Detroit Tigers’ early MLB sensation Akil Baddoo won’t take no for an answer

Before the Tigers selected him in the Rule 5, Baddoo had not played a competitive baseball game since 2019, spent the 2020 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and had never played a game above High-A after the Twins selected him in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft out of Sale High School in Conyers, Georgia.

Now presented the opportunity to make a big league roster in spring training, he channeled the energy from his childhood, the confidence that allowed him to play up with the bigger, older kids.

Within his first few games, Baddoo made sure he didn’t end up among the litany of forgotten Rule 5 picks.

“The Tigers saw something in me and I’m truly thankful for that,” he said. “What they saw in me is something I always had inside of me. I have this chip on my shoulder, and that’s the mentality that I had throughout the offseason and throughout the Rule 5. I was like, ‘Well, now I’m a big leaguer, so let’s prepare like a big leaguer and show everyone that you’re there to belong.’”