The outfielder will take a long time to develop Travis d'Arnaud Jersey , but his ceiling is huge."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Detroit etroit Tigers Game ThreadsDetroit Tigers NewsDetroit Tigers PodcastsMLB prospects & minor leaguesDetroit Tigers Prospect NotebookScouting Reports2019 BYB Tigers Prospect #27: Kingston Liniak will be worth the waitNew,15commentsThe outfielder will take a long time to develop, but his ceiling is huge. ESTShareTweetShareShare2019 BYB Tigers Prospect #27: Kingston Liniak will be worth the waitTerri NummerComing in at No. 27 on our preseason top 30 prospect list, center fielder Kingston Liniak has a frame and skill set that can only be summarized by one of the most overused words in player evaluation — toolsy.After just a couple hundred at-bats in rookie ball, we know about as much about Liniak as we would about most prep bats with his profile. Quite simply, this is a potentially high-ceiling player but he is not going to come to fruition overnight. His introduction to professional baseball hardly produced a sparkling stat line, as he struck out 29.6 percent of the time and walked just 3.8 percent of the time in his 213 plate appearances, mostly with the Detroit Tigers’ Gulf Coast League affiliate.Nonetheless, ranking prospects is an inexact science that requires a balancing act between floor and ceiling projections, and Liniak’s ceiling is high enough that it warrants him being on our list.BackgroundLiniak has a baseball pedigree; his father, Justin Liniak, was a late round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 1993. His uncle, Cole Liniak, had a 32 at-bat major league career over two small cups of java with the Chicago Cubs in 1999 and 2000.After Kingston missed virtually his entire junior season after breaking his hand diving back to first on a pick-off attempt, scouts flocked to see his five tools on display during his senior campaign. Batting lead-off for his Mission Hills High School squad in San Marcos, California, all Liniak did was hit .456 with four home runs, 17 doubles, and 30 stolen bases in 35 games.The Tigers selected the now 19-year old Liniak in the fourth round of the 2018 amateur draft. He had been committed to the University of San Diego, but the Tigers were able to pluck him away from the college ranks with a hefty $900,000 signing bonus, well over the $533,000 slot value.Here’s what the contact can look like when he gets the bat head out.StrengthsLiniak is the kind of player that we have been clamoring for the Tigers to target on draft day for years now. He has boatloads of potential and a real chance to impact the game on both sides of the ball. The reason he slipped to the fourth round and is ranked in the bottom portion of our list is because he will take a long time to develop. Also Noah Syndergaard Jersey , there is a huge amount of risk associated with his skillset. Don’t let that fool you, though. This young outfielder is a fantastic addition to Detroit’s farm system.At present, speed and athleticism are Liniak’s greatest assets. His 6.5 second speed in the 60-yard dash translates on the field, with one scout referring to Liniak as “a greyhound.” Liniak can leg out extra-base hits, swipe a bag, and chase down gappers. With the combination of speed and his plus arm, he will most likely stick in center field going forward.At 6’2 and 170 pounds coming out of high school, there is plenty of projection left in Liniak’s body. As he fills out his skinny frame, added power will undoubtedly follow. A couple years of strength training in the professional ranks has the potential to result into a lot more raw power. He already has a decent amount of bat speed, which is a huge step in the right direction on that front. The Tigers may choose to limit the amount that he bulks up, however, in order to preserve the athleticism and speed that makes him an outstanding defender.Not to be forgotten, Liniak is a strong competitor on the mental side of the game. He has been praised by Scott Pleis, the Tigers’ director of amateur scouting, among others, as a kid who knows how to play the game and “brings it” every time he takes the field.WeaknessesIt’s always the hit tool, isn’t it? We should never rely on a prep draftee’s first foray into the Gulf Coast League as a predictor of what is to come in the future — the transition to pro ball is huge and it’s often too small a sample size to be trusted in the first place. Liniak has been labeled as a project from Day One. The fact that he struggled making consistent contact and posted a sub-.600 OPS is no cause for alarm.But that’s it. That’s the weakness in Liniak’s game. He is a raw offensive piece and there is a lot of work to be done to get him up to snuff. There’s no guarantee that he will ever develop enough acumen at the plate to handle mid-90s heat or consistently decent breaking balls. Scouts seem to think the power will arrive at some point, even though it’s mostly absent right now.Whether Liniak hits is a huge factor in whether he is able to succeed, even though so much of his value is tied to his defensive abilities. The sport no longer has room for glove-only players at the major league level. Former Tigers prospect Dixon Machado exemplifies that point well; his defense was never in doubt, but he maxed out in Triple-A because he couldn’t handle high-level pitching.James Chipman over at TigsTown captured a few of Liniak’s swings against pro pitching that exemplify some of the work left to be done.Projected 2019 Team: Connecticut TigersUnlike fellow 2018 high school draftee Parker Meadows, Liniak’s hit tool will need a lot more work before he is ready to step into full-season ball with the West Michigan Whitecaps. The Tigers did give him a spell up in Connecticut at the end of last season, and that is his likely landing spot after some instruction in extended spring training.Advancement of said hit tool will determine Liniak’s fate. After all, he has three above-average to plus-graded tools in his back pocket already http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , with some raw power potential to boot. If the hit tool blossoms, he is an everyday center fielder in the major leagues. If the hit tool blossoms and the raw power can be tapped into to become game power, he has All-Star caliber potential. But there is work to be done first. The teenager thrived against advanced competition this year."