Here are Tigers' Draft picks from Day 2

The Tigers went heavy on pitching to begin Day 2 of the MLB Draft, following a trend that began with their second- and third-round picks Sunday night.

Some of their pitching picks follow a trend. Under president of baseball operations Scott Harris and amateur scouting director Mark Conner, Detroit has been known to use mid-round picks to select high-school pitchers and leverage their bonus pool to pry them away from college commitments. Last year, they did it with pitchers Owen Hall (second round), Ethan Schiefelbein (Competitive Balance Round B) and Zach Swanson (ninth round). In 2023, they did it with lefty pitcher Paul Wilson (third round) and third baseman Carson Rucker (fourth round). All of them are on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Tigers prospect list.

This year, fifth-round pick Ryan Hall is an athletic right-hander who committed to Georgia Tech. Four rounds later, Detroit drafted Trevor Heishman, a big lefty out of Southern California who committed to the University of Memphis last fall before catching scouts’ eyes with a velocity boost and growth spurt in his senior season.

But the big swing came in the 11th round with River Hamilton, an Oregon prep pitcher and LSU commit who sat 99th on MLB Pipeline’s rankings entering the Draft. He had been projected as a potential pick in the top three rounds, but an elbow injury in the spring limited his season and, in turn, scouts’ chances to take a look at him.

Likewise, the Tigers’ 18th-round pick, left-hander Ethan Rogers, had been forecast in some places as a potential Day 1 selection for some teams. He’s committed to Wichita State.

The timing of the pick isn’t a coincidence. From Round 11 on, any signing bonus over $150,000 counts against a team’s Draft pool money. But if a player in those late rounds doesn’t sign, it doesn’t take money out of a team’s pool, unlike in the first 10 rounds. Not all of them will sign, but given the Tigers’ recent history, some of them will.

“We’re not going to comment on the specific signability on the players,” assistant general manager Rob Metzler said, “but I think looking back at past Draft behavior is a fair reflection of how strategy works outside the top 10 rounds.”

Other Tigers picks Monday were college lefties, including University of Maine’s Caleb Leys and Oregon’s Grayson Grinsell.

Here’s a round-by-round look at the Tigers’ Day 2 selections:

Caleb Leys, LHP (Round 4, No. 129 overall)
Bats/throws: L/L
School: University of Maine
Calling Card: Leys bounced back from Tommy John surgery to earn America East Conference Pitcher of the Year honors this spring, posting a 2.69 ERA and 74 strikeouts over 67 innings for the Black Bears. He has a power fastball that sits around the mid-90s and tops out at 96 mph, setting up strikeouts with a slider and changeup in the low 80s.
Quote: “It is pretty cool to step back and see how far I came. A year ago, I wasn't even able to touch a baseball.” – Leys, to FOX ABC Maine on coming back from Tommy John surgery

Ryan Hall, RHP (Round 5, No. 159 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: North Gwinnett HS, Suwanee, Ga.
Calling Card: An athletic pitcher who also played quarterback at North Gwinnett, Hall boasts a low-90s fastball with a slider around 80 mph and changeup in the low 80s. He’s a Georgia Tech commit.

Grayson Grinsell, LHP (Round 6, 189 overall)
Bats/throws: L/L
School: University of Oregon
Calling Card: A classic crafty Big Ten southpaw with good command of the strike zone, Grinsell has a nasty 60-grade changeup that works against left- and right-handed hitters alike. His low-90s fastball plays up with good extension out of his delivery and plays well off the changeup. His slider needs work if he’s going to stick as a starter.
Quote: “A lot of times with the metrics nowadays, they're very big. But one of the things you can't really measure is deception, and I think I'm really good at that. I think I get down the mound well, I have a lot of extension, so even though it might not be the fastest fastball, it gets on hitters quick because I've got a lot extension, so I think the deception and extension play a big role in me helping with that.” – Grinsell, to Nevada Sports Net on his competitiveness

More on Tigers' 2025 Draft:

• Tigers take athletic prep shortstop Jordan Yost at No. 24
• Tigers Draft Tracker
• What to watch on Day 2

Cale Wetwiska, OF/P (Round 7, 219 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Northern Oklahoma-Enid JC
Calling Card: A two-way player for the Jets, Wetwiska threw in the mid-90s as a starting pitcher and posted a high average with bat control as an outfielder on his non-pitching days. He went 7-1 with 3.54 ERA in 13 starts, batted .336/.491/.600 with 21/21 walk-to-strikeout ratio as an outfielder.
Quote: “We see him as a pitcher, and he sees himself as a pitcher. A very talented arm, he’s going to be on the mound for us.” – Conner

