Detroit Tigers: Christin Stewart is here, now what to expect

With the Toledo season over, the Detroit Tigers have recalled outfield prospect Christin Stewart. What can we expect from the slugger?

After an entire season waiting, the Detroit Tigers have finally recalled slugging prospect Christin Stewart. Stewart, 24, has been anticipated by Tigers fans since he was drafted 34th overall in the 2015 draft.

Stewart, ranked our midseason No. 6 prospect, started the season scorching hot down at Triple-A, with many expecting his call up to happen even sooner. However, he went through a slight rough patch before his bat got hot again in August.

Overall, he finished his Triple-A season with a .264/.364/.480 slash line with 23 home runs and a 138 wRC+. His 12.8% walk rate and 20.7% strikeout rate are better than his previous two seasons in Double-A, an incredibly promising sign that his plate discipline is improving.

Stewart is the true definition of a three true outcomes player. The three true outcomes are walks, strikeouts and home runs (the three main outcomes that don’t involve fielders). At Triple-A, Stewart has incurred one of the three true outcomes in 37.9% of his at-bats. That’s lower than 2017 (40%) and his time at High-A in 2016 (45.9%).

Being a three true outcomes player isn’t an inherently bad thing, although it does tend to make players more prone to slumps and hot streaks. The most famous three true outcome players are Adam Dunn, Dave Kingman, Jack Cust and to a lesser extent, Jim Thome.

Another unfortunate tribute that frequently comes along with three true outcome players is a lack of defensive prowess. Stewart has worked extremely hard to become an adequate defender in left field, but at the end of the day he still may end up a designated hitter long-term.

For 2018, Stewart will get every chance to be the team’s starting left fielder. Although he didn’t start in his first game, manager Ron Gardenhire indicated he is the guy for the rest of the season, and that he will likely get his first major league start on Monday against Justin Verlander.

It’s September, and the Tigers are hopefully going to give multiple young players a chance to strut their stuff in the big leagues. Stewart is the most exciting one to watch, as he has a real potential to be Detroit’s starting left fielder in 2019.