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Detroit Tigers news: Alex Avila’s transformation and Anthony Gose’s pitching

By Matt Snyder

May 20, 2017; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Alex Avila (right) is congratulated by third base coach Dave Clark (25) after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2017; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Alex Avila (right) is congratulated by third base coach Dave Clark (25) after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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This edition of Detroit Tigers news discusses Alex Avila‘s transformation as a hitter and Anthony Gose‘s promotion to High-A Lakeland as a pitcher.

The Detroit Tigers weren’t expecting much more from Alex Avila this season than a stable backup catcher, but he’s been one of the better hitters in baseball so far this season. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs took a look at his performance to-date and determines that it hasn’t been much of a fluke.

"if you sort by percentage of 95+ mph batted balls, Avila comes out on top, as 69% of his contacted balls have been hit at least 95 mph this year. More than anyone else in baseball this year, he’s just clustering his batted balls in the exact right areas."

Cameron also notes that Avila has transformed his batted ball profile to be more fly-ball heavy. Hard hit balls in the air turn into home runs and doubles with regularity. That, combined with his always discerning batting eye, has helped him transform into a quality slugger.

Elsewhere, Anthony Gose made his debut on the pitching mound on Monday night with the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers. The results weren’t particularly notable, one walk, one hit, one strikeout, and one run, but Gose did apparently hit 99 mph on the radar gun.

We probably shouldn’t expect much of Gose as a pitcher — at least not anytime soon — but it’s a fun story to follow nonetheless.

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Avila is going to regress from his peak as the season goes on — there’s little doubt about that — but he’ll be able to maintain a high level of success as long as he can sustain his fly-ball heavy approach and top-tier batted ball speeds.

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