Detroit Tigers Breakout MLB Prospects For 2025
Entering 2025, we’re projecting a number of Tigers prospects to have the potential for a breakout season.
To qualify, a player must rank outside the organization’s Top 10 prospects entering the year. All scouting reports are from Baseball America’s 2025 Prospect handbook, which you can purchase here.
You can find Top 10 prospect rankings for all teams here and all breakout candidates here.
Tigers Top Prospects For 2025
We rank the top players in Tigers’ system entering the season, complete with new scouting reports, tools, grades & more.
Breakout Prospects
Owen Hall, RHP
Preseason Rank: 14
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
Track Record: Hall appeared set to go to Vanderbilt, but the Tigers had other ideas, offering him $1,747,500 to forgo that commitment. He didn’t get into an official game but did pitch a little in the unofficial bridge league after signing. Hall, like Tigers top prospect Jackson Jobe, hails from Oklahoma and the two have worked out together. Jobe reached out to congratulate Hall after he was drafted. Pitching runs in the Hall family. Hall’s father Greg pitched at Central Oklahoma in the 1990s.
Scouting Report: Hall’s pitch mix is that of a pitcher coming out of college, not one fresh out of high school. He is more advanced than many young high school draftees, understands what he wants to do and already has the pitch mix and feel for spin to move pretty quickly. He has the pitch mix and arm talent to be a midrotation starter if everything clicks. He has a lively four-seam fastball that sits 94-96 mph and can touch the high 90s. His 82-84 mph gyro-slider has some depth and power, and he pairs it with a cutter. He’s shown a bigger, slower curve in the past as well. His split-change is the one pitch that needs further development.
The Future: Hall pitched a little in the bridge leagues, but 2025 will mark his official pro debut. He’s ready for Low-A Lakeland, where he should be one of the best arms in the league.
Scouting Grades: FB: 60. SL: 55. CUT: 50. CH: 45. CTL: 45.
Tyler Mattison, RHP
Preseason Rank: 15
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
Track Record: A five-year starter for his high school team who helped lead his team to a state title as an eighth grader, Mattison then became one of the best pitchers in Bryant history over four seasons. The Tigers moved him to the bullpen immediately as a pro. After dominating out of the bullpen for Double-A Erie in 2023, Mattison seemed just a few months away from Detroit, but he felt elbow pain in December 2023 and Tommy John surgery cost him the entirety of the 2024 season.
Scouting Report: Pre-injury, Mattison’s plus-plus fastball and above-average curveball gave him the stuff to be a high-leverage reliever. He sat 94-96 mph, but it’s the extreme life on his fastball that makes it devastating. He then drops in a hard low-80s curveball as well. Because he works up and down in the zone from an over-the-top slot with pitches that rely on north-south movement, he’s effective against both righthanded and lefthanded hitters. He has a below-average changeup that he doesn’t command as well as his fastball or curveball. He has average control.
The Future: The Tigers added Mattison to their 40-man roster in November 2024. He has returned to throwing off the mound, but the normal Tommy John recovery timetable would mean he will miss the first month or two of the 2025 season. If his stuff bounces back post-surgery, he could be pitching in Detroit by the second half. He has the stuff to be a setup man who could eventually close.
Scouting Grades: FB: 70. CB: 55. CH: 40. CTL: 50.
Enrique Jimenez, C
Preseason Rank: 17
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
Track Record: Jimenez was the top target of the Tigers’ 2023 international class and signed for $1.25 million out of Venezuela. Detroit was impressed with Jimenez’s energy, flexibility and potential to develop at the plate. After an impressive stint in the Dominican Summer League in 2023, he was solid in the Florida Complex League in 2024. He helped lead the Tigers to the FCL title, picking up three hits in the championship game.
Scouting Report: The Tigers love lefthanded and switch-hitters. Jimenez ticks the switch-hitting box, as he shows developing power from both sides of the plate. He doesn’t chase much out of the zone and he stings the ball when he connects. His power has already taken a nice step up from what he showed when he signed. His lefthanded swing was more advanced when he signed, but he hit better against lefties in 2024. Defensively, he’s thick and stocky already, but the Tigers believe he has the agility and flexibility to be an above-average defender behind the plate. He has an average arm but a quick release, and in 2024 threw out 35% of basestealers. He’s a fringe-average runner who will likely keep slowing down.
The Future: The Tigers are overflowing with catching prospects, but Jimenez is worth keeping an eye on. He’s ticketed for Low-A Lakeland in 2025.
Scouting Grades: HIT: 45. POW: 50. FLD: 55. ARM: 50. RUN: 45.
