The Detroit Tigers are counting on the haul from the Tarik Skubal trade to matter down the line, and one of the headliners in that package is already drawing attention for a reason the club probably didn’t want.
Outfielder Zyhir Hope, one of the three players Detroit got from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deal for the back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner, is viewed as a major piece of the Tigers’ future. The front office is especially high on him, and MLB Pipeline currently has him ranked as the organization’s No. 2 prospect.
That ranking could rise soon, too. With Max Clark no longer qualifying as a rookie, Hope is likely to become Detroit’s top-ranked prospect.
The upside is obvious. The 21-year-old brings big left-handed power and enough speed to matter, and he backed that up this year at Double-A by hitting 28 home runs and stealing 26 bases. He was also the 11th overall draft pick in 2023.
But Keith Law of The Athletic raised a red flag after seeing Hope with Erie on Wednesday.
"Outfielder Zyhir Hope, one of the three players acquired by the Detroit Tigers from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, suited up for Erie on Wednesday. He looks... rather out of shape, to put it mildly," Law wrote.
Law said the bat still looks loud, but the rest of the package has slipped.
"He's still got tremendous bat speed, but the body has gone backwards, and he's moving and running more slowly than he did when I last saw him in March," Law added.
Law also described Hope’s game line from that outing: "Hope went 1-for-5, striking out on 95 mph up from [Gage] Wood and hitting four ground balls, never running better than fringe-average on any of them."
For the Tigers, that makes Hope’s conditioning something to watch closely. If the organization sees it the same way, improving that part of his game will likely be a priority.
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