Five Detroit Tigers Who Need To Bounce Back In 2013

Oct 27, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman Omar Infante hits a single against the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning during game three of the 2012 World Series at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

3. Omar Infante

The Detroit Tigers acquired Omar Infante to be a steady glove at second base while also providing value at the plate. He did lock down the position defensively, but he wasn’t nearly as good as expected with the bat.

His .257/.283/.385 slash line was his worst since his last stint as a Tiger in 2007, and his accompanying wOBA of .288 was worse than the career wOBA of noted slugger Ramon Santiago. He’ll likely see an offensive boost as his .269 BABIP climbs toward his .307 career mark, but he likely won’t be the above average bat that he was for a couple of years in Atlanta when he was posting BABIP’s above .339.

The good news is that, unlike Ryan Raburn, Infante is a good enough defender to produce positive overall value even when he’s struggling at the dish. Having a full year of his club will be nice, but he was brought in to be a quality hitter as well. (Though it’s not going to help matters that his season ended with a broken hand in game four of the World Series).