Detroit Tigers select high school pitcher Ethan Schiefelbein with No. 72 pick in 2024 MLB draft
The Detroit Tigers selected left-handed pitcher Ethan Schiefelbein from Corona High School in Corona, California, with the No. 72 overall pick as part of Competitive Balance Round B in the 2024 MLB draft.
Schiefelbein was the third pick by the Tigers in this year's draft, following high school shortstop Bryce Rainer with the No. 11 overall pick and high school right-handed pitcher Owen Hall with the No. 49 overall pick.
He is committed to UCLA.
"We've seen him for quite some time," assistant general manager Rob Metzler said. "The first attribute that sticks out is his ability to spin the ball, but I think there's really good starting pitching projection there. Good athlete, good delivery, good strike thrower, and the fastball, we saw power to the fastball."
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Schiefelbein — at 6 feet 2, 180 pounds — posted a 0.27 ERA with 11 walks and 83 strikeouts across 52 innings in 10 starts as a senior in the 2024 season at Corona High School.
He is praised for his ability to command all four of his pitches: a two-seam fastball, a curveball, a slider and a changeup.
Schiefelbein, who throws from a high three-quarters arm slot, has a fastball that sits around 90 mph. He doesn't generate above-average velocity, but he knows how to throw strikes.
The crafty lefty is most confident in his curveball with depth, among his three secondary pitches, but he needs to develop his slider to generate whiffs as he works his way through the lower levels of the minor leagues.
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Schiefelbein has pitched for Team USA several times, including as teammates with Rainer — now teammates with the Tigers — on Team USA's 2023 Under-18 National Team.
On that team, Schiefelbein surrendered one run on five hits and two walks and 12 strikeouts across nine innings in two starts, registering a 0.78 ERA. Meanwhile, Rainer — a two-way player in high school — hit .154 in eight games and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts across three innings, for a 2.33 ERA, in two relief appearances.
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The No. 72 overall pick comes with an MLB-determined bonus slot value of $1,093,600.
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 stick to high school with 3rd pick: Ethan Schiefelbein
