Detroit Tigers: Three players to watch in series against Kansas City Royals

Detroit Tigers players kick off a series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. Here are three players to watch during the three-game set.

Detroit Tigers fans will see the team hit the road for the final six games of 2017.

The Tigers will end the year in Minnesota against the surprising Twins, but before that the team stops in Kansas City for three games.

As it stands, the Royals are out of the playoff picture. Kansas City is currently six games back of Minnesota for the second Wild Card place.

Now, the two teams will face off in a series that will matter little where the postseason is concerned.

Still, Detroit’s games aren’t unimportant at this point.

The Tigers are in the running for the first-overall pick in next year’s draft.

Adding a number-one overall pick to a farm system that also boasts the likes of Franklin Perez, Alex Faedo, Matt Manning, Isaac Paredes, Daz Cameron and Christin Stewart would give Detroit an excellent core to contend for postseason berths and pennants in the future.

Even a pick in the top three or five would do wonders in hastening Detroit’s rebuild.

Regardless of the outcomes of this week’s series in Kansas City, here are three Detroit Tigers players to watch against the Royals.

Nicholas Castellanos

Things haven’t gone swimmingly for Castellanos defensively since shifting to right field from a defensive standpoint.

The converted infielder is posting a -58.3 UZR/150, a -7 DRS and a -0.3 ARM in 126 defensive innings in the outfield for Detroit.

It obviously still early and Castellanos is still learning the position. Still, his defensive stats don’t exactly stand out.

What does stand out, however, is the 25-year-old’s recent production at the plate.

Castellanos is tied with Jeimer Candelario for the team lead in WAR during the month of September with a 1.0 number.

This is largely due to an offensive hot streak that has seen the former first-round pick hit .368 with a .378 on-base percentage, a 169 wRC+ and a .427 wOBA.

Detroit’s new right fielder has also provided the power the team has missed since the trade of Justin Upton.

Castellanos has added nine doubles and six home runs in just 98 September plate appearances. That’s been good for a .284 ISO and a .653 slugging percentage.

The offensive success could continue for the slugger on Tuesday as he matches up with Jason Vargas, a starter who Castellanos has connected for two home runs off of in 18 career plate appearances.

The former infielder has also found plenty of success (five-for-nine with two doubles and two RBI) against Royals’ reliever Kelvin Herrera.

Ian Kinsler

It remains to be seen if the Detroit Tigers will deal Ian Kinsler this offseason.

Regardless, however, it should be noted that the second baseman has done a solid job of padding his trade value as of late.

With just a 92 wRC+ and a .313 wOBA in 598 plate appearances, Kinsler hasn’t enjoyed the best overall season at the plate.

That being said, he’s made a habit of launching long balls lately

In 101 September plate appearances, Kinsler has crushed eight home runs to go along with 13 runs scored, 12 RBI and a stolen base.

He’s hitting just .213 with a .267 on-base percentage during the span, but that is likely in part due to an unfortunately-low .174 BABIP.

Like Castellanos—or perhaps even more so—Kinsler has found plenty of success against Kansas City pitching.

He’s hitting .359 (23-for-64) against Jason Vargas with eight doubles, seven RBI, three walks, two home runs and two triples.

Kinsler also has two home runs against the respective starters on Wednesday and Thursday in Jason Hammel and Danny Duffy.

The All-Star second baseman has been particularly efficient against Hammel, with six hits, two RBI, two walks and the two aforementioned home runs in just 17 plate appearances.

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What’s more, Kinsler is also four-for-nine with three RBI against reliever Peter Moylan and three-for-10 with a double against former Detroit Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria.