At The (Third) Quarter Pole: Outfielders

The Tigers are officially three quarters of the way through the 2011 season. With that in mind it’s officially report card time. Once again, I’ve been assigned the duties of grading the Tigers outfielders. This time around I’ll be breaking down the third quarter performances. Remember, rookies will be covered in a separate post later today.

Without further adieu here is my evaluation of the Tigers outfielders at the quarter pole…

Brennan Boesch   B-

Boesch finished the third quarter with a .248 average in 125 at-bats. He recorded 4 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 16 RBI and a stolen base.

Although Boesch has regressed a bit from his strong first half, the numbers are still very encouraging. At times his poor route running skills provide disastrous results in the field. His swinging strikes are also reminiscent of current Mud Hen Brandon Inge too. However, his third quarter numbers were a large improvement from last seasons tailspin. Boesch earns a strong B- for last quarters performance.

Austin Jackson   C

Jackson finished the third quarter with a .229 average in 118 at-bats. He recorded 4 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 7 RBI and 2 stolen bases.

Jacksons average remains a bit low for my taste and he’s still striking out in nearly 30% of his at-bats. However, his defense is “worth the price of admission” as Rod Allen would say. The defense this last quarter made me raise his grade to a solid C.

Don Kelly   C-

Kelly finishes the third quarter with a .191 average in 47 at-bats. He recorded a triple, a home run and 4 RBI. He played nearly every position on the diamond and even batted third in a couple of Leylands crazy lineups. Hell, he even recorded a scoreless third of an inning in relief last quarter. His versatility, solid relief appearance and strong resemblance to a string bean made me raise his grade from a D to a C-.

Magglio Ordoñez  C-

Ordoñez finished the third quarter with a .258 average in 128 at-bats. He recorded 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 15 RBI.

Despite a red-hot July, Maggs had a mediocre third quarter. The power continues to decline and his days of hitting .300 appear to be well behind him. Hopefully the Tigers see vintage Maggs in the fourth quarter as they march towards the pennant.

Ryan Raburn  B+

Raburn finished the third quarter with a .292 average in 89 at-bats.  He recorded 5 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs and 11 RBI. I decided to put aside my well document hatred for Raburn for this assignment.

He’s a butcher defensively and his swinging strikes resemble Brennan Boesch and Brandon Inge. Giving credit where credit is due though, his third quarter was textbook second half Raburn. The average is better and the power has returned. As the above picture indicates, the fielding still sucks. Hopefully the Tigers see similar production from Raburn next quarter.

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