Detroit Tigers: Five Players Who Need to Bounce Back in 2017
By Matt Snyder
James McCann
It feels like a make-or-break season for James McCann who once again will enter the season as the Tigers’ everyday catcher. After posting mostly adequate batting numbers in 114 games in 2015, McCann took a step back last year and hit just .221/.272/.358 in 353 plate appearances.
McCann did see an uptick in isolated power (.137, up from .122) but a 42-point decline in BABIP and an eight percentage point rise in strikeout rate made for a lot of additional outs. Perhaps interestingly, McCann’s swinging strike rate remained largely unchanged from 2016 to 2017 while his strikeout looking percentage rose more sharply.
McCann showed a more patient approach at the plate — he got himself into more favorable hitters’ counts, saw more pitches per plate appearance, and drew more walks in the process — but that approach led to him getting rung up on strike three more than in previous seasons. That feels like a more correctable issue, perhaps, as his contact rates remained suitable (though still a tick below MLB average).
If McCann is going to be a useful player on the offensive side of the field in 2017, he’s going to need to maintain the gains he made with respect to power on contact while whittling his strikeout rate back down into the low 20 percent range.