Nick Dumesnil, OF (Round 8, 249 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: California Baptist University
Calling Card: Dumesnil is an athlete with big-time speed who had a breakout 2024 season at Cal Baptist, with a .362/.440/.702 slash line and 19 homers. He was also a Cape Cod League All-Star last season who led the circuit with 26 steals. He hit well again at Cal Baptist this year, but strikeout concerns dropped him down Draft boards despite ranking 118th on MLB Pipeline’s list with 60-grade speed and 50-grade power.
Quote: “Hitting and speed, I feel like I have a couple that are going pretty good for me. I feel like I can just drive the ball all over and if I'm on base, just stealing a base.” – Dumesnil, to Baseball Prospect Journal in December 2024 on what he believes are his biggest strengths

Trevor Heishman, LHP (Round 9, 279 overall)
Bats/throws: L/L
School: St. John Bosco HS (Bellflower, Calif.)
Calling Card: A University of Memphis commit, Heishman has a big frame for a prep lefty, listed at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds. He has a low-90s fastball that has gained velocity as his body has filled out, complemented by a short slider.
Quote: “You could say he’s a little bit of a late bloomer. It’s a good body, big body, arm works, delivery works. It’s just an interesting high school starting pitcher package that we feel is on the way up.” – Conner

Edian Espinal, C/2B (Round 10, 309 overall)
Bats/throws: S/R
School: Central Florida
Calling Card: Espinal was among the top college hitters in the nation for the first month of the season before slashing .334/.434/.470 for his junior season. He gets a lot out of his 5-foot-8, 205-pound frame. He played primarily infield at UCF but began getting work behind the plate, a move the Tigers are expected to make full-time with him.
Quote: “I think he, no doubt, has a chance to play professionally. The situation for him is just what position is it going to be.” -- Chipola Junior College coach Jeff Johnson, to UCF student media in May

River Hamilton, RHP (Round 11, 339 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Sam Barlow HS (Gresham, Ore.)
Calling Card: The 6-foot-3 Hamilton has quite the array of pitches for a prep hurler. His fastball reaches 95-96 mph, his slider is tight with spin and he has a developing changeup. An elbow injury limited his work this spring.

Cash Kuiper, RHP (Round 12, 369 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Murray State (OK) JC
Calling Card: Nebraska commit went 8-3 with a 4.92 ERA in his sophomore season, striking out 90 batters over 75 innings.

Jack Goodman, SS (Round 13, 399 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Northeastern
Calling Card: Goodman follows in the Tigers’ trend in recent Drafts towards versatile college infielders with good defense. The Medfield, Mass., native hit .335/.406/.547 for the Huskies in the spring with a career-high 10 home runs. He sacrifices some contact and chase for power, but is worth a shot in this range.

Beau Ankeney, 1B/DH (Round 14, 429 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Loyola Marymount
Calling Card: Ankeney is a pure slugger who ended his redshirt season on a tear. His school-record 22 home runs for the Lions included a three-homer game at Pepperdine, part of seven homers over his final five games.

Charlie Christensen, RHP (Round 15, 459 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Central Arkansas
Calling Card: Christensen has a good arm with mixed results over three seasons at Central Arkansas, including a 5.85 ERA and 101 hits allowed over 80 innings this spring as a junior. However, he also tossed three complete games and two shutouts, including a nine-strikeout blanking of Eastern Kentucky. His fastball touches 95 mph to go with an upper-80s cutter, mid-80s changeup and low-80s slider, all from a low three-quarter arm angle. He announced last month that he’s transferring to Florida State.

Joe Ruzicka, RHP (Round 16, 489 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Belmont
Calling Card: Named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year, posting a conference-best 3.56 ERA and .199 batting average allowed. Struck out eight batters over nine innings across three appearances in MLB Draft League.

Joey Wimpelberg, RHP (Round 17, 519 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Central Florida JC
Calling Card: Wimpelberg pitched in just two games at the College of Central Florida after transferring from UCF, but he struck out 12 batters over 5 2/3 innings in that small sample size. But he was a well-rated pitcher out of high school in Winter Springs. He throws a fastball, curveball and changeup out of a high three-quarter arm slot.

Ethan Rogers, LHP (Round 18, 549 overall)
Bats/throws: L/L
School: Lone Jack (MO) HS
Calling Card: Another prep pitcher who fell out of signability concerns, Rogers – a Wichita State commit – has the stuff of a potential Day 1 pick, including a mid-90s fastball and a 12-6 curveball. He dominated high-school hitters in Missouri, racking up 118 strikeouts over 52 2/3 innings with just 10 hits allowed.

Meridian Leffew, SS (Round 19, 579 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Gaston (NC) Christian HS
Calling Card: Leffew is a well-rated hitting project out of the North Carolina prep ranks, with power projection as his body grows (listed at 6-foot-2, 187 pounds). Originally one of the top-ranked high-school players in the 2026 class, he took extra classes and reclassified to go into the 2025 Draft at age 18. He has committed to UCF.

Kameron Douglas, OF (Round 20, 609 overall)
Bats/throws: R/R
School: Alabama State
Calling Card: Douglas batted .335 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs in his only season for the Hornets after two years at Georgia State. At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, he has impressive raw power, evidenced by his home run to straightaway center at Truist Park last weekend in the HBCU Swingman Classic.