Detroit Tigers: More speed and better baserunning in 2018?

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The Detroit Tigers have not been known as a base stealing team in a long time. In 2018, the first year of their full-scale rebuild, they have a manager who is willing to run and several players with decent speed.

In 2017 the Detroit Tigers had a -19.1 BsR (according to Fangraphs) meaning that poor base running cost the team 19 runs. The Detroit Tigers also only stole 65 bases in all of 2017. Only two players reached double digit stolen base numbers last season. Ian Kinsler led the team with 14 and Justin Upton added 10.

Mikie Mahtook was the best baserunner on the Tigers in 2017, being worth over 3 runs on the bases. Conversely, Miguel Cabrera was worth -8.1. Cabrera, however, is usually a strong baserunner and his injury probably had something to do with his poor numbers.

There were only six Detroit Tigers in 2017 to have a positive BsR, and only three will be back in 2018. One player, cather and first baseman John Hicks, was neutral at 0.0.

With a new coaching staff, a small-ball style manager, and faster, younger players the Tigers baserunning should be much improved. Below are a few reasons why:

Leonys Martin

The new center fielder, Leonys Martin, is considered a very valuable baserunner. He was signed to a 1-year, $1.75 million deal this winter. He is expected to be the starting centerfielder while JaCoby Jones gets minor league seasoning. Martin has 115 career stolen bases in 151 attempts and has a career 22.4 BsR rating.

His Spd (Speed Score) on Fangraphs is 6.9, where 7.0 is considered excellent. His career wSB (Weighted Stolen Base Runs), which determines how many runs his stolen bases created, is an astounding 7.4! With the Tigers rebuilding, Martin’s BsR and wSB numbers are sure to provide help in an area that needs improvement in the Motor City.

Jose Iglesias

Jose Iglesias is known for his sterling defense. He is actually a decently fast runner as well. According to Fangraphs, he was worth 2.6 BsR in 2017 and 1.8 in 2016. However, he has a career BsR of -2.0 due to a horrible 2015 that saw him post a -5.8 BsR. That poor BsR rating was probably due to him missing all of 2014 with shin splints and possibly dealing with them in 2015. Iglesias has not stolen many bases in his career, but according to Statcast, his sprint speed is 28.0 ft/sec which is above average. Iglesias also has a career Spd rating of 4.3, which is right around league average.

Mikie Mahtook

Mikie Mahtook, who was a pleasant surprise in 2017 and will likely be the starting left fielder in 2018, was worth over 3 BsR as previously mentioned. He also ranked in the Top 100 for Statcast’s sprint speed at 28.4 ft./sec and a Spd rating of 5.8 which is just above average. Mahtook is not a burner on the basepaths, but he could surpass double digits. He will not steal 20 bases in a season, but between 10-12 stolen bases is not far out of the question.

No other veteran player on the Detroit Tigers in 2017 had a positive BsR rating. They also are all below average in the Spd category. The slowest player from 2017, Victor Martinez, had a Spd rating of only 0.9 which is well below average. Hopefully V-Mart’s bat and clubhouse presence both make a good turnaround in 2018.

CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 04: JaCoby Jones #40 of the Detroit Tigers steals second base in the 6th inning as Tyler Saladino #20 of the Chicago White Sox waits for the throw during the opening day game at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 4, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The Tigers defeated the White Sox 6-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Dixon Machado

Dixon Machado is one of the fastest players on the Tigers and had a sprint speed of 27.3 ft.sec in 2017. Machado needs some work on his baserunning however, with a career -2.1 BsR in a small sample size in the major leagues. He does have 129 career stolen bases between the minors and majors. His speed translates well into his good defense, giving him decent range.

JaCoby Jones

Of course, there is the very athletic and very aggravating JaCoby Jones. Aggravating in the fact that he strikes out way too much and has not produced much with the bat. However, he can play multiple positions, he is a possible Gold Glove candidate, and he is possibly the fastest player on the Detroit Tigers. His sprint speed in 2017, albeit a small sample size, was 28.6 ft./sec which ranked 52^nd in the MLB.

Only one Detroit Tigers ranked ahead of him and this could possibly be a fluke, but Jim Adduci ranked 31^st with a 28.8 ft./sec sprint speed. While Adduci does have a bit of speed with a Spd rating of 6.2 on the Tigers in 2017 and generally is considered a decent baserunner, Jones is younger and built more for speed than Adduci is. Jones probably will not make the opening day roster, but on a rebuilding team, he is bound to get his fair share of opportunity.

Victor Reyes

Victor Reyes is another speedy guy on the Detroit Tigers roster and in their outfield. Reyes was the first overall seclection in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, being taken from the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is known for his contact orientated approach with little power. Reyes is also known for his speed. He has 80 career stolen bases and in 2016 racked up 12 triples. He is a switch-hitter and since he will be batting from the left side most days, he can also run out of the batter’s box quicker.

According to Fangraphs, he has been worth +2wSB, or runs contributed by stealing bases and an average Spd (Speed Score) of around 5.5, which is above average. Look for Reyes to come off the bench late in the game to be a pinch runner.

Next: Predicting the 2018 Outfield

The Detroit Tigers are still not a base stealing team, but expect a few more stolen bases then in years past. Teams always have a need for speed, you cannot win every game with a home run. Sometimes, a team needs to create offense and by bunting and stealing. It is always nice to have a happy medium of power and speed. The Tigers seem to be trending in that direction.

The Detroit Tigers baserunning should be much improved. The Tigers have been one of the major’s WORST baserunning teams the last few seasons. This should be, and needs to be, quelled with the new coaching staff.

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