Detroit Tigers: Things Are Not Going Well for Anthony Gose in AA

Detroit Tigers outfielder Anthony Gose, who has been demoted all the way down to AA, is still struggling mightily at the plate.

Things are not going well for Anthony Gose this year. After beginning the season in the major leagues as the everyday starter in center field, Gose was demoted to AAA after Cameron Maybin returned from injury in mid-May.

Gose had hit just .209/.287/.341 in 101 plate appearances for the major league club.

Originally penciled in to be a platoon center fielder at the very least, the Tigers hoped Gose would be able to turn things around in AAA and find success at the plate.

That didn’t happen. Gose ended up hitting worse at AAA than he did in the majors, posting a .185/.255/.266 batting line across a 50-game stay (206 plate appearances). He was even relegated to right field duty when JaCoby Jones was promoted from AA to AAA to play center field in Toledo.

Gose’s frustration spilled over around the All-Star break when a dugout confrontation with manager Lloyd McClendon led to a suspension and, ultimately, a demotion down to AA Erie.

Here’s what general manager Al Avila had to say at the time of his second demotion:

"Anthony’s transfer to Erie is a move to give him a fresh start to his overall performance as he works his way back to Detroit.”"

It’s a fresh start, maybe, but Gose so far hasn’t done anything to show he’s getting ready to move back toward the majors. His start in AA could hardly have gone worse.

This tweet by Tom Reisenweber of the Erie Times-News sums up Gose’s poor start (and current predicament) with the Erie SeaWolves.

It’s a small five-game sample, but Gose is in a rough position. It must be tough to get your head on straight when you think of yourself as a major league player but even the fans in AA have turned against you.

Many fans called for his release after his spat with McClendon, but there’s really no reason for the club to do that. He was only making the league minimum as a pre-arbitration player in the major leagues and remains under club control for several seasons. He might be outside of the team’s long-term plans for now, but there’s no point in cutting him loose even if his behavior (and performance) have been concerning.

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If he is able to turn his game (and probably attitude) around in AA, the Tigers could still see fit to call him back up to the major leagues in September. But that’s only going to happen if they think he can help the team win and not be a distraction.