Former Tigers journeyman could become key piece for Brewers' playoff push

The Tigers' era of relentless Quad-A outfielder call-ups is over, and fans couldn't be happier about it. Akil Baddoo, Ryan Vilade, Ryan Kreidler, and so on have all moved on to other teams. While some have found their niches and enjoyed a moderate amount of success outside of Detroit, none of us would take any of them back.

Baddoo was probably the least detested of those main three because he cemented himself as a Tigers folk hero immediately by hitting his first career home run in his first career at-bat. Eduardo Valencia has since become the latest Tiger to do it, but Baddoo held that honor for over five years.

He elected free agency after the 2025 season and signed a major league deal with the Brewers, where he's managed to stick. He's been unable to reach the majors with them after suffering an injury in spring training, but he could be September call-up to keep an eye on.

Baddoo is hitting .237 with an .811 OPS in 39 games for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Although his season was shortened by an injury from late June to late July, he could be a valuable bench bat as the Brewers look to end their season with the best record in baseball.

Former Tigers outfielder Akil Baddoo could resurface in the majors with the Brewers

Baddoo ended his rookie season with a .259 average and .766 OPS, which was good enough to get him onto the Tigers' Opening Day roster in 2022. But he could never live up to the expectations he set for himself the year prior, and he spent the rest of his tenure in Detroit going back and forth between the majors and minors before leaving the organization.

The last time he appeared for the Tigers was May 23 of last year, before Casey Mize came off the IL. Although Matt Vierling spent most of his season on the IL and Baddoo looked like an obvious replacement, the Tigers declined to promote him again through the rest of the season.

The Brewers' .616 record is the best in baseball, 2.5 games better than the AL-leading Rays. If Baddoo makes their roster at some point this season, Tigers fans shouldn't feel anything but happy for the guy. There was clearly no future for him in Detroit when he left, and it's always nice to see a player find a second life somewhere else (unless it's with the Dodgers).

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