Can Colt Keith lead the Detroit Tigers back to the playoffs?

At the beginning of the season, Tigers manager AJ Hinch stated that Colt Keith would have to battle for the starting role at second base after agreeing to a six-year contract extension before even making his MLB debut. In the end, not only did he win the battle, but he also won the war and thrived on the battlefield. It is an understatement to say that Keith has been one of the Tigers' best hitters, and as the year goes on, he continues to get better.

Keith endured a rough start to the season, though, and fans were getting antsy. Some said to send him to Toledo; other fans wanted them to let the rookie settle into a role and give him more time. Ultimately, the Tigers made the right decision by sticking with him. The Detroit Tigers have gone 11-3 in their last 14 games and have catapulted themselves back into Wild Card conversation. Keith has been in the middle of it all.

In July, Colt Keith is ninth in MLB with a 216 wRC+. That is an absurd number. The statistic wRC+ takes "runs created" and standardizes it by removing factors such as ballpark biases and the era the player plays in. A league-average hitter has a wRC+ of 100; Colt Keith in July has been DOUBLE an average hitter! If that is not impressive for a rookie, then what is?

Speaking of rookies, the Tigers' youngster leads all rookies in runs, extra-base hits, and OPS, and is second in average since June 19th. Keith is quietly creating a case for Rookie of the Year. The youngster certainly came with a level of expectation, but ROY still feels like an unexpected luxury. There's no guarantee he will win it, but to say he is not in the conversation would be blasphemous.

Colt Keith has been a catalyst for the Detroit Tigers offense lately, and it could pay off for both the player and the team.

The Tigers have reportedly been at least examining the idea of trading Tarik Skubal, and with both Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy hitting the way they are, the team should bestarting to second guess shopping their ace.

Quietly, slowly, and hesitantly, there is the start of a potential future core growing in Detroit, and Keith finds himself in the thick of that conversation. Keeping players like Keith, Malloy, Skubal, and Riley Greene around, while also receiving reinforcements from the likes of Jackson Jobe and Jace Jung, could have the Tigers on their way to potentially forming a formidable core for a long time to come in the Motor City.

Hopefully, for Tigers fans, Chris Ilitch will open up the checkbook and allow Scott Harris to keep these players together and grow another round of entertaining baseball in Detroit. There is reason to be skeptical, but at least Colt Keith knows he is here for the future, and so far, we are more than happy to have him.