The Detroit Tigers selected Harvard-Westlake School (Studio City, California) shortstop Bryce Rainer with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft.

He is considered the best shortstop in the draft class.

Rainer, 19, hit .505 with four home runs, 28 walks and 14 strikeouts, stealing 17 bases in 18 attempts, across 127 plate appearances in 33 games as a senior in the 2024 season. He also dominated as a pitcher in three of his four years in high school, including his senior campaign, but he will play shortstop with the Tigers.

"It was like a dream coming true," Rainer said. "I really don't even know how to explain it. It was probably one of the best, if not the best, phone calls I've ever received in my life."

MORE ABOUT HIM: Bryce Rainer solves Tigers' shortstop problem if available in 2024 MLB draft

The Tigers have $11,921,800 to spend on their 21 draft picks in 2024, ranking 13th among the 30 teams.

The No. 11 overall pick, used on Rainer, comes with an MLB-determined bonus slot value of $5,712,100 (while the No. 1 overall pick features a $10,570,600 value). Rainer, a Texas commit, expects to sign an over-slot deal with the Tigers, but he didn't share the value of his bonus.

"You could definitely assume that," Rainer said, when asked about agreeing to an over-slot deal. "Crazy things happened. I got some phone calls. Not going to go into detail about what was discussed in those. But I would say, yeah, you could assume that."

The 2024 draft is the second draft for president of baseball operations Scott Harris, assistant general manager Rob Metzler and scouting director Mark Conner, as well as the first draft for general manager Jeff Greenberg.

Conner shared his evaluation of Rainer's offense and defense.

"On the shortstop, for as big of a body as he has, he has excellent body control and is an extremely smooth mover," Conner said. "His feet are probably one of the best in the class at shortstop, so projecting him out, with just the footwork and body control, he definitely has a chance to stay at shortstop long term. He has probably one of the easiest arms I've scouted. He can really throw. That combination will give him every opportunity to stay at short.

"With the bat, he's trending in the right direction as far as controlling the strike zone and learning to do damage. One of his greatest strengths is he uses the middle-opposite field really well. That's a strength. As he learns and matures as a hitter, he's going to learn how to pull the baseball and get it in the air. He has a chance to be a pretty dynamic player all around."

Rainer, a left-handed hitting shortstop who stands at 6 feet 3 with an athletic 195-pound body, has been compared to Texas Rangers superstar shortstop Corey Seager.

There's elite upside in Rainer's game.

"I think it's a great comparison," Rainer said. "I've watched him since he started playing in the major leagues. He's been one of my favorite players. If I end up having a career like he does in the major leagues, I don't think I would be too mad about that."

Seager, who won National League Rookie of the Year in 2016, is a four-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger and two-time World Series MVP in his 10-year MLB career.

Rainer, like Seager, is expected to stick at shortstop throughout his professional career.

"Yeah, the Corey Seager comps are pretty legit," said Tyler Jennings, the director of draft content for Prospects Live. "It's the same kind of body, the same kind of build. For him, the bat got a lot quicker this year with more bat speed. The power plays to all fields. I think it probably will be plus at the next level. I think he can play shortstop. He's got the range and the arm strength to make it happen. At the end of the day, with the improvements with the bat, I think he's probably going to be a shortstop long term."

Rainer, who competed for Team USA's 2023 Under-18 National Team, is the fifth player from Harvard-Westlake to be selected in the first round of the MLB draft, joining left-hander Max Fried in 2012, right-hander Lucas Giolito in 2012, right-hander Jack Flaherty in 2014 and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in 2020.

When Rainer plays his first game in the minor leagues, he will be the 12th player from Harvard-Westlake to play professional baseball. Seven of the current 11 players have reached the big leagues.

"He's been kid-famous for a long time," said Jared Halpert, Harvard-Westlake's baseball coach. "The metrics that we're evaluating athletes on, he throws it harder, hits it further and runs faster. Five tools. The aesthetics of Bryce, watching him move around a baseball field, you get the sense that he was put here to do this."

Rainer, the newest first-round pick from the Los Angeles-based program, has a close relationship with Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs, and he has thrown bullpens alongside Flaherty, who is now with the Tigers.

As a senior, Rainer posted a 1.83 ERA with 14 walks and 35 strikeouts across 23 innings in 15 relief appearances. He dominated on the mound in high school, featuring a fastball that maxes out at 98 mph, but his future is strictly as a position player.

"I've done that my whole life," Rainer said, when asked if he could be a two-way player. "If they let me do it, awesome. If they want me to hit, awesome. I'm prepared to do both."

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The Cleveland Guardians, an American League Central rival of the Tigers, selected Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana with the No. 1 overall pick.

To complete the top five selections: Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns to the Cincinnati Reds, Georgia third baseman Charlie Condon to the Colorado Rockies, Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz to the Oakland Athletics and Arkansas left-hander Hagen Smith to the Chicago White Sox.

The Kansas City Royals, another AL Central squad, grabbed Florida first baseman Jac Caglianone, who doubles as a left-handed pitcher but will begin his career as a position player, with the No. 6 overall pick.

"When you're picking at 11, you never know for sure how the board is going to unfold," Greenberg said, discussing Rainer. "We were hopeful he would be there, and we were extremely excited when he was. When we talk about trying to find foundational traits that we want to build around, Bryce brings so many of those things to the table. There's just a lot to like there."

DRAFT PREVIEW: Breaking down 11 players Tigers could select at No. 11 overall in 2024 MLB draft

The Tigers made their first-round pick outside of the top five for the second time in seven years and outside of the top 10 for the third time in nine years.

Before taking Rainer, the Tigers used their past six first-round picks to take high school outfielder Max Clark at No. 3 in 2023, college infielder Jace Jung at No. 12 in 2022, high school right-hander Jackson Jobe at No. 3 in 2021, college first baseman Spencer Torkelson at No. 1 in 2020, high school outfielder Riley Greene at No. 5 in 2019 and college right-hander Casey Mize at No. 1 in 2018.

"I want to applaud the scouting staff and the entire work that went on across the organization to prepare," Metzler said. "The scouting staff leading the way with a team of scouts around the country, analysts supporting them, touch points across player development, sports science, strength and conditioning, all getting their feedback on the talent pool, that put us in a position to be ready for any scenario. I thought we were very prepared. We were prepared to be surprised, and the outcome came out very positive for us."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers take SS Bryce Rainer with No. 11 pick in 2024 MLB draft