Detroit Tigers: Spotlight on individual offensive performances

The selection process for the 2019 MLB All-Star game is well underway. The initial pass of fan voting–which determines position players–has happened, and perhaps unsurprisingly, no Detroit Tigers were selected.

Currently, twenty games below the .500 mark, the Detroit Tigers have really not had an offensive performance deserving of an All-Star appearance. Now officially last in the AL Central, they are also last in the league in runs scored, second-to-last in home runs and batting average, and third-to-last in OPS. Suffice to say; the Tigers are struggling at the plate.

The rule is that each team is represented by at least one player. For the Tigers this year, that player will almost definitely be a pitcher. There is one final selection done by managers and players, which will fill out the rest of the field as well as nominate the pitchers. That decision takes place on Sunday.

Although the Detroit Tigers will almost surely send a pitcher to Cleveland, there are some offensive honorable mentions to discuss near the halfway point of the season. Additionally, if nothing else, the following players might make possible trade candidates later in July.

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Miguel Cabrera is a curious case in 2019. The good news is that he leads the team in batting average; the bad news is that it is only .290. His power is diminished, and his strikeouts per at-bat have been steadily increasing over the past few years.

That said, his move to permanent DH has mostly paid off. Since the switch, he has raised his batting average and homered as many times as he did in the first 55 games of the season, and he leads the team in RBIs. Cabrera is not, however, a potential trade candidate, as no other team is likely to take on his $30 million deal.

One name that quite possibly could be on the trading block is Nicholas Castellanos. Thus far, Castellanos has been one of the more consistent hitters in the lineup for Detroit. Although his averages are down, he is the team leader in runs created, by far. Essentially, runs created combines positive offensive outcomes and subtracts the resulting outs. By this metric, Castellanos is having one of his stronger seasons. As that continues to climb, contending teams in need of a reliable bat may come calling in July.

With his performance until now, Jeimer Candelario may be playing himself out of a trade this month. His .206 average is the lowest mark of his short career, and it is good for second to last among all starters. Hitting coach, Lloyd McClendon, may have to turn the remainder of 2019 into a project for Candelario, but there are signs he could turn things around and have a stronger second half. With seven hits (two of them doubles) in the past week, Candelario may be trending upward.

Jacoby Jones has had a confounding season. At times, he cannot hit the ball at all, while other times he looks like the best hitter on the team. He is second on the team with 9 home runs, yet also second on the team with 71 strikeouts.

For instance, a few weeks ago, he went 3 for 4 in a game, driving in five runs. A little over a week later, a slump dropped his batting average by thirteen points. Still, his OPS has drastically improved this year, because he is on pace to hit more home runs and draw more walks this season than his first three seasons combined.

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Of course, these offensive numbers are really only decent when compared with the rest of the team, not the rest of the league. No, in all likelihood, the lone All-Star representative for the Detroit Tigers will be a pitcher. Pitching has actually kept the Tigers in games: in fact, their record could be worse. The final All-Stars will be presented on June 30 on ESPN. The game itself will be held in Cleveland on July 9.

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