In each of the last two Drafts, the Tigers scouting department has gone after the highest-risk category of player with their first-round selection: high-school pitcher. In 2015, Texas high school right-hander Beau Burrows was the choice at No. 22 overall. This past June, the Tigers went to Northern California to get former two-sport standout Matt Manning with the ninth overall pick.
With Burrows spending the year with West Michigan in the full-season Midwest League and Manning getting his professional feet wet in the Gulf Coast League, the two former prepsters who are ranked as the Tigers' top two prospects hadn't had the chance to work together until both headed to Lakeland for this fall's instructional league camp, which runs through Saturday.