Detroit Tigers: Players to watch on the big league roster

The season is winding down and it is time for the Detroit Tigers to look to the future. Here are some players to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.

The 2019 season is coming to a close, and the Detroit Tigers have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. Detroit will need to begin looking at the upcoming offseason and the moves they need to make to have a better year in 2020. The rest of the 2019 season will be used to see which players can help the team in the future. Here are some players to keep an eye on.

1. Travis Demeritte

Demeritte came to Detroit from the Atlanta organization in the Shane Greene trade at the deadline. He was put on the major league roster right away and has since proven that he can play with the bigs. Since coming to Detroit, Demeritte has a .277 average, two home runs, and three stolen bases. He has shown improvement at the plate as well, after getting off to a slow start with the club. Demeritte will likely appear on the roster in 2020, barring an offseason trade.

2. Victor Reyes

Reyes has been called up and sent back down multiple times since his Tigers debut in 2018, but he has finally started performing more consistently since his last call up when JaCoby Jones was placed on the IL. He has brought his batting average from .247 to .279 since being called back up. If Reyes is able to continue performing at the plate, he has the potential to be a great utility player for Detroit in the future. He has the right tools to be a great player at Comerica Park.

3. Matthew Boyd

Boyd has easily been the best starting pitcher for Detroit all year, and it looks like Avila is intent on keeping him around, given that many people thought he would be traded at the deadline and he wasn’t. Boyd has had his fair share of struggles over the second half of the season, but he has demonstrated that he has the ability to be an all-star caliber pitcher. It will be interesting to see how he performs for the rest of 2019 and in the future.

4. Ronny Rodriguez

Rodriguez is another guy who has had his fair share of trips between Toledo and Detroit. Like Reyes, however, he has looked great this time around in Detroit. He has shown that he has a good combination of power and speed and can handle the bat. He is another player that will likely stick around in Detroit for the remainder of the 2019 season, even after guys like Christin Stewart and Niko Goodrum return from injuries.

5. Willi Castro 

Willi Castro was called up during the series against Minnesota and has only had two games to show his stuff so far. During those two games, he has already had three hits, a walk, and shown that he can field in the bigs. It’s a little early to say that he will bud into a star, but he is certainly someone to keep an eye on as the 2019 season comes to an end.

There are plenty of young players to be excited about in Detroit’s organization despite the fact that 2019 turned out so poorly. Don’t get discouraged over a few bad seasons, remember that a rebuild takes time but the end result will be worth the wait.