DETROIT – The future is here and the rebuild is starting to come to an end. That’s the message the Detroit Tigers sent Monday by calling up three of their most exciting prospects.
READ: After surprising start, Tigers quickly fading from playoff picture
Recommended Videos
The Tigers announced they are calling up elite pitching prospects Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, as well as star infield prospect Isaac Paredes, to the big league roster.
Skubal will make his MLB debut Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, with Mize making his debut Wednesday in the third game of the series.
While Paredes’ role wasn’t strictly defined, there appears to be an opening for him to play regularly at third base, especially if Willi Castro is playing shortstop for an injured Niko Goodrum.
PREVIOUS: There’s no reason to delay Casey Mize any longer
This is the moment fans have been waiting for since the Tigers began their rebuild unofficially in 2015, and more obviously in 2017.
Mize was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft and is the team’s No. 2 prospect behind this year’s top draft pick, corner infielder Spencer Torkelson. Mize is the No. 1 right-handed pitching prospect in the game and the No. 8 overall prospect.
Skubal is the team’s No. 4 prospect -- behind Torkelson, Mize and Matt Manning -- and a top 10 left-handed pitching prospect in the game. He ranks No. 50 overall in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects.
Skubal has been the most dominant of the team’s top three young arms, striking out 82 batters in 42.1 innings after his promotion to Double-A this season. He missed all of the team’s summer camp on the COVID-19 injured list, but has since returned to the alternate training site.
Paredes, just 21 years old, is a borderline top 100 prospect who hit 13 home runs and 23 doubles in Double-A last season while drawing 57 walks to just 61 strikeouts in 127 games.
The Tigers have dropped five straight games since starting the season 9-5, largely because of a weak starting rotation. Spencer Turnbull has been strong at the top, but Matt Boyd and the rest of the starting five haven’t kept the team in many games.
Detroit is hoping Turnbull can continue to shine alongside Mize and Skubal while Boyd turns his season around. It will have to happen fast, as the Tigers are entering a brutal stretch of their schedule against the White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins.