undoubtedly be curious to see how he performs at High-A now.

Detroit also promoted another infield prospect, Hao-Yu Lee, for his MLB debut a few days ago. Alongside McGonigle, Tigers fans have even more young infield talent to get excited about right now with Rainer and Yost. And that doesn't even include the franchise's No. 2 prospect, outfielder Max Clark, who's hitting .351 in his first 19 Triple-A games this year.