ATLANTA — The Detroit Tigers selected four players on Day 1 of the 2025 MLB Draft: shortstop Jordan Yost at No. 24 overall in Round 1, catcher Michael Oliveto at No. 34 in Competitive Balance Round A, right-hander Malachi Witherspoon at No. 62 in Round 2 and left-hander Ben Jacobs at No. 98 in Round 3.
Yost and Oliveto are left-handed hitters from the prep ranks — Yost from Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida, and Oliveto from Hauppauge High School in Hauppauge, New York.
The high schoolers are high-risk, high-upside draftees.
“We needed to be prepared for a bunch of different scenarios,” general manager Jeff Greenberg said Sunday, July 13. “The work that went into that put us in a really good spot to take players with those first two picks that we were really excited to get.”
Yost and Oliveto are known for making smart swing decisions, with Yost as a hit-first prospect and Oliveto as a power-first prospect. Expect Yost to stick at shortstop throughout his career, whereas Oliveto could eventually move to a corner outfield position.
Yost is committed to Florida; Oliveto is committed to Yale.
Both players still need to sign with the Tigers, who have a little under $11 million in bonus-pool money to spread among their 21 picks in this year’s draft.
“It’s all about attributes,” scouting director Mark Conner said Sunday. “It’s about athleticism, bat speed, ability to control the strike zone. We’re looking at right-handed hitters, left-handed hitters, switch-hitters.”
Round 1: Jordan Yost, SS
High school: Sickles in Tampa, Florida.
Age: 18.
Vitals: 6 feet, 170 pounds.
Bats/throws: Left/right.
Draft pick: No. 24 overall.
Yost ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 50 prospect and Baseball America’s No. 82 prospect. He wasn’t expected to be a first-round pick entering the draft — in fact, he wasn’t viewed as a candidate to be selected within the first three rounds until recently, as a breakout in the spring vaulted him up draft boards.
He hit .412 with four home runs with 20 walks and one strikeout in 35 games throughout his senior season. Those four home runs as a senior were the only homers he hit throughout his entire 123-game career in high school.
“Smooth, left-handed swing, really good bat-to-ball skills,” Conner said. “Defensively has every attribute to stay at shortstop — really good actions, accurate thrower. Wired in a tremendous way. Works hard. Very flatlined with his heartbeat. Good kid, hard worker with a really good swing.”
The good news: Yost has elite contact skills and advanced feel for the strike zone, so he should make smart swing decisions and consistently put the ball in play. Additionally, he is an above-average runner and an above-average defender at shortstop. The bad: He needs to develop strength if he wants to become an impact hitter.
The Tigers are betting that Yost — who already grew from 115 pounds as a freshman to 170 as a senior — will eventually unlock more power, but that’s far from guaranteed. One reason for concern: His max exit velocity didn’t even reach 99 mph at June’s MLB Draft Combine.
“He’s still a young kid with wide shoulders, a lot of projection to add strength,” Conner said. “He has made a lot of gains over the last couple of years. We definitely see bat-to-ball skills being his elite trait, and then, over time, power is to come.”
Competitive Balance Round A: Michael Oliveto, C
High school: Hauppauge High School in New York.
Age: 18.
Vitals: 6-3, 185.
Bats/throws: Left/right.
Draft pick: No. 34.
Oliveto ranked as Baseball America’s No. 117 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 219 prospect. Most evaluators didn’t have him on their radar until he shined last fall at Perfect Game’s WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Florida — a prestigious wood bat tournament where he hit .615 with two home runs. His performance vaulted him into draft consideration and ultimately convinced the Tigers to take a chance on his upside.
“Our guys identified him a little bit later in the process,” Conner said.
If his hit tool develops, Oliveto has the potential to pair average hitting with above-average power — potentially becoming a .250 hitter with 25-plus home runs. He already shows a healthy approach at the plate and hits the ball hard, especially to the pull side. Oliveto hit .435 with nine home runs, 30 walks and six strikeouts in his senior season. Of the 30 walks, 14 of them were intentional.
