The Detroit Tigers had a major development on Tuesday night in the farm system and it appears they could be without one of their best prospects for an extended period of time.
During a game for Low-A Lakeland, Tigers current No. 3 prospect and 2024 first round selection Bryce Rainer tried to dive back to first base on a pick-off attempt.
During the play, the 19-year-old appeared to land awkwardly on either his shoulder or arm and looked to be in a ton of pain as he immediately came out of the game with nasty looking ailment on the arm he throws with:
Just hate to see this. Bryce Rainer dives back to first base on a pickoff throw and appears to suffer a bad arm injury. pic.twitter.com/zPbDSURPXV
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 4, 2025
The former No. 11 overall selection was in the midst of putting up some huge numbers during his debut professional season, likely on his way soon to a promotion to High-A West Michigan.
Rainer has played 35 games so far and slashed .288/.383/.448 with five home runs and 22 RBI, collecting 36 hits with 10 of them being for extra bases along with nine stolen bases.
He was also starting to flash an impressive glove and arm at shortstop, something which obviously becomes the first fear especially if the injury is shoulder related.
Even in a best case scenario here if the injury is in fact serious, Rainer loses a critical season of his development and essentially has to start over again when he is healthy.
Not expected to even sniff Major League Baseball for at least a few years though, this would not be a complete disaster by any means.
If there was any sort structural damage which effects the outlook of his arm at the most important defensive position, this all of the sudden becomes a very different and even more devastating situation.
As fans await news on the injury to Rainer, it's an extremely unfortunate situation for a player that looks to have an extremely bright future in Detroit.
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