Detroit Tigers: Previewing the 2018 lineup

Batting Eighth: Second Baseman Dixon Machado

Ian Kinsler won’t play second for the Tigers this season. His replacement will likely be Dixon Machado, a former prospect / minor-league hand that will enter his first season playing every day.

Dixon Machado wasn’t too bad at the plate in 2017. He hit what you’d expect a middle infielder to. His stat line was .259/.302/.621, with one home run and 11 RBIs in 181 plate appearances.

This year, Machado is projected to hit .257/.322/.697. It’s slightly better than last season. Machado is still young, at 26 years old, and is yet to reach the peak of his career. He’s likely to have a better performance in 2018.

The reason: more experience at the major-league level. While he had a significant time in Detroit, he went down to the minors a decent amount last season. Minor league pitching is different than the big leagues. Sometimes, it could take time to get used to the major leagues.

Another reason: Machado performed better at the plate, while playing second. In 19 games at second, Machado hit .294/.351/.743.

It’ll be interesting to see if those numbers can be repeated consistently in 2018. They more than likely won’t, because 19 games is still a small sample size.

Defensively, Machado wasn’t bad at 2nd. In 118.1 innings, the Venezuelan turned 12 double-plays, and had 51 assists and 23 putouts. Machado only committed two errors at second.

Conceivably, though, Machado and Iglesias could be switched. Middle-infield positions are similar. The places in the batting order, however, will likely remain the same, unless something drastic happens.