Mud Hens announce new promo-
Dances with Wolf
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The Bird Part II.
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Here you go Charlie, you will always be connected to this kid in my mind.
# Tigers prospect Bryce Rainer has crazy power and he’s still just a kid
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…“Dislocated my shoulder, and then I had another tear somewhere else – I don’t really know, honestly,” he said, referring to what has been reported as a torn labrum. “Rehabbing is never fun. But we came up with a plan. I trusted people around me and executed the plan, and we’re back and we’re healthy, and we’re finding a way, I guess you could say.”
He started out finding his way through rehab in Lakeland, Fla. “It’s definitely been a learning journey,”
…Suddenly, baseball was taken away from him for the first time in his life. “I literally couldn’t do it for eight months,” he said. “It was definitely odd to kind of see life through a new lens, pick up some new things, and add some more tools to the toolbox.”
When he returned to the field and finally started hitting again, he just felt different. “After surgery, obviously the swings not going to be the same as when I was healthy, just because the shoulder doesn’t move the same, doesn’t feel the same,” he said. “So, I kind of had to change some things.
To make it worse, he had injured his throwing shoulder, which was frightening for him because it was his best tool. According to MLB Pipeline, Rainer’s scouting grades are as follows: hit tool (50), power (60), run (55), arm (70) and field (55).
What do those numbers mean?
A 50 is considered MLB average. Anything above 60 is well above average or a plus-tool, and 80 is elite.
But he has continued to make the all of the throws at shortstop – the only position he’s played with the Tigers.
“A lot of players who have had that surgery say you don’t really feel normal for almost a whole year, until the second year after the surgery,” Garko said. “He’s a tough kid because that’s a hard rehab and it’s a hard rehab to do before you ever really even got to play much. He’s put in a lot of work. He’s done a great job, and it showed us a lot about his makeup and the maturity.”
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He has played only 122 games in the Tigers’ minor league system.
Which isn’t even a full season yet.
“Bryce is still really young, but he’s a very mature, very confident person on and off the field,” Garko said. “A really talented player.”
In 2025, Rainer hit .288 with five home runs and an .831 OPS at Lakeland before the injury.
After he went through rehab, he started out at Lakeland, hitting .167 with a home run. But it was a short stay.
“We wanted to get him out of Florida,” Garko said. “It was pretty aggressive to move him, and I think we knew it was gonna be challenging at first. But you can just see he’s such a good athlete and such a gifted player.”
He moved to West Michigan and started out slowly, hitting .211 in April and .229 in May.
“At the start of the year, I wasn’t playing loose,” Rainer said. “I was searching too hard instead of just playing loose.”
He got crazy hot in June, hitting .352, cooled off in July at .222 and is back on the upswing in August at .258.
“It’s still baseball,” he said. “It’s the same game as when I was 5. There’s just a cool stadium, and a lot more people watching. There is no difference, the mound got moved back a little bit. They throw a little bit harder, and guys are older, but you know, it’s still baseball.”
Still baseball. Even after the surgery.
But this young player seems different. He just seems so much more mature after everything he’s gone through in the last 14 months
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Feel bad for Max. Tigers don’t really seem that interested in bringing him up. Well see if that changes once the rosters expand in September. I get we are strong at 2nd, but he also plays 3rd and 1st. The guy deserves a chance.
Maybe he boinked somebody’s wife….
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I’m excited to see how he develops. I think he’ll be pretty good at the MLB level.
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I’m hoping the Lakeland game will be streaming on MLB.tv, hoping to see how he does.
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Not terrible. I’m sure the nerves played at least a small part with the control issues.
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Hoowee, that guy is locked in.
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113 exit velocity is Aaron Judge territory.
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Seems like most top prospects bat left handed wish a few batted right
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I think Ryan and Briceno will have the most impact on the next season.
I’m a little surprised that Max Anderson isn’t in the top ten tbh.