Detroit Tigers: 2019 MLB Draft Brings Uncertainty For The Tigers Pick

Vanderbilt University produces a lot of good, young talent that blossom into good Major League Baseball star players, and outfielder JJ Bleday could be the guy the Tigers target in hopes of becoming a future stud.

JJ Bleday is a Junior, part of a 49-10 Vanderbilt University baseball team that is the number two overall seed in the NCAA Division I College Baseball Championship. This season, Bleday really put things together and put together quite the season to make him such a high ranked draft choice. Bleday led not only Vanderbilt but the entire country with 26 big flies this year. He stands 6’3″ at 205 lbs and is a left-handed bat for the Commodores.

Besides the big boost in power for Bleday, he finished with a .357/.752/.467 line and tied for first on the team with Ethan Paul for most RBI at 67. It really seems like Bleday could fit the mold of a left-handed, power-hitting outfielder. Bleday was most recently ranked the sixth-best prospect by Baseball America, and it seems like he could do well for the Tigers. Bleday has a beautiful swing, that looks near big-league ready, which means he could get to the big leagues relatively quickly which will bode well for the Tigers future.

With the Detroit Tigers power producers for the last decade declining in Miguel Cabrera, Nicholas Castellanos is going to need some help on the power side, and Bleday may offer that power on a team looking to end their rebuild sooner rather than later. Adding an outfielder that has power would only bode well for a team who could use that “stud” power hitter in the lineup. Bleday offers plenty of upside for a team who is rebuilding, and already has a plentiful farm system who wouldn’t mind capping on another top prospect to the system.