Tigers promote No. 3 prospect Rainer to High-A; No. 9 Yost set to begin pro career

DETROIT -- While Kevin McGonigle continues to impress at shortstop, the Tigers’ next highly rated shortstop prospects are moving up the developmental ladder. The club on Tuesday promoted No. 3 prospect Bryce Rainer from Single-A Lakeland to High-A West Michigan, and moved No. 9 Jordan Yost to Lakeland to begin his professional career.

Rainer’s promotion had been expected, though the surface statistics from his first two-plus weeks might not have shown it. Tigers vice president of player development Ryan Garko hinted last month that Rainer, ranked No. 30 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, could move to West Michigan quickly once he showed he was ready to play shortstop regularly after missing the second half of last season recovering from right shoulder surgery.

“We certainly want to challenge him when his body feels good and the swing timing is back,” Garko said last month at the Tigers’ Spring Breakout game against the Pirates.

After returning to action on April 3, Rainer alternated between shortstop and designated hitter for a week and a half. He started at short four times in five days last week during the Flying Tigers’ six-game series at Fort Myers.

“You could just see right away, the throwing mechanics and the way the ball comes out of his hand, it looks the same as pre-injury, which is really good to see,” Garko said. “And now you can see him kind of dropping his arm and throwing from different angles, throwing on the run. You’re seeing him feel more and more comfortable.

“The second half [of rehab], it was the goal to put on some weight and just gain some general upper body strength, which was the goal when we drafted him anyway. He really dedicated himself.”

That strength showed in his home run April 10, a 477-foot drive that ranks as the longest ball by a Tigers Major or Minor Leaguer in the Statcast era. At 116.2 mph, it was also the hardest-hit homer in the Tigers system by exit velocity since Statcast became the standard.

The 20-year-old Rainer batted 7-for-42 (.167) with the home run, three doubles and five RBIs with Lakeland. His 20 strikeouts in 49 plate appearances are a concern, including six consecutive multi-strikeout games, but his half-season last year with Lakeland suggests that’s more of an anomaly of a small sample size, as well as shaking off some rust from lost at-bats.

To fill Rainer’s spot, the Tigers will unleash Yost, their first-round pick from last summer’s MLB Draft. The 19-year-old made a big impression in Spring Training by hitting a grand slam in his first Spring Training at-bat on March 15 in his hometown of Tampa, Fla. The drive showed off the strength he built up and the 13 pounds he added after working out and following a diet under an offseason plan designed by Tigers nutritionists, as well as the increased bat speed he developed.

“I think he’s starting to really round out as a complete player,” Garko said of Yost last month.

Yost’s arrival in the Florida State League follows the same plan the Tigers had last year with Rainer, their 2024 first-round pick out of high school.