The Detroit Tigers selected Malachi Witherspoon, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Oklahoma on Sunday, July 13, in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft, with the No. 62 overall pick.
Witherspoon originally hails from Jacksonville, Florida, and was the No. 121 prospect according to MLP Pipeline The 6-foot-3 20-year-old is the third second-round pick selected by Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris. In 2023, Harris selected second baseman Max Anderson at No. 45 overall from Nebraska. In 2024, he selected pitcher Owen Hall at No. 49 overall from Edmond North High School in Oklahoma.
The Tigers earlier Sunday picked Jordan Yost, a shortstop from Sickles High School, Florida, with the No. 24 overall pick in the first round. The Tigers selected another high schooler in power-hitting catcher Michael Oliveto, with their second pick at No. 34 overall in the Competitive Balance Round A.
The No. 62 pick comes with a recommended bonus slot value of $1,451,200, though teams can exceed that to sign picks as long as they do not exceed their total bonus pool. If the Tigers sign the No. 62 pick for less than slot, those savings can be applied to other picks in the draft. The Tigers have $10,990,800 to spend on their 21 draft picks this year, the 17th-most in baseball. Teams are allowed to exceed the allotment for picks by 5% before paying a 75% fine on the overage. No MLB team has exceeded the 5% limit since the slots were created.
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The Tigers’ final pick of Day 1 is 98th overall, in the third round.
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Day 1 of the draft features the first three rounds, with Day 2 on Monday, July 14, featuring Rounds 4-20, beginning at 11:30 a.m. on MLB.com. The Tigers have 21 picks in total.
This breaking news story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers pick Oklahoma RHP Malachi Witherspoon in 2025 MLB Draft