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Detroit Tigers: Let’s talk about the base running in 2017

By Ben Rosener

DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 11: Third baseman Eduardo Escobar #5 of the Minnesota Twins tags out Nicholas Castellanos #9 of the Detroit Tigers trying to advance to third base from second on a fly out by John Hicks of the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning at Comerica Park on August 11, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 11: Third baseman Eduardo Escobar #5 of the Minnesota Twins tags out Nicholas Castellanos #9 of the Detroit Tigers trying to advance to third base from second on a fly out by John Hicks of the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning at Comerica Park on August 11, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /
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Detroit Tigers
ARLINGTON, TX – AUGUST 16: Elvis Andrus #1 of the Texas Rangers tags out Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers at second base in the top of the seventh inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on August 16, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

2017

Cabrera (-8.1 BsR in 2017) and Martinez (-6.6 BsR in 2017) actually improved on the base paths, but it didn’t help much in moving the needle.

Detroit finished 2017 once again ranked 23rd in stolen bases with 65. The team dropped from 28th to 30th in collective BsR last season despite their output increasing.

Well, increasing in the smallest sense of the word. The Tigers ended 2017 with a -19.1 BsR.

Will it change in 2018?

Yes and no.

More Mikie Mahtook will certainly help. The outfielder led the team with a 3.2 BsR in 109 games played. The more plate appearances he logs, the more positive base running he’s likely to contribute.

Detroit will also enter 2018 without a few base runners who turned in negative BsR stats.

Alex Avila (-2.3) and J.D. Martinez (-1.1) have already been dealt, while the likes of Victor Martinez (-6.6), Presley (-1.3), Tyler Collins (-1.3), Andrew Romine (-1.1) and Bryan Holaday (-0.2) are far from locks to return to the team.

On the flipside, however, the Tigers could be bidding goodbye to some of the team’s best base runners from the last season.

Outside of Mahtook, the team’s best players on the base paths included Jose Iglesias (2.6), Justin Upton (2.1), Ian Kinsler (1.5), Efren Navarro (0.4) and Jim Adduci (0.3).

In fact, those players were the only Tigers with a positive BsR last season.

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