One of the most pressing needs that the Detroit Tigers organization had going into the 2019 Rule 4 draft was players with legitimate hit tools. It can be confidently said that the team addressed this issue back in June, selecting and signing a handful of high-grade bats from the amateur ranks to bolster the offensively anemic player development system.
With the 142nd pick in fifth round of the draft the Tigers selected Bryant Packard, a bat-first junior out of East Carolina University who put up video game numbers in his collegiate career and fills a much-needed void in the team’s farm system.