Left Field in Detroit This Summer

While there is a gaping hole in the role of closer for 2013 in Detroit (see previous post), there is a less gaping hole in left field. Its "gapiness" is still present, however, though less than that of the role of pitcher, due to the potential that waits for its everyday opportunity.

The cast of potential consists of four players.

Andy Dirks, Avisail Garcia, Brennen Boesch, and Jeff Kobernus.

Here are the reasons that they will and will not be the Detroit's everyday left fielder.

Andy Dirks

Why He's the Man

This is his time. He hit .322 last year with an .857 OPS in 314 ABs. He spent time on the DL last year, minimizing his impact, but returned to continue on his solid pace. He is the logical choice and Jim Leyland has said that it is his spot to lose.

Why He's not the Man

He's got the lowest up-side of all four options. He is small, a mediocre defender and will never be an all-star. The other three have a much higher upside that Dirks.

Avisail Garcia

Why He's the Man

Avisail was given a gift last September. He was called up to play at Comerica and did not disappoint. In 47 Abs he hit .319. He is also hits from the right side, unlike Dirks and Boesch. He will almost certainly get some starts against left-handed pitching.

Why He's not the Man

Sure he hit .319 as he had 15 hits in his 47 ABs... However, all 15 of his hits were singles. No doubles, no triples, and no home runs. If Avisail is going to live up to his potential, he will need to learn to hit with more power.

 

Brennen Boesch

Why He's the Man

Brennan Boesch has the most experience out of the crew. He has shown he can hit with "country-strong" power while maintaining an acceptable batting average.

 

Why He's not the Man

He had his chance last year. He wont the spot in right field and turned out to the be the biggest disappointment of 2012 for the Tigers. His batting average in 2012 was .240, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for his OPS that fell from .799 in 2011 to .659 in 2012. He is still young, at 28 years old, but will have to have a solid spring to make the team.

Jeff Kobernus

Why He's the Man

He is young and he is fast. Over the past four years in the minors he has stacked up 120 SBs in under 1200 ABs. His batting average has been climbing to over .280, but will have to work on plate discipline as his OBP was only .320.

 

Why He's not the Man

He is a long shot. He is the new guy in town who has never played above AA ball.

Defensive Soft Spots Revealed in Detroit

We knew that the defense was going to be down. Picking up Prince Fielder didn't exactly happen for his glove. Moving Miguel Cabrera to third base wasn't for his quick feet. Snagging Delmon Young wasn't for his range. Giving Boesch more and more AB's isn't so he can use his deep intuition in right.

Let's be honest... The Tigers snuck by for the first 36 games as mediocre defenders. Committing 21 errors through Tuesday would have kept them in the top ten best in baseball. However, we learned against Minnesota that they are not mediocre defenders. In fact, we learned that they are poor defenders and that errors are costly. The four errors on Wednesday led to four unearned runs and probably cost us the game as we lost by four. The two errors on Thursday led to one unearned run and probably cost us the game as we lost by one. (Not to mention that Prince Fielder's error has embarrassing for everybody. No wonder why he never gets hurt.)

Overall... Again... We didn't put this lineup together to be great at defense. We put this lineup together to score a boat load of runs. And this is the problem. 

So what that the Tigers are 21st in fielding percentage at .981? This is expected. What is unexpected is that the Tigers are 11th or 12th in just about every major hitting category.

11th

AVE (.256)

H (329)

R (167)

12th

OPS (.719)

HR (37)

By the way, Cleveland is thus far better than the Tigers in just about every major offensive category. Here is what their lineup has looked like the last three days.

The realty that this lineup is producing better that Detroit's is more embarrassing than Prince Fielder's defense. The irony is that without Jackson or Dirks, these numbers would be even more frightening. Hopefully they can keep it up while the rest of the team begins to pick it up as many have been putting in extra time at BP.

I was earlier arguing that when Victor Martinez returns, the Tigers lineup could be the best in history. I am now beginning to question if this is true.