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Detroit Tigers AnalysisDetroit Tigers Prospect NotebookDetroit Tigers Game ThreadsDetroit Tigers NewsDetroit Tigers PodcastsDetroit Tigers Prospect NotebookScouting Reports2019 BYB Tigers Prospect #18: Wenceel Perez may be your shortstop of the futureNew,33commentsThe teenager thrived against advanced competition this year.ESTShareTweetShareShare2019 BYB Tigers Prospect #18: Wenceel Perez may be your shortstop of the futureWenceel Perez represents hope for better days in Detroit baseball in a few different ways. The young shortstop was one in a series of signings that heralded a shift toward greater investment in the international free agent market. Perez stands out as the first wave of what appears to be a stronger international talent base than we’ve seen in a long time.He also stands out because of his two-way skills at a crucial position. The Tigers have numerous other shortstop prospects, but no one who looks likely to be a quality major league regular. Perez is a long way from the show and still raw, but he represents the best balance and depth of skills at the key positional weakness in the Tigers’ rebuilding effort.BackgroundPerez hails from the Dominican Republic, and was inked for $550,000 as a 16-year-old. As a result of his signing bonus, he was on our radar before playing a game of pro ball. Scouts were praising his advanced ability as a hitter before most had even seen him. So far, Perez hasn’t disappointed.The Tigers started Perez out in the Dominican Summer League as a 17-year-old in 2017. The young shortstop showed off a smooth stroke with an advanced approach and plus contact ability from both sides of the plate. In 2018, his age 18 season, he exploded onto the scene in the Gulf Coast League, posting a 1.006 OPS in 20 games. Perez moved quickly through the New York State-Penn League before wrapping the season with the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps, where he held his own against older competition..StrengthsNot a lot of 18-year-olds look as good hitting against older pitchers as Perez did this season. He has enough discipline to wait out sketchy control, but retains a fairly aggressive approach. And he can flat-out hit. Perez has a quiet, compact swing from both sides of the plate. He keeps the barrel in the zone well, and gets it to the ball consistently. Excellent hand-eye coordination makes him exceedingly difficult to strike out, and while he’s still somewhat slight at 5’11, 170 lbs, average future power isn’t out of his reach.Perez backs the bat, which FanGraphs projects to a future plus hit tool, with plus speed, and the makings of a solid defensive shortstop. He’s not a true burner on the basepaths http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , but with more experience appears to have the first step and speed to steal 15-20 bases a year in the major leagues. Defensively he’s never going to be Jose Iglesias, but he has the first step, hands, agility and arm strength to project as an average defensive shortstop eventually. Work remains to be done on his fundamentals, but defense isn’t likely to hold him back as he progresses toward the major leagues.WeaknessesPerhaps the best attribute Perez has is a general lack of weaknesses. He’s not going to get to the major leagues on his glove alone, but it should be good enough to play at the major league level. Plus speed should allow him to maintain some base-stealing ability even as he fills out. If there’s a weakness, it’s simply a matter of muscle and youth. Currently, FanGraphs rates Perez’s future game power as a 40, well below average. They do grade him as a future 50 raw power, however. The projection isn’t there in his frame to really be a major home run threat, but his contact ability should allow him to maximize his power potential. Currently he sprays hard line drives and groundballs around the field with good power in the gaps. The rest is whether he can continue to add good muscle in the years to come without losing the athleticism that allows him to handle the shortstop position.Perez has the developing strength and bat speed to produce some power and handle more advanced pitching, but he’s not likely to develop into a home run threat on the order of a Francisco Lindor. So don’t start taking bets on his All-Star appearances. And while his glove should play, he’s not going to generate a lot of extra value defensively. Solid defense at a premium position is the ceiling here. His chances of developing into an above average player lie almost entirely with his bat. But his advanced hit tool and overall well-roundedness bode well for his continued development on that front. Perez has a long way to go, but he stands out among the other shortstops in the Tigers’ system as the one most likely to succeed.Projected 2019 Team: Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps Some are already ranking Perez among the Tigers’ top 10 prospects. We’d like to see a year of A-ball first, but it’s entirely possible that Perez rockets toward the top of our rankings over the course of the 2019 season. Either way, fans in West Michigan have a fun year to look forward to. Perez should be the Whitecaps starting shortstop this season, and between he and young outfielders like Parker Meadows and Kingston Liniak, they have the makings of a solid core of young position players. If Perez can shore up his defense a little and acclimate to the grind of full season ball, he may be making top 100 prospect list appearances this time next year.