Detroit Tigers Roster Preview: Ian Kinsler
Feb 28, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler (3) poses during Photo day at Joker Merchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Quick hits
Name: Ian Kinsler
Age: 32
Position: Infielder
Salary: $13 million
Height: 6′ 0″
Twitter handle: N/A
How the Detroit Tigers got him: November 2013 for first baseman Prince Fielder
2014 season recap
In his first season as a Detroit Tiger Ian Kinsler saw great success defensively as he led the AL in putouts, 290, and was third in assists, 467, among all second basemen. In 161 games Kinsler also had 188 hits along with 40 doubles 4 triples 17 home runs and 92 RBI. He averaged a .275 batting average along with a .420 slugging percentage.
Kinsler also played in the All-star game after replacing teammate Victor Martinez. With his terrific defensive performance through the 2014 season Kinsler received the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award.
2014-2015 Season Potential
Ian Kinsler will be heading into his second season with the Detroit Tigers and his potential is still high. He is clearly a highly dominate defensive player and only being 32-years old he has a few more highly effective seasons in him.
One thing I like about Kinsler is his ability to steal bases. Kinsler stole 15 last season while yes he isn’t steal 25 or even 30 plus bases anymore, he still has speed and can be very effective in the bath paths now that we have a manager in Brad Ausmus who is more willing to use the running game.
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However, while I think he still has the potential we will look at how stolen bases can also be a weakness for Kinsler.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Weaknesses
One weakness for Kinsler would be his decline in attempts when it comes to stolen bases. It makes sense that Kinsler would see a decline over the seasons because as you get older you are bound to get a little slower.
Here is a fancy graph from baseballprof that can nicely show you Kinsler and his decline over the years when it comes to stolen base attempts.
Chart from http://www.baseballprof.com/2015/01/ian-kinsler-2015-fantasy-projection/
Strengths
The strength of Kinsler is very easy; he is a highly productive player who will do nothing but help the Detroit Tigers win. He is more than likely going to have 70 RBI, hit roughly .280, maybe .290 and will have anywhere between 15 to 20 home runs.
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Depth Chart
A clear starter at second base. I don’t see him getting moved down at that position.
Fast fun fact
Ian’s has said that his favorite baseball movie is Field of Dreams. While he says his favorite movie of everything is Boondock Saints. (Thank you JockBio.com for that little nugget of information)
What do you think Ian Kinsler will do this season? Do you think that maybe he will try to steal more bases? Do you think he will continue to stay as productive as he has the in previous seasons? Stay connected with Detroit Jock City as we continue to look at the Detroit Tigers roster.
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