We don’t generally go out of order with our spring prospect reports, but the timing is too good for Jordan Yost. The Detroit Tigers first round pick last summer stepped to the plate for his first at-bat as a professional on Sunday afternoon and made a little magic. The Tampa native had friends and family in attendance as he dug in with the bases loaded and no outs, trying to just hit something to the outfield. He did, crunching a grand slam to right field on a 1-0, 95 mph fastball from a Triple-A level pitcher. Welcome to pro ball.
The 19-year-old, left-handed hitting shortstop went to the Tigers with the 24th overall pick in the 2025 draft. A graduate of Sickles HS, Yost signed for $3,250,000. That was $500K underslot, helping the Tigers to land Michael Oliveto in the competitive balance round and still afford their seasonal hunt for talented prep arms ready to sign. Yost is the kind of player who seems likely to at least give them their money’s worth, with a chance to be a standout shortstop and one of the most valuable players from this draft.
Right now, the big calling card is pure hitting ability and defense. Yost is already an agile, sure-handed shortstop with a good arm. No doubt he is already enjoying the tutelage of Alan Trammell and the rest of the Tigers development staff, and he has the potential to be one of better defensive shortstops in the league if he continues to refine his game.
Yost makes a lot of good contact at the plate and shows an advanced eye as well. His feel for the barrel is impressive, and he stayed within himself to spray line drives and the occasional home run in his prep career. He has a quick, accurate bat and rarely strikes out, doing so only a handful of times his junior and senior year. The question is whether he’ll develop enough power to handle major league pitching and do enough damage to become an everyday player. The defense alone could carry him to the major leagues as a bench player. He can hit. The rest is all about the ability to ramp up the raw power over the next few years.
Data before the draft had Yost as one of the few notable players who didn’t top 100 mph in combine BP sessions. The well below average raw power didn’t help his stock and the main criticism of the Tigers pick was that Yost’s lack of power was a limit on his upside and made this a conservative selection. Still, every major prospect site had him in the Tigers top ten this offseason and it was pretty comfortable to rank him sixth in the farm system. The floor on his talent is still useful and the upside is a well above average all around player who can lock down shortstop or play all over the diamond.
So it was particularly striking that Yost’s first appearance on our television or computer screens was him cracking a 102.7 mph grand slam off a 26-year-old Triple-A reliever on Sunday. His contingent in the crowd went nuts. It was a cool moment. But turning around a 1-0, 95 mph fastball in your first at-bat in major league camp was also a signal that Yost is on his way in the power department.
Yost has added that little toe tap since draft day, and you notice how he sits back along with the clean, simple action of the barrel into the zone. That’s a smooth, easy 102.7 mph, caught out front and launched to the pull side.
If the fear on draft day was that Yost wouldn’t grow into something like average power, that swing certainly should open some eyes. The slender, speedy 6’0” shortstop, has plenty of room on his frame to keep building muscle. Yost looks noticeably stronger through his shoulders and legs already, telling reporters after the game that he’s added 13 pounds since draft day while running even better. Time will tell, but there was some skepticism about Kevin McGonigle’s power potential on draft day as well, and maybe the Tigers just know what they’re doing here. Yost is unlikely to approach McGonigle’s plus power, but average certainly looks attainable. With Yost’s hit tool, that’s plenty.
His defense, pure hitting ability, and his speed all give him plenty of weapons to lean on and he advances into his pro career. He just needs to do enough damage to be playable against major league pitching ultimately, and as we suspected that’s not at all a far-fetched hope. The 19-year-old is already in a better spot to start his pro career than it looked on draft day, and the bar much more attainable.
We may see Yost again in the Spring Breakout game this Friday as the Tigers farm system takes on the Pirates prospects in the yearly exhibition game. He should start the year in Lakeland playing shortstop for the Flying Tigers, and with an advanced hit tool it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him hit his way to West Michigan by year’s end. Still, with Bryce Rainer and Franyerber Montilla all at similar stages of development, perhaps they’ll just let Yost cook in Lakeland all summer instead. He’s already taken a nice step up with the raw power since draft day. The next stages may take a few seasons to unfold, but after announcing his presence on Sunday, Jordan Yost is on his way.