Detroit Tigers: Isaac Paredes’ performance has severely underwhelmed

While the door has not completely shut on Detroit Tigers prospect Isaac Paredes, he has not nearly performed up to the level that the organization has hoped. Things have not amounted to the potential that the Tigers have hoped for, but eventually, the organization has to move on.

Back in 2017, the Detroit Tigers organization was able to bring in Paredes alongside Jeimer Candelario in a trade deadline move with the Chicago Cubs. It took time, but Paredes was able to make the big leagues in 2020 after spending four seasons in the minors across varying levels.

He still found himself in the minors for most of the summers in each of the past two seasons, but he has cracked the big leagues for a combined total of 57 games over the two seasons. His debut came during the shortened season, where he got the monumental call-up alongside Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal.

He would go on to play 34 games where he slashed .220/.278/.290 and then turned around to only find his way onto the roster for 23 games in 2021. His slash line in 2021 did not do much in terms of excitement; he finished the year at .208/.306/.319 in his big league appearances.

The bottom line is, the Tigers felt that at one time, Paredes was going to be able to have a shot at maintaining the team’s shortstop role or at least having a chance to do so. Then it became more likely that he was going to have to shift around, and the team tried him out at second and third base.

Detroit Tigers prospect Isaac Paredes has been severely underwhelming so far.

Paredes still has more than a shot to end up with the team’s roster coming out of Spring Training. But even in his 57 games in the big leagues, he has just not performed at the level the Tigers were likely hoping that he would.

He has not been able to settle in at a position, which is not totally his fault either. But with all of these other prospects in the pipeline, it seems like Paredes is going to have to have a massive breakout season to continue being trotted out there.

As of right now, Paredes is slated to be stationed in Triple-A as the Toledo Mud Hens third baseman heading into the 2022 season. It seems that he is either going to be trade bait or considered a depth prospect who finds his way into the lineup here and there, hoping he can pan out as something special.

It will be interesting to see how the Tigers choose to approach the 2022 season with Paredes. Given his underwhelming performance to this point, there cannot be a ton of hope for him, but it’s hard to close the book on a guy who has not been able to call a position home in the big leagues yet and has not been able to log a long stint with the club besides his 34-game debut.

But at the end of the day, the outlook seems bleak; hopefully, Paredes can change that.