Three Tigers prospects make Baseball America's top 100 for 2019

The Detroit News
Tigers right-handed pitching prospect Matt Manning is ranked No. 50 in Baseball America's top 100 for 2019.

Tigers prized right-hander Casey Mize is moving up in Baseball America's prospect rankings. The Tigers top-end talent as a whole, however, appears to have taken a dip.

Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft, checks in at No. 16 in Baseball America's top 100 prospects for 2019, published Wednesday (pay site), up two spots from his prospect-rankings debut in July, which was the first in Baseball America to include members of Mize's draft class.

The former Auburn ace is one of three Tigers prospects in Baseball America's top 100 — right-hander Matt Manning (50) and infielder Isaac Paredes (94) are the others — one fewer than the publication's July rankings.

Mize's debut in the Tigers organization following the draft was brief — a 3.95 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 13.2 innings, with 14 strikeouts and three walks at the rookie and high Single A levels — before the team shut him down because of an innings count that started with his final season at Auburn.

"The top pick in the 2018 draft will get a much heavier workload this season," Baseball America writes, "and should move quickly thanks to his fastball/splitter combination."

Manning, the Tigers' first-round pick in 2016, also saw a bump in stature, moving up six spots from Baseball America's July rankings, with the future appearing bright, after the 6-foot-6 right-hander hit three levels last season, topped with a pair of starts at Double-A Erie.

He was a combined 7-8 with a 3.29 ERA and 1.20 WHIP last season, fanning 154 in just 117.2 innings.

"A combination of high-end stuff and athleticism gives Manning a ceiling toward the top of a rotation," Baseball America writes.

Paredes arrived in Detroit as one of three players the Tigers received from the Cubs for Justin Wilson and Alex Avila in 2017. A shortstop/third baseman, Paredes hit .278 last season with 15 home runs and 70 RBIs across Single-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie, with an .815 OPS.

"There are serious questions about whether Paredes' body will let him stay at shortstop," Baseball America writes, "but he showed plenty of offensive impact at a young age."

Missing from the top 100 are right-hander Franklin Perez, acquired from Houston in 2017 in the Justin Verlander blockbuster, who was at No. 43 in July, but has battled injuries, and right-hander Alex Faedo, who was No. 89 in July.