Detroit Tigers: 3 biggest offseason needs based on the playoffs

1. The Detroit Tigers need power from expected power sources

It’s no question that home runs are the name of the game offensively across the league, and while the Detroit Tigers didn’t have much power from any position in their lineup, they at least need to find power from the positions that are expected to yield 20-25 home runs per season–it would do wonders for an offense which averaged less than 3.5 runs per game and went down by most metrics as the second-worst offense in franchise history.

There are four key positions where the Detroit Tigers should expect power numbers but did not receive them in 2022: designated hitter, first base, left field, and right field. They’re all less-than-premium positions defensively and therefore should theoretically pose more offensive upside to offset the value limitations that come with the defensive home inherently.

Below is a table detailing home runs at these four positions in the 2022 regular season, comparing the Detroit Tigers to playoff teams (according to Baseball-Reference):

In fairness, it was level-headed logic to expect 40 home runs combined from Austin Meadows and Robbie Grossman–nevertheless, neither happened and undoubtedly contributed to their demise in 2022.

Even the worst among the playoff teams, the Tampa Rays, average five more home runs per season at each of these defensive homes. Home runs certainly don’t tell the entire power or offensive story, but this is more a microcosm of their overall issues at the plate.

None of these positions posted an OPS over .675; in fact, no position posted higher than a .680 as a collective. As teams like the Astros and Yordan Alvarez have shown, having a power supply for your offense is vital to run scoring and not only making the playoffs but staying there.