The next step is proving he can hit against better pitching in the minor leagues, beginning in the Florida Complex League.
“He has a really, really good loose swing,” Conner said. “He projects to have power, bat-to-ball skills. … Very intelligent kid, driven, hard working, the frame to add a lot of strength.”
Defensively, the Tigers plan to keep Oliveto at catcher because of his athleticism. Other evaluators, however, project him to move to right field, citing his below-average receiving skills.
Oliveto is an offense-first prospect, but he lacks extensive experience against top-tier pitching in the prep ranks, and his defense remains a question mark.
“He has all the attributes of the athleticism, body movements, hand strengths, hand movements,” Conner said. “A lot of it is going to be learning some of the technique and fine tuning some of the throwing, footwork and different aspects like that. But all the characteristics and traits are there for him to be a really good catcher.”
Round 2: Malachi Witherspoon, RHP
College: Oklahoma.
Age: 20.
Vitals: 6-3, 211.
Bats/throws: Right/right.
Draft pick: No. 62.
Witherspoon is twins with Kyson Witherspoon, whom the Boston Red Sox selected No. 15 overall. In the next round, 47 picks later, the Tigers grabbed Malachi. He ranked as Baseball America’s No. 93 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 121 prospect.
Witherspoon registered a 5.09 ERA with 32 walks and 91 strikeouts across 74⅓ innings in 15 starts during the 2025 season — his second of two seasons at Oklahoma, following one season at Northwest Florida State College. He has struggled with walks throughout his entire college career, a result of poor command. To clean that up, he needs to repeat the mechanics of his delivery.
That’s what the Tigers hope to fix.
“Very excited for Malachi to be working with our pitching group,” Conner said. “Over the last couple of years, he has definitely progressed in his strike-throwing ability. He is a big, strong, powerful athlete that has a really good arm.”
The upside is undeniable: His fastball averages 96 mph and maxes out at 100 mph. His best secondary pitches are a low-80s curveball and an upper-80s slider, both generating whiffs. To create deception, he throws from a low three-quarters arm slot.
There’s a lot of reliever risk in Witherspoon’s profile.
But it’s a risk the Tigers are willing to take.
They’re going to try to develop him as a starting pitcher.
“He is a tireless worker that’s going to get the most out of his ability,” Conner said. “We’re excited to hand him off to our player develop group and see what they can do with him. Everything leads to trending in a really good direction with the strikes – and with really, really good stuff.”
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Round 3: Ben Jacobs, LHP
College: Arizona State.
Age: 21.
Vitals: 6-1, 195.
Bats/throws: Left/left.
Drafted: Round 3 (No. 98 overall).
Jacobs ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 107 prospect and Baseball America’s No. 119 prospect. He pitched five innings at UCLA in 2023, then he transferred to ASU for 66⅓ innings in 2024 and 83⅔ innings in 2025. Although Jacobs is a strikeout machine, his 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings throughout his college career is offset by a concerning 5.2 walks per nine innings.
“He’s an athletic left-hander with a good body,” assistant general manager Rob Metzler said Sunday, “and a really good foundational fastball that we think we’re going to be able to build a starters repertoire around.”
He has a four-pitch mix: A 93 mph fastball that tops out around 95 mph with ride, plus a slider, curveball and changeup. His fastball, slider and changeup generate swings and misses. He typically locates his fastball for strikes, but the secondary pitches remain inconsistent — the key area of concern.
In 2025, Jacobs posted a 4.95 ERA with 45 walks and 120 strikeouts over 83⅔ innings in 16 starts. If he doesn’t improve his command soon, specifically at the lower levels of the minor leagues, then he could be destined for the bullpen by the time he gets to the big leagues.
The reliever risk is real, but the Tigers will try to develop him as a starting pitcher.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers reasons for top four picks in Day 1 of 2025 MLB Draft
