Detroit Tigers: Jarrod Saltalamacchia was a blip in the 2018 season

With the 2018 season coming to a close, we are providing year-end grades to each Detroit Tigers player who donned the Olde English D in 2018.

The Detroit Tigers completed the first year of what looks to be a multi-year rebuilding process. While the team was hard to watch at times, there is still plenty to evaluate from this season as we look ahead to the next few years.

As with any team, there were a lot of excellent performances, surprise performances, and of course disappointing performances. Here at Motor City Bengals, we are going to be evaluating each player who suited up for the Detroit Tigers this season. We will analyze how they performed, what their future holds in the Motor City, and we will provide them a grade.

Note: the grade will be relative to what was expected of them. So a player who performed well above expectations may earn a B or an A, even if their actual season numbers are not that elite. If you disagree, feel free to drop us a comment. We would love to have discussions about these!

Over the past year, the Tigers have brought in plenty of veterans to help with the rebuild and help mold the younger players. Mike Fiers and Leonys Martin were in that group of veterans. As well, the next player we are going to review is a veteran who spent most of 2018 with Triple-A Toledo-Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

The Tigers originally brought in Saltalamacchia on a one-year major league deal in 2015. Following the 2015 season, he left the Tigers to go to the Blue Jays. Over this past off-season, the Tigers brought him back on a minor league deal. Saltalamacchia spent the most of the season in the minors but was called up to the clubhouse in September.

Saltalamacchia appeared in just five games for the Tigers and had just eight plate appearances. It was forgettable and you shouldn’t even feel bad if you didn’t even notice. He’s a free agent once the World Series is over and if the team brings him back it’ll probably be on another minor-league deal.

Grade: C

Check back here daily for more player grades! And if you’d like to discuss any grades, please leave us a comment on our Facebook or Twitter page.