Unbelievable strikeout stat helps justify Tigers' strange first-round draft pick

The Detroit Tigers' selection at No. 24 in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft left even the most experienced analysts and evaluators scratching their heads.

Jordan Yost, a high school shortstop out of Florida, was ranked No. 50 in this year's draft class by MLB Pipeline and wasn't expected to come off the board until at least late in the second round, if not later. Yost was a late bloomer, one who didn't really make it onto Major League scouting radars until relatively recently after a strong showing at the MLB Draft combine.

Yost is a left-handed hitter who makes good contact and consistently puts the ball in play, but questions remain about his power at the plate – not to mention his overall impact, given his relatively limited track record of success in high school. But while he's nothing flashy on the surface level, Yost boasts some impressive underlying numbers that explain why the Tigers gave him an extended look ahead of the draft.

Jordan Yost's unbelievable strikeout stat helps justify Tigers' unexpected first-round draft pick

In 35 games during his senior season, Yost struck out one time. Once. That's it.

The season before, he only struck out twice. For a Tigers team that places such a heavy emphasis on bat-to-ball skills during the scouting process, it truly doesn't get much better than that. Is this kid a modern day Yogi Berra?!

Tigers amateur scouting director Mark Conner told Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press that the organization viewed Yost's bat-to-ball skills as his "elite" trait and that the power would eventually come. That power is difficult to project at this time, given Yost's light frame, but Detroit's scouting staff seems to be confident that it will come.

Combine that with a glove that is defensively sound enough to allow him to stick at shortstop, and suddenly it's no longer quite so surprising that the Tigers selected Yost at No. 24 overall. He may not be the flashiest player – not yet, anyway – but Detroit is betting on his high upside by selecting him in the first round.

The Tigers might already have a ton of middle infield depth with their top prospects — Kevin McGonigle, Bryce Rainer, Hao-Yu Lee, Carson Rucker and Jose Dickson — but Yost is far enough away from MLB action for the organization to properly evaluate their talent pool.

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