The 2022 Major League Baseball Draft will begin on Sunday and Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila will have an extremely important decision to make when the No. 12 overall pick rolls around.
There has been plenty of speculation as to what the Tigers WILL do with the No. 12 pick and what most fans WANT them to do with the No. 12 overall pick.
In fact, there seems to be a growing amount of concern (and even fear) that Avila will select either RHP Brock Porter out of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s High School or LHP Connor Prielipp out of Alabama.
Personally, I am a HUGE fan of Brock Porter and I do believe he will turn out to be a top-of-the-rotation type pitcher. That being said, I am NOT a big fan at all of taking a high school pitcher with your only first-round pick as they just don’t seem to pan out too often. Because of that, I would pass on Porter at No. 12.
Detroit Tigers will select stud hitter with No. 12 pick
So, who will Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila select with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft?
In my opinion, Avila will resist his urge to go with the local kid (Brock Porter) and will select OF Gavin Cross out of Virginia Tech.
In his final two seasons with the Hokies, Cross batted .336 with 28 home runs and 85 RBIs in 108 games. During that time (514 plate appearances), Cross struck out 89 times (17.3% rate) and walked 47 times. During his final season (280 plate appearances), Cross struck out 41 times (14.6% rate) and walked 30 times.
As you can see in the video below, Cross has a beautiful swing and though he still has plenty of room to go, he should end up being a solid hitter in Major League Baseball within a few years or so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVIW7TjzEmo
Here is what Keith Law of The Athletic wrote about Cross:
Cross is an advanced hitter with above-average power and the potential for more with some swing adjustments, rising thanks to a thin crop of advanced college hitters in this year’s class. He’s improved his approach significantly this year, walking more than he’s struck out in conference play through May 19th, and improving his ball-strike recognition over 2021. He’s an above-average runner who can steal a bag but isn’t fleet enough to stay in center in pro ball. He strides too far at the plate, without transferring his weight as he does so, which cuts off some of his power potential and can leave him unable to drive anything on the outer half. He hasn’t faced much left-handed pitching this year, with a mild platoon split in the sample he’s had, which is just something to watch when he moves into pro ball rather than an immediate concern. He should be a solid regular in an outfield corner, thanks to his hitting and on-base skills, but I’d like to see some swing changes that might unlock more power.
Nation, who do you think the Detroit Tigers will take with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft?
