The Tigers’ selection of shortstop Jordan Yost with the 24th pick was one of the bigger surprises of the 2025 MLB Draft. Yost was ranked 82nd on Baseball America’s Top 500 Draft prospects, and he was viewed as a candidate to get to school.
But in another way, this is exactly the Tigers’ type of pick. Yost is a hit-first middle infielder, which is the type of player Detroit regularly selects. And even more importantly, he’s a lefthanded hitting shortstop.
That may seem like an odd aspect to focus on, but it’s become a distinct Tigers’ trait.
Yost was the Tigers’ 10th lefthanded-hitting shortstop, second or third baseman they have picked since 2020—that’s the most of any MLB team. It’s also an outlier because, as you may know, lefthanded-hitting shortstops are somewhat rare, since you have to throw with your right arm to play any of those three positions.
With the No. 24 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the @tigers select Jordan Yost, SS, Sickles HS (FL). pic.twitter.com/48YI2DIFpi
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 14, 2025
Only 27% of infielders (not counting first basemen) drafted in 2020-2024 are lefthanded hitters. Another 11% are switch-hitters, while 62% of those infielders are righthanded hitters.
For most teams, those are the positions where you get your righthanded hitters. But the Tigers, who drafted another unusual demographic in a lefthanded-hitting catcher with their second pick on Sunday, do things a bit differently.
Bryce Rainer, the Tigers’ first-round pick in 2024, is a lefthanded-hitting shortstop. So is Kevin McGonigle, the team’s current No. 1 prospect and 2023 supplemental first-round pick. The team’s 2022 first-rounder was second/third baseman Jace Jung, who throws lefthanded. Colt Keith (2020 fifth-rounder and current big leaguer) also fits the mold. As does 2021 second-round pick Izaac Pacheco.