Detroit Tigers: An ode to Jacoby Jones

The Bad on JaCoby Jones in a Detroit Tigers uniform

For a player recently cut by a team that has been meddling towards the bottom of their division for years, it is difficult to separate the bad from the ugly. JaCoby Jones’ tenure in the Olde English D had its fair share of struggle, and one statistic that always stood out to me was his strikeout rate. While Jones would have hot streaks, there was always a potential for him to get sent packing after three strikes. His strikeout rate throughout his six years with the Detroit Tigers was a sky-high 33%. In the meantime, the Major League average during the same time was 22.3%. Striking out 1 in every 3 at-bats is categorized as “bad”, especially paired with a 6% walk rate.

From an analytical standpoint, it would be unjust to expect much more than a 0-2.0 WAR Rating, which is the average rating for a reserve player. Jones posted his best WAR in 2018, at 1.8 Wins Above Replacement. Outside of 2018, Jones had three negative WAR outputs and a 0.5 show in  2020. This type of production will lead the Front Office to make the unfortunate decision to cut a player.