It’s becoming harder to understand why Tigers are keeping this slugging prospect down

Offense hasn’t been much of a concern for the Detroit Tigers lately. Entering Friday's game, they've outscored opponents 66-26 in August. They are now 12th in the league in runs per game, which is night-and-day different from the early months of the season when they went from 18-17 to 22-38 after a horrendous stretch.

Despite the offense perking up, the team decided to deal two of their best starters at the deadline, making a playoff push that much tougher. If the Tigers want to make the postseason and even a run at the World Series, they’ll have to find boatloads of offense to pick up the pitching deficiencies.

That’s where Triple-A prospect Max Anderson comes into play.

Anderson was a second-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft and he’s absolutely raking in the minors right now. He’s not a top-five prospect for the Tigers, but he probably should be considering he’s leading the International League in hits, slugging percentage, OPS, and triples against left-handed pitchers — something the Tigers really struggle against.

The Tigers haven’t been the best-hitting team in baseball this season, but their improvement has been obvious over the past couple of months since that dreaded month of May.

Since the All-Star Break, the Tigers are 16-9, but the offense is still being held back a little by their splits against lefties. They’re hitting worse against southpaws this season and have a lot less pop in the lineup against them. Anderson is proving that he could be the key to turning that around.

He's getting on base and just raking against lefties in Triple-A, so he could replace a guy like Zach McKinstry, who's hitting just .148 against them this year, on the infield depth chart, or Colt Keith (.130) at third base. Keith only has 23 plate appearances, so AJ Hinch isn’t giving him the reps, but he could put Anderson there and not have to worry about making the change for certain matchups.

Anderson isn’t just crushing against lefties; he’s hitting .313 overall, good for fourth in the International League. Just having that extra bat could give the Tigers a distinct edge.

The Tigers should never say no to extra bats

For years, the offense has been the bane of every Tigers fan’s existence. Detroit had a ton of pitching potential and new arms were being added every offseason, but the front office never seemed to address the clear need for more bats.

Fortunately, they’ve been able to get a ton out of rookie sensation and All-Star Kevin McGonigle who’s leading the team with a .286 average, fellow All-Star Dillon Dingler who’s leading the team with 26 home runs and 81 RBI, Riley Greene who was also selected to the All-Star game, and even Spencer Torkelson’s bat has been heating up.

But there’s always a chance that the injury bug could strike again and Detroit could have another month like May, when they went 6-22 and had arguably the worst offense in the league. You can never say no to more bats, especially since that’s been the team’s downfall in the postseason for the past couple of years.

Keep McKinstry in the outfield and send someone like James Outman down to make room for Anderson.

“Don’t fix what’s not broken” is a fine rule to live by ... until things break and a 6-22 stretch happens with no backup plan in place.

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