Isaac Paredes

The fact that Paredes's .205/.304/.435 triple-slash line translated into a 116 wRC+ on the season speaks to where the overall offensive environment was for the 2022 season. His 20 homers in part-time play was a surprise and that total would have led the Tigers had they not traded him to the Rays for Austin Meadows during the offseason. Despite the low average, Paredes is a very disciplined hitter who accepts his walks and is 90th percentile or better in contact as well as chase rate. His extreme pull tendencies get him into trouble when he doesn't loft the ball as he lacks the foot speed to convert grounders into outs. All 20 of his homers were pull shots, but it would be foolish to believe the Rays will make him an everyday player with their tendencies to platoon positions. Paredes did most of his power damage against lefties (.516 SLG%) while his .196/.297/.404 triple-slash against righties does not exactly scream for a full-time position. The 24 year old has room for growth with his power, but do not get greedy and expect 500+ plate appearances just yet.

Paredes got more playing time than expected with the big club last season, logging 108 plate appearances over 34 games. His numbers were what you would expect from an overwhelmed 21-year-old prospect, as Paredes slashed an uninspiring .220/.278/.290 with a single home run and no stolen-base attempts. His 22.2 K% was strong for a hitter his age and indicative of his best skill -- solid contact at the plate that has led to a superb 12.8 K% over the course of his time in the minors. Paredes has shown that he can hit for a decent average and even notched a 10-game hitting streak near the end of last season during which he batted .364, but he has yet to demonstrate more than average power and isn't a threat to steal many bases. He should get an opportunity to succeed for a still-rebuilding Tigers team, but his skillset doesn't portend fantasy relevance.

It is tempting to romanticize Paredes' 83:76 K:BB in 166 games at Double-A. He clearly has an excellent command of the strike zone, especially for a player who doesn't turn 21 until February. However, he is a 5-foot-11, 225-pound third baseman with below-average speed and average raw power. A mediocre defender whose body figures to get even worse over the next five years, Paredes will need to max out offensively to be an everyday player. He could have some seasons where he hits .280 with 20 home runs, but we should not expect more than that. To say Detroit lacks high-end position player talent on the big-league roster would be an understatement, so even if Paredes is just OK, he will be given a long leash as an everyday player. However, if/when the Tigers get serious about winning, he could start to get squeezed for playing time. He should spend most of the year at Triple-A.

Paredes' game is predicated on making hard contact at a high clip -- he had a 15.1 K% as one of the youngest players at High-A and Double-A. Cutting his infield-flyball rate from 32.2% to 23.9% and upping his line-drive rate from 15.9% to 22.5% helped him raise his AVG to .321 at Double-A, but that mark does not appear sustainable. He pulled the ball over 57% of the time last year. For context, Andrelton Simmons led qualified MLB hitters with a 51.0 Pull% last season, so Paredes will need to make adjustments in the coming years to avoid being neutralized by the shift. He has 50-grade power but is a below-average runner (listed at 5-foot-11, 225 pounds), which is why he seems destined for third base or the keystone. The Tigers are not competing anytime soon, so even if he appears ready this summer, they may play service-time games and keep him down until 2020.

The youngest qualified hitter in the Midwest League, Paredes more than held his own (108 wRC+), even while experiencing brutal luck (.214 BABIP) after a deadline trade from the Cubs to the Tigers. While Jeimer Candelario was the big-league ready piece in that deal, which sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to Chicago, Paredes was the lower-level prospect for Tigers fans to dream on. He hit four home runs in his first 10 games after the trade, but notched just 10 hits in his final 22 games. Even amid those struggles, he posted a 13:13 K:BB in 32 games with the Whitecaps. A thick 5-foot-11, he lacks prototypical size for the left side of the infield, but his bat has a chance to profile at third base if he eventually moves off shortstop. He excels at making contact, and while his batting averages don't stand out, he gets rave reviews for his hitting ability. Paredes is not as exciting or toolsy as he is polished and skilled, making him one of the safer teenage prospects in the game.