Only 20, Tigers' Briceño making big noise with his bat in Fall League

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Josue Briceño set the stage for a 2024 breakout by launching 20 extra-base hits in 44 games during his U.S. debut the year before. He got off to a good start in Single-A this season before spraining the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in mid-May and missing the next three months.

The injury only delayed Briceño’s emergence as one of the better young power prospects in baseball. The Tigers' No. 9 prospect has been very dynamic in the Arizona Fall League, going deep nine times in 22 games to all but clinch the home run title with three days remaining. He also leads the developmental circuit in hitting (.403), slugging (.831), OPS (1.309), extra-base hits (13) and RBI (22).

Briceño crushed his ninth homer Monday afternoon to help the Scottsdale Scorpions defeat the Surprise Saguaros, 5-2. He drove a first-inning fastball from Juan Rojas (Orioles) halfway up the berm in right-center field at Scottsdale Stadium and barely missed another home run in the third when his screaming line drive down the right-field line carried foul.

“He does a really good job of adjusting and being locked in,” said Casey Harms, a hitting coach in the Pirates system and for the Scorpions. “Today, he was the first guy really to see a fastball, and he was ready for it at the top of the zone and was able to turn it around. That simple stroke and good gameplan usually puts him in a pretty good spot.”

Detailed Fall League records date back to 2005, and the only player ever to hit more homers at age 20 or younger was Brandon Wood with 14 that year. Earlier this season, Briceño became the youngest player (20 years, 18 days) in the past 20 years to hit three homers in an AFL contest. He’s the eighth-youngest prospect to appear in the league this fall.

The Tigers signed Briceño for $800,000 out of Maracay, Venezuela -- Miguel Cabrera’s hometown -- in 2022 because they saw him as a physical catcher with plenty of power potential. But he’s also more than just a masher. His size and strength are his most obvious attributes, but he also offers bat-to-ball skills and an advanced approach for his age.

Briceño hit .278/.381/.378 with just two homers in 40 games at Single-A this season and has done a better job of tapping into his pop as he has gotten healthier. Harms hadn’t crossed paths with him until they both arrived in the Fall League, where Briceño made an immediate impression.

“Obviously, he’s an imposing figure, very stoic about his work, diligent,” Harms said. “I learned real quick in the cages that he hits the ball pretty hard. He’s had a lot of good at-bats here, so we haven’t had too many opportunities to see how he handles failure. But he’s the same guy, day to day and at-bat to at-bat, so that puts him in a position to have success.”

The only time Briceño hasn’t enjoyed success in Arizona was in Friday’s Home Run Derby. He finished last among the eight contestants with just five across two rounds, but he rediscovered his home run stroke against the Saguaros. That brief outage was an aberration, and Harms said Briceño’s pop is as good as anyone’s in the Fall League.

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“It’s very easy power and it’s a pretty simple stroke,” Harms said. “There’s some rhythm to it but it’s easy and he gets to it pretty quick. It’s been fun to see.”

Briceño had divided his first three pro seasons between catcher and first base. He’s bigger than most backstops at 6-foot-6 and his receiving, blocking and throwing need considerable work. But even if he becomes a full-time first baseman, he still should provide more than enough offense to at least become an everyday player and perhaps a star.