Tigers veterans are just as responsible for offensive woes as struggling young players

A lot has already been said about the disappointments most of the Tigers' young players have been this season. Spencer Torkelson, Colt Keith, Parker Meadows, Casey Mize — none have them have shaped up to be what the team thought they could be and hyped them up to be, and the Tigers are finding themselves (as of July 6) 15 games behind the division's first place Guardians.

However, the Tigers' problems don't start and end with just these players. When we talk about Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene being two of the only good things about this team (we'll throw Jack Flaherty and maybe even Matt Vierling into that mix too), those on the outside looking in also includes the veterans in the lineup.

No need to mention Javier Báez; we've known what his "veteran leadership" actually looks like on the field. However, Mark Canha and Gio Urshela, the only two position players added to the major league team this offseason, should be in the hot seat as much as their younger teammates.

Canha's last seven games have not been good: he's batting .143 with a .348 OPS. Over that same span, Urshela been equally as bad (.182 average, .399 OPS). Together, they've gone 12-45 over that period.

Mark Canha and Gio Urshela's non-contributions have been contributing to the Tigers' slide as much as the young players

Canha was brought in to be an example for his fellow hitters after finishing the 2023 with a .355 OPS and boasting a career .348 OPS. Walks are indeed the only things that are saving his OBP from being completely on the floor, but he's struck out the same amount of times as he's walked in his last seven games. Urshela has been consistently good since 2019, and his $1.5 million contract with the Tigers originally felt like a steal. But his numbers have also tanked even faster than Canha's if you look back over their last 15 and 30 games.

The way both have been performing, there seems to be no earthly way the Tigers can trade either of them for anything very substantial. It could be that they'll be packaged with Flaherty as a nice little bonus that the receiving team can then figure out what to do with, but they probably won't be able to stand on their own at the deadline.