Optimism for Tigers stopgap utilityman based on one random stat is misguided

Per the Tigers' last injury update, Parker Meadows is "completing conditioning and defensive drills" and Matt Vierling has progressed to taking batting practice in a cage, but neither have started throwing yet. Vierling is on the 10-day IL as of Opening Day, and is further along recovering from a shoulder strain, but Meadows was moved to the 60-day IL, which will keep him from return until at least May 26.

In the meantime, the Tigers have Ryan Kreidler, who seemed destined for a future, at least in Detroit, as a Quad-A player pretty much immediately after he got his debut in September 2022. He batted .178 with a .477 OPS in 26 games at the end of that year, and those are still his best stats to date.

He made the Opening Day roster this year because of Meadows' and Vierling's absences, and is likely to stay until Vierling is cleared for return. He hasn't improved at the plate — far from it — and is batting .143 with a .325 OPS, no homers, zero RBI, and 11 strikeouts as the Tigers' primary center fielder.

Kreidler was included in a "Five MLB numbers that matter" roundup from The Athletic, which noted his improved bat speed from 69.4 MPH in 2024 to 72.1 MPH in 2025 (subscription required). It left fans with some optimism that his offense will improve this season, but we might be getting ahead of ourselves there.

Ryan Kreidler's improved bat speed isn't even close to a guarantee he'll get better for the Tigers in 2025

If Kreidler has struck out in over half of his at-bats so far this season (11 Ks for his first 21 ABs), then does it really matter if he's 2.7 MPH faster to the ball this year? His whiff percentages and K rate put him in the first percentile this season, and he has a 14th percentile chase rate.

We really shouldn't be holding out to see massive improvement from Kreidler, who has gotten a fair few chances in the majors and hasn't been able to make anything of them. He's an above-average baserunner and outfielder, and his defensive prowess has already allowed him to add a few more highlights to his reel, but believing that he'll lock in and swing the bat better just because he's swinging faster will most likely just end in disappointment.

Kreidler's just not a long-term player for this team. He'll be decent enough in the field while we wait for Meadows and Vierling to come off the IL, but that's all we can or should expect from him.