The Detroit Tigers picked up Izaac Pacheco in the second round of the 2021 MLB First-Year Amateur Player Draft. It was a pick that helped them pick up a high-upside bat with a lot of projectability. He was selected as a prep shortstop from Friendswood, Texas, who had a lot of room to become a top-tier bat from the draft class.
He has earned some promotions with the Detroit Tigers organization, working out of the complex league and out of Florida, getting promoted from Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers to join the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps. Pacheco has a lot of upside, and according to the loosely updated and loosely trusted MLB dot com list, he’s the sixth-best prospect in the organization.
Though they may not be too far off here, he’s got sneaky potential with a possibility to move up a top prospect list into the top five or even top three, to be frank. The tools on display in the batters’ box are exciting and continue to get better. He’s showing that he may get better and now is getting his chance to move up the farm system as he gets settled in with High-A West Michigan.
The Tigers are certainly not in any rush with Pacheco, but there’s a lot to like about what he could bring to the table in the future. Around this time last summer, I speculated that Pacheco could be transitioned into a third baseman, which has since happened and appears to be part of the plan long-term for the now 19-year-old.
Detroit Tigers prospect Izaac Pacheco is on track for a bright future.
Shifted over to third base, it’s easy to project a little higher on the power tool, with him being able to fill out the frame more. After all, he was drafted out of high school, and there is still time to get him in the weight room and see him grow and fill out the frame from an already 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame.
So far, with West Michigan, Pacheco has logged two games with a 3-for-8 line with two home runs, including this homer to right-center on a ball he absolutely torched. I urge you to watch this video with the sound on; the bat crack is exceptional.
Izaac Pacheco. 426 feet.
The 19-year-old, and No. 6 @RoadtoDetroit prospect hits his second homer in as many days since being promoted to West Michigan.
If you're a @tigers fan, you have our permission to get excited.
🎙️ @ThatDanHasty pic.twitter.com/FTL9DiVucW
— West Michigan Whitecaps (@wmwhitecaps) August 7, 2022
Before getting promoted, Pacheco logged 88 games with Lakeland, accruing 371 at-bats. He slashed .267/.342/.415 with 21 doubles and eight home runs, with 39 RBI to his credit. Given his promotion and exciting swing shown in that tweet. Let me dive into his mechanics in the box a little more.
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Pacheco starts with the feet even, a bat waggle at the shoulders, and is slightly bent at the knees. The hands are set high, and his back elbow points towards the catcher. He sinks onto the back leg as his front foot comes up into a leg lift, seeing the hands start to move slightly to get into position to drive hard through the zone.
At heel strike, the hip is already beginning to rotate; however, not too early, but in sync and in sequence to get the barrel on time to do damage. The hands stay direct and even with the backside, not lagging but getting to the ball quickly with some plus-bat speed.
The upper half is very direct to the ball, and he’s got the strength in his 6-foot-4 frame to work pull-side with juice. Pacheco’s got a bright future. While I do not want to overinvest in a player who is in High-A… the track is there for projection.
It’s hard not to buy in on Pacheco’s future with the Tigers. The organization should be excited about how good Pacheco could wind up being.
AA next year Toledo in 2024 and a September call up. We have some good young bats. Let’s hope they can hit at the major league level.