Writer: Gage O'Leary
Tigers look to recover from devastating 2022 season:
Detroit failed to live up to hefty expectations in the 2022 season after big signings in the off-season, following a 2021 season that filled the city with optimism. The Tigers finished the year 30 games below .500 and sadly the only positive takeaway other than the prospects making their debuts was the fact that they weren't at the bottom of the AL Central standings... They finished just one game ahead of the Royals for last place. Where can you find optimism for Detroit this year? I think it's obvious that it's Riley Greene, the Tigers young star CF who's heading into his 2nd year in the Majors. He was expected to make the team with slugging 1st basemen Spencer Torkelson who was also a rookie last season and is heading into year 2. A broken foot however at the tail end of Spring Training set back Greene's rookie campaign. He didn't make his debut until June 18th vs the Texas Rangers in a game where Detroit won 14-7. Greene had two hits, two walks, and two runs scored in that debut game. His first career Homerun came on July 2nd vs the Kansas City Royals as he followed up a Victor Reyes game tying Homerun with the game winning walk-off shot to dead center in the ninth. One thing we know for certain about Greene heading into his 2nd year is that we will see some amazing defensive play out in center field. With his ability, Greene could go into Superstar status next season. We've already seen him be ranked inside MLB's top 100 players and he's only had half a rookie season to showcase his talents. If Greene becomes one of the better players in baseball at the top of Detroit's lineup next season, what does it do for the Tigers approach at both the deadline and next off-season, because we know it's extremely unlikely the Tigers can compete for the Playoffs this year no matter what Greene does in 2023, but a top player in baseball in the lineup could shorten the rebuild dramatically with the pieces behind him.
Can Greene become the Superstar Detroit desperately needs in 2023?:
I've been high on Riley Greene ever since he was taken out of highschool, 5th overall by Detroit in 2019. I loved his approach to the plate and his swing reminded me of the legendary Ken Griffey Jr. Not everyone will agree with that but I've been saying for a few years that Greene reminds me of Griffey. I think Greene had a great rookie campaign especially when you think about the fact that he came back from a broken foot and played really well. His numbers aren't going to jump out at you on the stat sheet but trust me that's not a factor when you think about this kids potential. He had a solid batting average of .253 with 27 extra base hits that included 5 Homeruns and he recorded 42 RBI's. It's also worth noting he walked 36 times. It's important obviously though to remember that he didn't get to start his rookie year on time because of that injury. He has all the talent and ability he needs to be a breakout Superstar this season but the question is... Is he going to develop to be that Superstar this upcoming season?... I think he will, I really do. It'll be his first full season and the first full season in the Majors with Tork. The ballpark adjustments to Comerica Park though I think will really spark his development. Greene was one of the first to comment on the changes to the home of Tigers baseball but while I was thinking about how it could help him offensively, both Greene and Tigers vice-president Scott Harris viewed it as an opportunity for Greene to further showcase his abilities defensively...
Riley Greene: "I feel like it's a good thing that the fences were lowered, there's still going to be a lot of room out there, so I'll definitely still have a lot of time to get to the ball. I just feel like I have a way better shot (of robbing home runs) with a 7-foot fence. It's definitely going to be a little easier to get up there on a 7-foot wall."
Interesting comments from Greene expressing how he's looking forward to the changes to continue to show off his incredible defensive skills. Defense is criminally underrated in Baseball and often can make the difference in close games and even of course historic moments like no-hitters. It's so often that big plays defensively save pitchers from losing their no hit bids and besides that, flashy defense is extremely exciting to watch, especially if you have a CF who's as talented as Greene, with that much room to cover you'll see plenty of big plays from Greene this season and now possibly a few more Homeruns taken away by Riley out in Center.
Meanwhile, Scott Harris had Greene in mind when making the decision to make changes to the ballpark.
Scott Harris: "The wall height and Riley Greene are related, he's pretty good at robbing home runs, and I think a 7-foot wall is going to give him more opportunity to rob home runs and help our pitchers out."
