The Detroit Tigers have selected a college hitter with a first-round pick in the MLB Draft just three times this century, the last coming in 2022.
Baseball America, in a “staff” draft published Monday, has the Tigers potentially going back to that route this summer.
The outlet has the Tigers taking Aiden Robbins, an outfielder from Texas with the No. 22 pick in the draft, which begins July 11 in Philadelphia.
Robbins, in his first season at Texas after two seasons at Seton Hall, has been the Longhorns’ top hitter in 23 games this season, hitting .380 with nine home runs and 28 RBIs, compiling a 1.188 OPS. In a weekend series in which Texas took two of three from then-No. 5 Auburn, the 6-foo-2, 205-pound Robbins went 6 for 13 with three home runs.
“Robbins hit six home runs as a freshman and sophomore over 43 and 53 games, respectively, at Seton Hall,” writes Jacob Rudner, Baseball America’s national college reporter. “He reached that number in 14 games as a junior at Texas and has tremendous data to boot.”
Robbins was an all-Big East pick last season at Seton Hall, when he led the Pirates in a slew of offensive categories, including batting average (.422) and slugging percentage (.652). His .537 on-base percentage ranked fifth nationally, and his batting average sixth.
Baseball America isn’t calling Monday’s projection a “mock draft” — the outlet unveiled one two weeks ago, slotting prep lefthander Logan Schmidt to the Tigers — but rather a “staff draft,” explaining “this is how our staff would pick based on talent if they were sitting in the GM seat for these teams.”
The Tigers took a college bat in the first round in 2022, when they tapped Texas Tech’s Jace Jung at No. 12 overall. The Tigers have selected high school hitters at the top of their board the next three drafts: outfielder Max Clark (No. 3 overall) in 2023, shortstop Bryce Rainer (11) in 2024 and shortstop Jordan Yost (24) in 2025.
The Tigers took Arizona State’s Spencer Torkelson at No. 1 overall in 2020, and Tennessee outfielder Christin Stewart with a supplemental first-round pick at No. 34 (their second first-round pick of the draft) in 2015.
Baseball America has the Chicago White Sox taking UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky at No. 1 overall, just like in its last mock draft.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers take college bat in first round of Baseball America ‘staff draft’
Reporting by Daren Tomhave, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
