Detroit Tigers Could Promote From Within To Fill Void At First Base

Victor Martinez is expected to miss 4-8 weeks after getting surgery on his torn meniscus. V-Mart was supposed to hold the fort at first base until Miguel Cabrera recovered for the stress fracture in his foot. Now the Detroit Tigers are forced to look elsewhere for injury relief and with no viable solutions left on the free agent market that relief will have to come from the farm system.

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Alex Avila and Andrew Romine are the likely options on the big club to fill in part time for Cabrera at first base but Tigers will still need another bat. There are three players in the minors that could get a shot as a result of V-Mart’s injury. None of them are highly rated but all could flourish if given the opportunity to shine.

Mike Hessman

This is a name Tiger fans should be familiar with. Hessman is a career minor leaguer who has found a home in the middle of the Toledo Mud Hens line-up. He has been up to Detroit for a couple of cups of coffee in 2007 and 2008 hitting 9 home runs and 78 At-Bats. Hessman has good power but hasn’t caught on in the majors because of his low batting average. He also bats from the wrong side of the plate as the Tigers didn’t need another right-handed lumbering first baseman with perennial MVP candidates Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez on the roster in recent years.

Hessman could be the fall back choice for Brad Ausmus if no one else in camps steps up to fill the void at first base.

Jordan Lennerton

Lennerton joined the Detroit Tigers organization after being drafted in the 33rd round of the 2008 draft. It took a couple of seasons but Lennerston finally made it to Toldeo in 2013. The 28 year-old left-handed hitting first sacker has a career .276 average and a stong OBP which is almost always 100 points above his average. He also has extra base power slugging over 51 doubles and 27 home runs over two seasons with the Mud Hens.

Lennerston is probably the favorite to keep first base warm for Miguel Cabrera early this season. If he can rise to the occasion he may stick with the big club for a while in injury concerns continue.

Aaron Westlake

Westlake is the youngest of the potential first base replacements for Miguel Cabrera. 2014 was his first at AA Erie where he showed some decent power with 15 home runs but struggled a bit with contact slugging at a rate of just .369. He will get a look in training camp but Westlake may just be too raw to make any kind of impact in Detroit this season.

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