Which brings us to another factor in Greene being a Superstar in 2023, obviously you have to be great at the plate to earn Superstar status but you know what helps?... Racking up Gold Glove awards too. I expect Greene to be heavily in the conversation for a Gold Glove in 2023. He's already got an incredible highlight reel after the 2022 season and with the changes to Comerica Park he should shine even brighter in CF.
The Tigers are bringing in the Center field wall 10 feet, from 422 feet, to 412 feet before the start of the 23' season. They are also shortening that wall from 8½ feet to 7 feet tall. The wall in right-center field will go from a whopping 13 feet tall to just 7 feet tall and the wall in right will be shortened from 8½ to 7 feet tall. You'll quickly notice a huge difference once the season gets going as Comerica will start to be much more friendly to hitters after being a pitchers park for years.
Tigers notable additions and departures this off-season:
Notable additions:
C, Andrew Knapp (Free Agency)
RHP, Michael Lorenzen (Free Agency)
LHP, Matthew Boyd (Free Agency)
3B/OF, Justyn-Henry Malloy (Trade)
OF/INF, Matt Vierling (Trade)
OF/INF, Nick Maton (Trade)
C, Donny Sands (Trade)
1B, Tyler Nevin (Trade)
Notable departures:
3B, Jeimer Candelario (Free Agency)
INF, Harold Castro (Free Agency)
INF, Willi Castro (Free Agency)
RHP, Kyle Funkhouser (Free Agency)
LHP, Gregory Soto (Traded)
2B/RHP, Kody Clemens (Traded)
RHP, Joe Jimenez (Traded)
INF, Brendon Davis (Free Agency)
OF, Victor Reyes (Free Agency
OF, Daz Cameron (Claimed off Waivers)
LHP, Andrew Chafin (Free Agency)
C, Tucker Barnhart (Free Agency)
LHP, Daniel Norris (Free Agency)
That was quite a lot to unpack to be honest and there is plenty we can talk about with this begining with the big trade in which Detroit sent All-Star closer Gregory Soto along with young infielder Kody Clemens to the Phillies in exchange for three players. Let's get this out of the way though before we begin, yes, I realize I put RHP as one of Kody Clemens positions and that was mostly a joke but honestly, he pitched enough times last year that it's worth counting as a secondary position for him if you ask me lol... The big name in this package is Soto, who was great in the beginning but became wildly inconsistent and couldn't find any command in 2022. I wasn't high on Soto one bit and was somewhat suprsied he made his second All-Star team last year and don't get me wrong, towards the beginning of the season I defended Soto like he was a family member because I thought he'd turn it around but he just didn't, he could never find that command. It got to the point where I nicknamed him "heartburn" because that's what he gave me every time he came out to attempt to close out the game. He's not someone I'm gonna miss watching in Detroit this upcoming season and as far as Kody Clemens goes, I enjoyed watching him but he wasn't really ever gonna take off in my eyes. I think Phillies fans will love him and that Dave Dombrowski, former Tigers GM did a great job getting Kody in this package. It's not a big loss for Detroit though, especially with other prospects like Ryan Kriedler and guys like Matt Vierling and Nick Maton who are coming to Detroit in this trade. There's not much for me to say about the return for Detroit as I'd basically be stepping on the toes of the writers who've covered this trade for the past couple of weeks. I will give you the stats though... Vierling appears to be the guy Tigers fans and insider's are most excited about. He's a former 5th round draft pick of the Phillies and is just 26-years old. He's 6' 3" 205 pounds and is versatile. He can play both outfield and infield and is expected to one of the guys that AJ Hinch plugs into 3rd base in the absence of Jeimer Candelario who is gone, but we'll talk about the Candy man later. Vierling made his debut in 2021 but played most of his games in the 22' season. His career batting average is impressive at .260, he has hit 8 career HR's with 39 RBI's and an OPS of .683 in 396 plate appearances... He's stolen 9 bases in his career on top of that. In 2022 Vierling batted .246 with 6 of his 8 career HR's and recorded 32 RBI's with an OPS of .648 and 7 of his 9 stolen bases. Nick Maton also came in the deal and like Vierling he can play in the outfield and in the infield and could see some time at 3rd base this season. Maton is 6' 2" 178 pounds and again, like Vierling, he's versatile. He was a 2017, 7th round pick for the Phillies and made his MLB debut in 2021 like Vierling. In just 189 career at-bats Maton has hit .254, with 7 HR's, 31 RBI's an OPS of .764 and he stole just 2 bases in his career. In 2022 he hit for .250, with 5 HR's, 17 RBI's, and an OPS of .855... Donny Sands hasn't been in the Majors long enough for me to give you stats or break him down in any way, infact he only has 3 career plate appearances. This was likey a move for depth by Scott Harris.
