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5 Offensive Difference Makers for 2015 Detroit Tigers

By Matt Pelc |
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Oct 27, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; A general view view as a large American flag is unfurled during the national anthem before game three of the 2012 World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

It’s almost officially here boys and girls. We are less than a day away from the official reporting date for Detroit Tigers’ pitchers and catchers!

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The full squad will report a couple of days later and that is what we will focus on for this article: the offense. With the health of both Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera question marks for Opening Day (and if they go, they may not be vintage V-Mart and Miggy right away) the Detroit Tigers may need to turn to other sources for offensive production.

We know Martinez and Cabrera will be out for most of, if not all of, Spring Training so the Tigers will be fielding lineups throughout March without their two biggest bats. While this is never ideal, practice games or not, it might be beneficial to see just who the team can rely upon beyond their big boppers.

It goes without saying that Martinez and Cabrera are offensive difference makers, but we will look at the supporting cast and who needs to step up to the occasion in 2015.

Take a trip through the slide show to see the top five Detroit Tigers’ offensive difference makers.

Sep 23, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila (13) hits a single in the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

#5 The catcher position 

The Tigers seem determined to carry dual catchers this season. While they have always carried multiple catchers, there was always a clear #1 (Alex Avila) and a clear #2. Last year’s #2 (Bryan Holaday) seems a long shot to make the club with the rise of James McCann.

It does not seem that Avila is in the Tigers’ plans long-term so this year could be an opportunity for Avila to take McCann under his wing, and split the work to prepare him for the full-time job in 2016.

It has become apparent with Alex what exactly you will get from him–defense first. After an off-year in 2013, Avila reestablished himself as one of the best defensive catchers but continued to get dinged up on freak injuries leading to worries about his future at the position. At the plate he has regressed each season since an All-Star 2011 campaign, bottoming out with a .218 average and .686 OPS last year.

This has opened the door for McCann, a player that posted decent stats in Toledo (.295 average, .770 POS) and was competent behind the plate. Many wanted him to come up last year and offer a hitting threat at the plate, something Avila and Holaday couldn’t.

The lefty-righty hitting combo of Avila and McCann will likely earn a split depending on the starter. Perhaps more rest will keep Alex fresh, prone to less injury and able to recapture some hitting prowess. McCann is a rookie and will likely hit like one too, but he has shown enough promise to put up numbers like last year’s rookie, Nick Castellanos (.259, 11 HR, .700 OPS).

If either or both of those happen, the Tigers will immediately upgrade the offensive contribution from that lineup slot.

Jun 30, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler (3) hits a single in the third inning against the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

#4: Ian Kinsler

Through much of the first half of last season, Ian Kinsler might have been in contention for the team MVP. He was especially appreciated because whenever a trade happens, the players are often stacked against each other to see who “won the trade.” With Prince Fielder‘s early struggles, and eventual injury that cost him the season, it appeared the Tigers had gotten the better of the blockbuster deal of last offseason.

His always stellar defense was matched by a potent offense that kept his average north of .300 and earned him an All-Star nod. But his second-half was a disaster at the plate to the tune of a line of .239/.270/.357. But if you were familiar with Kinsler during his Texas days, fast starts and slow finishes were nothing new. In 2013 he had a high water mark of .342 on May 2, was still in the .300s in June but finished with a .277 average. Each of the two previous years also followed this pattern.

The track record says that Kinsler will be solid early. That is good should Miggy and/or V-Mart miss time in April, but for the Tigers to truly compete in the AL Central, Ian’s bat needs to be consistent all season long.

Kinsler will always have value with the glove, but with the return of Jose Iglesias, the team already has a glove-first middle infielder. 

Jul 30, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos (9) hits a three run home run in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

#3 Nick Castellanos

When Nick Castellanos was a hotshot prospect in the Tigers’ organization, many baseball experts slated him to be a .280ish hitter with 20-25 homers per season.

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Nicky C. had a pretty bad year defensively, ranking at the bottom of the third basemen in the American League that were eligible for the Gold Glove, achieving a -18.8 ranking from SABR’s defensive index rankings. The Tigers worked with him throughout the offseason to improve at the Hot Corner. You do have to cut him some slack for last year, in the majors, being his first full year at third since Single-A. Certainly there was some on the job training happening.

But, really, Detroit doesn’t expect Gold Glove defense from him. They already have two solid infielders with Iglesias and Kinsler and a decent first baseman in Cabrera. They need him to hit up to his potential. We mentioned his numbers above as a goal for McCann in his rookie season, but if Casty puts up those numbers in 2015 everyone will be disappointed.

I think that Nick would benefit from being moved up the lineup. When we tinkered with possible lineups last month on MCB, I thought he’d be better served in the two-hole where he will (eventually) see more pitches in front of Miggy than in the bottom third of the lineup.

We should expect an average in the .270s-.280s for Castellanos with 20 homers this season.

Sep 27, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits an RBI single during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

#2: Yoenis Cespedes

A certain segment of Detroit Tigers’ fans were not enamored with the trade that brought Yoenis Cepedes to Detroit for Rick Porcello. Many of these are the more sabermetrically inclined fans who do not view the pending free agent as living up to the hype.

Cespedes effectively moves into the role of Torii Hunter from the last few years. He will unquestionably be an upgrade in the outfield for the aging Hunter, but will he be an upgrade at the plate?

Like Torii, Cespedes is an impatient batter and if you throw anything near the strike zone, he will be hacking away. That led to 128 strikeouts last year. But as batters who strikeout a lot wont to do, he can kill the ball at times. He had 22 homers and 100 RBIs split between Oakland and Boston last year (Torii had 17 and 83 last year).

He should thrive in Comerica Park with his speed that can turn a gaped single to a double and double to a triple.

Do not forget that this is a contract year for Cespedes, and as we saw last year with Victor Martinez (and Max Scherzer on the pitching end), nothing quite motivates a player like a brand new, lucrative contract on the horizon. 

Sep 15, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Detroit Tigers left fielder J.D. Martinez (28) hits a RBI single in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

1. J.D. Martinez

Combing through many Detroit Tigers offseason articles and fans posts on Twitter, one of the most worrying elements of the upcoming season is not the health of V-Mart and Miggy, not the starting rotation which has certainly regressed, and not the bullpen which is always a concern. The chief concern is J.D. Martinez.

Why the concern for a player who had a magical, career year in 2014?

It’s simple: it might be too good to be true.

We’ve seen it before in sports, even here in Detroit with the Tigers. Brennan Boesch comes to mind–a player that had a terrific year and seemed destined for stardom but ultimately could only find it that one year.

Martinez was buried in the depth chart of a bad Houston Astros team for so long, but he didn’t do himself any favors to garner playing time there. Coming here seemed to rejuvenate his career, however.

He finished the season with a .315 average, which is astonishing considering his career batting average through his first three seasons was .255. He launched 23 homers, many of them in very clutch situations, and finished with an OPS of .912.

Throughout the offseason, J.D. Mart has been one of my lesser concerns because when I look at him, Jose Bautista comes to mind, a player that came out of nowhere to establish himself as a perennial premier hitter.

It would be tough to imagine that lineup last year without Martinez. It will be tough to imagine success for them this year with a return to “Houston” Martinez.

No one knows for sure, but signs point to him being just fine in 2015 and beyond.

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