This story was excerpted from Jason Beck's Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DETROIT -- The Tigers will not have a top-10 overall pick in next week’s MLB Draft for the first time in five years. But if there’s any reminder of the value of a full Draft, not just the first round, it’s the Tigers pitching staff this season.

The Tigers swept a doubleheader from the Guardians on July 4 thanks in no small part to Garrett Hill, who held Cleveland to a run on two hits in six innings in the opener. He was the first pitcher in Tigers history to toss six or more innings with two hits or less in his MLB debut. He was Detroit’s 26th-round pick in the 2018 Draft after going undrafted out of high school a few years earlier. The save in the nightcap went to Joe Jiménez, who was undrafted out of high school.

Tuesday’s win at Kansas City went to Beau Brieske following his sixth quality start of the season. He was Detroit’s 27th round pick in 2019 out of Colorado State-Pueblo. He’s second on the team in starts this season to Tarik Skubal, the Tigers’ ninth-round pick in 2018 out of Seattle University.

It’s not just the top picks who make an impact. There are Major Leaguers to be found in the second and third days of a Draft, and if a rebuild is to work, a team has to find them. The Tigers have been better at it in recent years.

“Credit to the area [scouts] that are out there doing their thing,” Tigers director of amateur scouting Scott Pleis told reporters in a conference call last week. “To get guys like that to the big leagues, it’s incredibly hard to do that, and they’re doing a good job. We’ve got a couple of non-drafted guys [signed] after the Draft in the bullpen, and our bullpen is doing great. They’ve done an unbelievable job to get these guys to the big leagues, and then we have some top picks obviously that are getting there and doing well.

“It’s very gratifying to watch and see that happen. I wish everybody was healthy in the big leagues and everybody was doing their thing and you could bring those [other] guys up to support and help. But the way it’s worked this year, we had to bring him. They’ve done a great job of filling in and doing their thing.”

As for this year’s top pick, the Tigers aren’t letting their later selection impact their process. Nor will they let the urgency to win now change their outlook. They’re still looking for the best overall player, Pleis said, regardless of position, regardless of timetable. They showed that last year by drafting raw high-school pitcher Jackson Jobe third overall and bypassing high-school shortstop Marcelo Mayer.

“We’re trying to get the best guy,” Pleis said. “And if he goes [through the system] fast, great. Some of these guys, [Spencer Torkelson] and Riley [Greene], it didn’t take them long. Some of these guys are going to go fast, but I don’t think you pass a player to take another player just because we’re out of that [rebuilding] phase.”

Other factors, however, are unavoidable. As Pleis acknowledged, the rash of pitching injuries has had a big impact on this year’s Draft crop -- and in turn, the balance at the top between hitters and pitchers.

“I’ve never seen it this light with arms, college arms especially,” Pleis said. “The college hitters are a little more dominant in this draft, just because most of the pitchers are out. That’s definitely different. There’s always a nice group of high school players that are talented, young talented guys. That remains the same. But really, the lack of college pitching is the difference.”

Most mock drafts have trended toward college hitters for the Tigers. One recent mock from MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis tied the Tigers to Texas Tech infielder Jace Jung, the sweet-swinging younger brother of Rangers No. 2 prospect Josh Jung. But realistically, the Tigers could have a choice among a group of college hitters just past the top tier of draft prospects, a group that could include Campbell infielder Zach Neto and Virginia Tech outfielder Gavin Cross. Callis also raised the possibility of high-school outfielder Justin Crawford, son of former Major Leaguer Carl Crawford, on last week’s edition of the award-winning Road to Detroit podcast with West Michigan Whitecaps broadcaster Dan Hasty.

“Evaluating bats, whether they’re young high-school kids or college kids, is the hardest thing to do,” Pleis said. “It’s just scouting, see them as much as you can, evaluate them on and off the field. And then, when you’re comfortable with a guy, you have the ability to take him.”

But while the Tigers’ first-round pick will garner most of the focus, the Draft as a whole is vital for Detroit.

“The goal,” Pleis said, “is to get the best players so we can win on a year-to-year basis.”

First pick: 12th overall, $4,587,900 slot value
Additional first-day picks: Second round, 51st overall. The Tigers traded their Competitive Balance Round B pick (71st overall) to Rays in the Austin Meadows-Isaac Paredes deal.
Total bonus pool: $8,024,900
Last three first picks: Jackson Jobe (third overall, 2021), Spencer Torkelson (first overall, 2020), Riley Greene (fifth overall, 2019)
Best pick of last 10 years, per MLB Pipeline: Riley Greene (fifth overall, 2019)