Detroit Tigers: Our Tiger themed Christmas Wish List

In the spirit of the holiday season, the writers at Motor City Bengals came up with our very own Detroit Tigers-themed Christmas list.

Detroit Tigers’ players probably want the same things for Christmas that we all want: health, happiness, time spent with our families, and for the Tigers to not finish last in 2018.

Tigers fans are mentally preparing for the upcoming rebuild here in the Motor City. While it has not been easy to see players like Justin Verlander and Ian Kinsler traded, it is a necessary part of tearing a franchise down.

Still, just because the team is unlikely to compete in 2018 does not mean there is not a reason for optimism and hope heading into the new year. Whether it is seeing your favorite veteran return to form or seeing a new face develop into a star, there is plenty to watch out for next season.

Here at Motor City Bengals, each of the writers has come up with one thing we want from the Detroit Tigers for Christmas this year.

We compiled it into a list (and checked it twice) and posted it here.

First up is Andy Patton’s wish: A return to form for 38-year-old designated hitter Victor Martinez.

Hey, we can dream, right? This is a wish list after all.

In all honesty, there is a reason for optimism surrounding V-Mart heading into his 16th big league season.

Why it could happen

Martinez posted nearly identical walk and strikeout percentages in 2017 as he did in 2016. Additionally, his hard-hit rate and medium-hit rate increased while his soft-hit rate went down between 2016 and 2017.

So Martinez’s walk numbers and strikeout numbers were the same and he was hitting the ball harder in 2017 than in 2016. Yet the results look backwards.

In 2016, Martinez hit .289 with 27 home runs and a 119 wRC+. However, things went south in 2017, where Martinez hit a career-low .255 with only 10 home runs and a career-low 85 wRC+.

Some key differences may have been a product of bad luck for V-Mart.

For starters, Martinez had a BABIP of .303 in 2016. That dropped down to .280 in 2017. His career mark is .309.

Speed plays a big factor in BABIP, and Martinez has slowed down considerably in his later years. It doesn’t seem likely he will every see that .309 mark again, but .280 is the second-lowest mark of his career, and as long as he is still hitting the ball hard he should see that number improve in 2018. If those numbers climb back around the .295 range, V-Mart should hit closer to .275.

With his 8.5% walk-rate, his OBP should climb back into the .350 range.

Power was a big problem for Martinez in 2017. While his hard-hit rate actually improved, he was not getting the ball up in the air enough to generate any home runs. His fly-ball percentage was over 38% three years in a row before dropping to 34.2% in 2017. His ground-ball rate jumped up to 42.1%, his highest since 2011.

Decreasing speed and a higher rate of ground balls is not a recipe for success for Martinez, and it showed last season.

However, a small adjustment to a more fly-ball conducive swing (factoring in the ever popular launch angle) could work wonders for V-Mart next year.

His age and declining bat speed mean he is unlikely to be a star again, but returning to .270 with over 20 home runs and a .350 OBP would be a great bonus for a rebuilding Tigers team.

The Tigers owe Victor Martinez $18MM dollars next year. Unless they trade him or he retires (neither are very likely) he will be in the lineup on a regular basis at designated hitter. It benefits the Tigers tremendously if he is able to regain some of his power and have a strong (likely final) season in Detroit.

Next up is Adam McIntosh’s wish: The Tigers sign Tim Lincecum to a deal.

This is probably the least likely of our Christmas wishes, but I think its the best one and the most controversial.

The Detroit Tigers are looking for starting pitchers still and one not in the “Maserati” section.

Enter, Tim Lincecum. He hasn’t played in the bigs since 2016. But the 33-year old is looking ripped (although he always looked to be in better shape). Of course, nothing is set in stone at this point. But, he was seen working out, bulked up and is reportedly eyeing an MLB comeback.

This is after he seemingly just vanished into thin air.

If there wasn’t some truth to these rumors then that photo wouldn’t have ever surfaced.

Lincecum is only 33, he won two Cy Youngs before 25, by 27 he had been a four-time all-star. Then in 2016 he appeared to be done with baseball and the public eye after posting  a 2-6 record with a 9.16 ERA, 5.4 BB/9, and 7.5 SO/9 over 38.1 innings with the Angels.

The Detroit Tigers are in rebuild mode, signing Lincecum is a relatively low-risk move for the Tigers. It’s a gamble but if Lincecum were to have a bounce-back year, it could bring the Detroit Tigers some prospects if they were to ship him away at the trade deadline or during the offseason.

Next up is our newest contributor, Nic Stevens. He is wishing for a bounceback from young left-hander Daniel Norris.

Daniel is one the young pitchers that we acquired in the David Price trade of 2015.

He has had a solid two years with us. However, he has had limited performance because of injuries and inconsistency. At 24 years old that is expected out of him until he develops more.

Norris had a solid 2016 going up three levels before finally getting the call to the Tigers, in his time here last year he went 4-2 in 69.1 innings of work with averaging just over a strikeout an inning.

His ERA was also pretty solid at 3.38.

In 2017 Norris was plagued with a groin injury and ended up spending part of the season in Toledo. He didn’t do well,  going 0-4. However he still managed to rack up K’s, averaging 11.57 of them down at the farm.

I believe his performance issues were definitely caused by his groin injury.

In Detroit, Norris went 5-8 with a ERA of 5.31.

He got almost 32.1 more innings of work in, but late in the year when he came back he was in the bullpen.

I know Daniel Norris can have a comeback year because some of his stats are showing improvement.

He became more of a ground ball pitcher late in the year last year, due to his injury and not being able to get his max velocity which has his fastball at about 94-95 mph.

Before his injury he hit a stride where he had 8 starts of at least 5.1 innings. That also included a few very quality starts last year against Cleveland twice, Boston, and Houston.

This year if Norris has an ideal bounce back year I want him going about 10-5 with a 3.10 ERA and getting in 130 plus innings.

Our last wish is by new contributor Austin Green, who wishes for the Tigers to trade closer Shane Greene this offseason. Take a look: