Detroit Tigers: 3 home run picks of the 2021 MLB Draft class

Competitive Balance Round A, Pick 32: Ty Madden, RHP, Texas (NCAA)

The first night of the 2021 MLB Draft was filled with a lot of angry comments and reactions from the Detroit Tigers faithful. After high-school pitcher Jackson Jobe was selected with the third overall pick it seemed that many fans had packed it in for the night and were set ablaze with anger.

But, the Detroit Tigers made a second selection on the first night of the draft in Competitive Balance Round A. They used the 32nd pick in the 2021 MLB Draft to take Ty Madden, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Texas.

Madden’s pick at thirty-two was truly a home run, an out-of-the-park home run for that matter. Madden was ranked in the top ten, or just outside of it on most of the pre-draft rankings. Draft night reactions thought he was falling due to a high placement on signing over slot.

Whether the Tigers pay a heftier price tag or not, Madden should be viewed as a real victory at thirty-two. Madden is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound right-handed pitcher with plenty to be excited about. Before I keep going, brace yourself…

He’s a three-pitch mix guy who has a heavy placement on his slider. Are you shocked? The Tigers seem to let Chris Fetter sneak into the war room on draft day and make most of the team’s selections. Madden, like many of the Tigers draftees, uses his slider as the put-away pitch.

His fastball is firm, very firm. The righty works it in the mid-90s but has been able to reach triple digits once. With good command of the fastball, Madden can set himself up for success on that aforementioned slider.

Madden works his slider in the mid-80s and is able to get swings, and misses 44% of the time. Not to mention a 38% whiff rate on pitches outside of the strike zone, as well. The slider has sweep to it and is high-tilt which keeps it a problem for hitters. Speaking to that, the opposition hit .119 against Madden’s slider in 2021.

In his 2021 season with Texas, he may not have thrown it a ton, but he showed a feel for a quality changeup. It has good arm-side fade and was able to create some problems for opposing hitters, especially lefties, when he worked the outside of the plate with it for swings and misses.

All-in-all, Madden made 18 starts for the Longhorns, where he accumulated 113.2 innings pitched with 137 strikeouts. He posted a 2.93 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP which is pretty dominant, to say the least.

The Tigers may have just gotten a top 20-pick in the 2021 draft with the 32nd overall pick—a truly quality draft choice by the organization.