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Outfielder Brett Callahan hasn’t gotten much national notice, and isn’t yet tracking like a future major leaguer. However, his potential makes him quite interesting, and he’s already making noise in spring camp. If there’s a hitter in the Tigers’ system who could follow Kerry Carpenter’s path as an unheralded left-handed college outfielder who ends up a power hitting force in right field, Callahan is that guy. You may have already noticed him this spring because he’s cranked a pair of 400+ foot homers in just four total plate appearances in Grapefruit League action for the Tigers.
The 24-year-old outfielder was the Tigers’ 13th round pick in the 2023 draft out of St. Joseph’s College near Philadelphia. The Tigers have focused their bonus pool money on prep talent and top college picks early in the draft, but they’ve had a lot of success already hunting undervalued talent at smaller colleges for not much more than the minimum bonus. Callahan may be next. He flew under the radar in the draft coming from a small school, and the Tigers signed him for $197,500. He’s stayed under the radar in part because he’s been banged up quite a bit in his first two full seasons as a pro. Even now, he’s not ranked on national sites’ lists of Tigers’ prospects.
Callahan had two short stints on the injured list in 2024, and then missed time in May and June last year with what looked like a quad or hamstring strain suffered running the bases. He’s also dealt with a dislocated finger that caused him some trouble although he didn’t miss much time with it. As a result he’s only played 133 games total over the past two seasons, and even when he’s been on the field he’s played through some minor injuries.
The other reason he’s gotten no national attention is his swinging strike rate and modest walk rates. He only struck out 22.2 percent of the time with High-A West Michigan in 55 games last season. However, his 16 percent swinging strike rate is a bit gruesome. Callahan is a really aggressive hitter and swings a lot, and too often he’s been willing to expand the zone, even early in counts, rather than waiting on something he can drive. However, when he does get a good pitch to hit, he tends to do damage.
The reason I’ve remained intrigued is that his smooth, compact swing has natural loft and he already hits a pretty good amount of fly balls to the pull field. He’s not a big guy at six feet tall and 195 pounds, but he’s solidly built and a good overall athlete with a fair chance to grow into plus raw power. He’s also a pretty solid corner outfielder with a strong, accurate throwing arm. If he can become more disciplined at the plate, he has the batspeed, power, and defensive ability to be a pretty complete power hitting right fielder. The injury troubles have held him back, and a sustained stretch in which to make progress with his approach would really do him right this season.
On Monday in Lakeland, in an 0-2 count, Callahan got a breaking ball down from a reasonably good Braves pitching prospect in Owen Murphy. It was supposed to be a backfoot slider, but he left it just in the corner low and in. Callahan went down to one knee to torch it out to right field for a solo shot. In the ninth inning, he ripped a fourseam fastball 112.2 mph off the bat for a hot one-hopper that went for a fielder’s choice at second base. The plus raw power appears to have arrived.
Like most left-handed power hitters, Callahan likes sinkers and fourseamers down in the zone, and he loves to hunt hanging breaking balls. To keep progressing as he advances to the Double-A level this year, he’ll have to do a better job fighting off the high fastball, which does give him some trouble, and show more patience and discipline. Unlike Kerry Carpenter, Callahan’s upright stance doesn’t involve posting all his weight on his back leg, and he can get caught out in front a fair amount. Better pitchers with good riding fourseamers or quality changeups can give him trouble, and he’ll see much more of that at the Double-A level this season. The injury issues give me hope that he just hasn’t really had a chance to adjust his approach with consistent reps.
Callahan has 25-30 HR upside, in a solid corner outfielder with average speed and a good, accurate arm. He has the athleticism to create good bat angles on a lot of different pitch types in different parts of the strike zone. There’s plenty to like, and now we’re seeing plus or better exit velocities off the bat as well. Still, the challenges for a free swinger say he’s probably not going to put it all together and reach that ceiling. His decision making and overall hitting instincts due need to improve to round out his approach. For now, it’s worth seeing how he develops against upper level pitching. Callahan might just do enough damage to become an intriguing future corner outfield option in 2027 and beyond.