The Athletic raises yellow flags on Zyhir Hope as Tigers wait for Tarik Skubal verdict

Zyhir Hope has officially played 30 games in the Tigers’ farm system and after a slow start, he’s beginning to live up to that billing as the No. 27 prospect in baseball.

Besides having too high of a strikeout rate at 25.7% with the Tigers’ Double-A affiliate, Hope is showing some signs of slowing down — literally.

Some yellow flags have popped up recently as the Tigers cross their fingers and hope to eventually win that Tarik Skubal trade that brought Hope to Detroit.

The Athletic’s Keith Law provided an update on Hope that won’t go over well with those who are heavily invested in the talented outfield prospect as part of the Tigers’ future.

Law states that Hope is clearly out of shape compared to what he looked like when he saw him last in March. "Hope went 1-for-5, striking out on 95 mph up from [Phillies prospect Gage] Wood and hitting four ground balls, never running better than fringe-average on any of them," he writes.

This is a clear yellow flag moving forward as Hope was brought to Detroit because he was a legit five-tool player with speed being the cherry on top of his skill at the plate.

Zyhir Hope’s alleged conditioning issues will be addressed

If Hope is looking more out of shape now than when he was when he was still in the Dodgers’ organization, that should raise some questions about his training regimen in Double-A Erie. There’s no real reason that he should be out of shape considering he’s been an everyday player for the SeaWolves since the Tigers traded for him. Could he not be taking his training and workouts seriously?

He did have a major life change upon being traded, as it was the first time in his young professional career that he was dealt and that may have affected him. He did get off to a horrendous start to his Double-A Erie career, hitting just 2-of-35 in his first two weeks, but he’s since found his stroke and is hitting .333 in September. Still, the fact that he’s out of shape in the final month of the season is not a great sign.

Maybe Law just watched a bad game for Hope because he does have eight steals and he’s been caught just three times in 30 games with the SeaWolves. That is, however, a lower success rate than he had before the trade, as he was successful in 18-of-21 attempts in 94 prior games.

Hope is running at a higher rate than he did at Double-A Tulsa, so the conditioning isn’t affecting his willingness to steal. This is something to monitor as we get closer to the offseason and through Hope's stint in the Arizona Fall League.

Conditioning should be the top priority for Hope before Opening Day 2027. Well, that along with avoiding too many swings and misses at the plate.

Fortunately, this is a very correctable issue. Don’t be surprised if he’s “in the best shape of his life” when spring training starts.

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