Detroit Tigers: 3 players they should ditch before the All-Star break
![MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 23: Eric Haase #13 of the Detroit Tigers looks on against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning of the game at Target Field on May 23, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Tigers 5-4. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fmotorcitybengals-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F07-2F1403147643-850x560-67f788ba82027e1f07e0d3f85e98327c.jpg)
These Detroit Tigers players’ days should be numbered
This season for the Detroit Tigers is already a lost cause. They are 12 games out of first place in the AL Central and 10 games out of a wild card spot.
The offense is historically bad and has shown no signs of improvement. It’s June 18. If the Detroit Tigers aren’t going to make any changes to the coaching staff, then they need to make some changes to the roster.
Some of these changes may be tough to swallow. Others should be seen coming a mile away. It’s hard to justify keep some of these players in the lineup everyday.
There are only a handful of players in the Detroit Tigers’ lineup that have been worthy of playing everyday. One of them is their 39-year-old future hall-of-fame DH, Miguel Cabrera. That’s…actually quite sad.
The Detroit Tigers need to make some kind of change to fix this offense. Getting rid of the following three players would be a start. Let’s get started.
OF Robbie Grossman
![MINNEAPOLIS, MN – MAY 24: Robbie Grossman #8 of the Detroit Tigers looks on after an at-bat against the Minnesota Twins in the fifth inning of the game at Target Field on May 24, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Tigers 2-0. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fmotorcitybengals-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F07-2F1403150477-850x560-94fef4ec03a82ae47c85f19004210e2a.jpg)
Things aren’t looking so hot for the 32-year-old veteran at the moment. Last season was a career year for Grossman, slashing .239/.357/.415 with a career-high 23 home runs. It appeared the Tigers had made a nice find, and Grossman would be a key contributor on an up-and-coming Tigers’ team in 2022.
Fast forward to present day, and things couldn’t be any worse. Grossman is batting just .191 and has yet to homer this season. He has just six extra-base hits on the season, all doubles, which has lead to a putrid .228 slugging percentage. He’s a far cry from what he was just one year ago.
His strikeout rate has jumped to over 30%, and he’s been swinging and missing a lot more. He’s still walking at an 11.1% clip, which is good, but’s it’s not nearly enough to justify playing him everyday.
Looking at his Baseball Savant page, it looks like teams have been throwing him more breaking balls this season, and Grossman hasn’t been able to adjust. He hasn’t been able to catch up to fastballs either, which suggests that teams have been doing a good job of mixing their pitches against him.
A.J. Hinch has begun to move him out of the leadoff spot in recent games in an effort to get him out of this funk, but so far it hasn’t worked. I’m not sure there’s anything they can do to unlock the 2021 version of Robbie Grossman.
Grossman has also dealt with a few minor injuries this season, serving a couple stints on the IL with strains to his groin and his neck, respectively. That hasn’t helped, but he’s still had a sizeable 189 plate appearances in 2022, so he’s still had time to figure things out.
Grossman seems to be a good clubhouse guy and is well-liked by his teammates and respected by the young players, but his performance this season has been abysmal. With Riley Greene now on the roster and Austin Meadows and Daz Cameron both recovering from COVID-19—and both players outperforming Grossman this season—it may soon be time to pull the plug on Robbie Grossman’s tenure as a Tiger.
C/OF Eric Haase
![DETROIT, MI – JUNE 16: Eric Haase #13 of the Detroit Tigers tries to score from second base on a single by Miguel Cabrera but is tagged out by catcher Jonah Heim #28 of the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Comerica Park on June 16, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fmotorcitybengals-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F07-2F1241352960-850x560-e619bc56010d0eb4042e6821ad5d613f.jpg)
Haase was a really cool story last season. After being a career minor leaguer for the Cleveland Guardians, Haase came up as a 28-year-old rookie for his hometown club and hit 22 home runs. A lot of the underlying numbers suggested regression was coming for him in 2022, and well, they were right.
Haase is slashing .191/.248/.309 with just two homers so far in 2022. In fact, he’s only hitting .193 since Aug. 1 of last season. The league has clearly figured him out, and Haase hasn’t been able to adjust.
For his career, the Westland native is a .213/.267/.403 hitter. That’s a .670 OPS. It’s hard to keep a guy around with those numbers and only half a season’s worth of big league success.
His defense has been lacking this season as well, which seems like a mental thing more than anything. Everyone remembers his gaffe back on April 26 against the Minnesota Twins, where he threw a ball into the outfield after catching a runner in a rundown, leading to a walk-off win for the Twins.
He’s played a bit of left field this season, and he hasn’t looked terrible thanks in large part to his surprisingly high sprint speed. He hasn’t gotten as much playing time as last season, and it’s possible he could be better with more regular at-bats, but it is what it is.
Haase seems like a very likable guy and is a leader in the clubhouse. He was quite vocal after the team held a players-only meeting after Wednesday’s beatdown at the hands of the Chicago White Sox.
But the team can’t keep giving a roster spot to a journeyman who’s hitting .191, and with the Tigers claiming catcher Ali Sanchez off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals today, perhaps they are already preparing to say farewell to the local folk hero.
1B Spencer Torkelson
![PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 07: Spencer Torkelson #20 of the Detroit Tigers in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 7, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fmotorcitybengals-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F07-2F1403373690-850x560-77437e5288b5f87cda607c2e026614af.jpg)
Earlier in the season, I was very much against the idea of sending Tork down to Triple-A Toledo. I thought there wasn’t anything he could learn down there that he can’t learn in the big leagues. But now, I’m not sure the Detroit Tigers have a choice. He may have forced their hand.
Torkelson currently has a slash line of .178/.277/.283 with a .560 OPS and a -1.3 WAR. He looks completely lost at the plate right now. He looks like he’s just up there guessing, watching fastballs down the middle go by at an alarming rate.
There’s no question Tork has a great eye. He’s a very disciplined hitter. But he’s been too disciplined. He needs to be much more aggressive. The Tigers didn’t draft him No. 1 overall in 2020 to take walks. They expected him to rake.
Whenever he does make contact, he usually hits the ball hard, and he doesn’t chase a whole lot, again speaking to his advanced plate discipline, but he’s pretty much an automatic out at the plate right now.
The one argument I can see for keeping him up here is his defense, and man has it been spectacular. He can make pretty much any play, and he can pick it with the best of them. He’s saved Javier Baez from numerous throwing errors over the course of the season. It’s been really nice having an athlete over there.
Tork Snag? TORK SNAG.#DetroitRoots pic.twitter.com/1EGOtnV7Oe
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) June 17, 2022
But it’s clear that Tork needs a mental reset. The Detroit Tigers should send him down to Toledo— just for a couple weeks. Get him some confidence. Let him experience crushing the ever loving daylight out of a baseball again. Harold Castro and others can split time at first base in the meantime.
This would be a tough pill for Tigers fans to swallow, but it may be the right move going forward.