Moving onto other off-season news...
Andrew Chafin's departure will be a big void that Scott Harris needs to fill and I imagine he will address the relief pitching position before the start of the season. Our bullpen took some huge blows this season, Chafin, Soto, Jimenez, and Funkhouser are all gone. Out of all those guys I think Chafin will be the most impactful loss. He was great for Detroit last season and probably would've made a much better closer than Soto. With Soto now leaving it makes Chafin's departure hurt even more. Now we're obviously figuring out who will take over that roll but I'm confident Harris and Hinch will get that figured out and hopefully they find the right guy.
The Castro brothers are no more, not one of them remain and not only is Willi and Harold gone but so is Jeimer Candelario who was acquired in a trade for former Tigers catcher Alex Avila a few years ago. Candy was one of the bright spots in the terrible rebuild years that Tigers fans have suffered through. He was good, but not ever a great player and started to get even more inconsistent in 2022. I like the move to move on from Candy and Willi & Harold Castro because it shows that we're not gonna stick with guys because it's familiar and the "easy" move and that's kinda what it felt like with Avila at GM. We know we're rebuilding but atleast Scott Harris is removing some of the people whose been here a couple years when we haven't done anything. It's starting to look a little different in Detroit even though we aren't yet in a position to compete and yes, you could say "well Al brought in Baez, Meadows, Eduardo ect.." but you know what, we're actually seeing guys that we've watched for the past however many years it's been leave the building, we grew comfortable if you will with watching these players and still seeing Detroit lose. Something different has to happen and I like that about Harris, even making adjustments to the park couldn't have been a real easy decision but it's something new and you have to try different stuff to climb out of the cellar even if it's not necessarily big moves, we didn't really see that with Avila.
The Tigers catching situation will look a bit different this season with the long awaited return of Jake Rodgers expected as well as Andrew Knapp being signed to a minor league contract as good depth behind Eric Haase. Tucker Barnhart has signed with the Cubs, while he was a great catcher, he was terrible at the plate. Harris made the right call by not pursuing to resign him this off-season. I love that Harris kept Eric Haase for the 23' season, there's great potential there and he has a lot of power which is exactly what we need right now. I don't know if Rodgers will be ready to go for the start of the season, I think he is going to be but not much more has been said in a while. If not I imagine it'll be Knapp behind Haase unless Sands has a great Spring Training. Dillon Dingler will likely need another full season to develop after having struggled in 2022 and he had to battle injuries I belive as well. I like where Detroit is at catcher with good depth and a lot of power once Rodgers is 100% healthy again.
Matthew Boyd is back as he and Michael Lorenzen has been added to Detroit's rotation. These were good signings by Harris with the Tigers ace Tarik Skubal out for a good amount of time in 2023 and Casey Mize's return this season in question after Tommy John Surgery in the early part of 2022. Luckily, Spencer Turnbull is expected back at some point in 2023 after suffering Tommy John Surgery just shortly after his no-hitter against Seattle in 2021. Eduardo Rodriguez will hopefully stay healthy and be the ace until the return of Skubal. Rodriguez signed a 5-year deal with Detroit prior to the 2022 season. Matt Manning looked great at times in 2022 and will be an important piece for Detroit if they wish to improve in 2023.
Lastly, keep an eye on Justyn-Henry Malloy, an intriguing prospect acquired in a trade with Atlanta that sent Joe Jimenez to the Braves. He could join the Tigers OF at some point in the 2023 season if he performs well in the minors this season.
If you even made it this far, thank you so much for taking time to read my work. Looking forward to the return of Tigers baseball. #DetroitRoots
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