Detroit Tigers: 2020 MLB Full Six Selection Mock Draft
By Tyler Kotila
Round 3, Pick 73: Jake Eder, Vanderbilt University, LHP
To open things up in the third round, a few selections after they (hopefully) select Christian Roa, they should turn around and take another arm, Jake Eder. If he is there at 73rd overall, the Tigers should select the Vanderbilt University product who could be higher on the list without one issue.
Eder is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound left-handed arm who was drafted out of high school but chose to head to Vanderbilt. He had the build of a future big league starter right out of high school, but his velocity was all over the map, which made his stock drop and put him out in this range.
He jumps around; he will sit around the low-90s one start then jump to the mid-90s in another, and scouts were a little iffy, given that he was so inconsistent. In 2019, Eder would pitch in 19 games, notching four saves with no starts.
He totaled 39.1 innings with a 2.97 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP while striking out 41 hitters for the Commodores out of the bullpen. In 2020 he would be bumped to the rotation on the shortened season, pitching in four games all of them being starts.
Eder posted a 3.60 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP, and punched out 27 strikeouts over 20 innings thrown on the canceled season. The southpaw has a curveball that he can throw for strikes very well when it’s on, and a fringe change-up to add to the mix.
He may have some inconsistencies, but if he finally put everything together, he could be an asset to the future of Tigers’ pitching. His disparity between the rotation and the bullpen is a little bit alarming, but he has proven that he has the tools to be exceptional; he just needs to develop.
Honorable Mentions: LHP Seth Lonsway, LHP Burl Carraway, SS Freddy Zamora