The Detroit Tigers are cruising as they hit the midway point of June. Detroit owns the best record in baseball at 44-24 and they are poised to compete for an American League Central title sitting eight games ahead of the second-place Minnesota Twins entering Tuesday night.
The Tigers are in a good spot, but they could always be in a better position to compete in a wide-open American League pennant race. The MLB trade deadline is one event that could present an opportunity for the Tigers to improve and it could leave a certain player battling for his job over the next month.
Tigers Shortstop Trey Sweeney Could Be Battling for His Job Ahead of Trade Deadline
The Tigers had several players step up on their way to a surprising playoff run last season including shortstop Trey Sweeney. A first-round pick by the New York Yankees in the 2021 draft, Sweeney was acquired in the trade that sent Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers at last year’s trade deadline and made his major league debut on August 16.
Sweeney didn’t make a massive impact at the plate, hitting .218/.269/.373 with four homers, 17 RBI and two stolen bases over 36 games but he logged three defensive runs saved after replacing Javier Báez at shortstop. The added defensive presence helped Sweeney make the Opening Day roster and pushed Báez to center field and third base. But the good story seems to be heading toward an end as this season has progressed.
The 25-year-old still isn’t hitting, posting a .220/.276/.309 batter’s line with four homers and 23 RBI in 61 games. But his metrics have also regressed, with his exit velocity dropping from 91.3 mph to 88.1 mph and his hard-hit rate dropping from 47.4% last season to 33.3% this season according to Baseball Savant.
More importantly, Sweeney has struggled in the field, He’s posted a minus-4 in defensive runs saved and a minus-1 in Statcast’s outs above average metric this season. While The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported that the Tigers “remain invested” in Sweeney as their starting shortstop, they’ve also started Báez at short in four of their past eight games including Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
The Athletic’s report also mentions the Tigers would like to get one more right-handed bat that can punish left-handed pitching at the trade deadline. That spells bad news for the left-handed batting Sweeney, who hasn’t done much hitting no matter who is on the mound.
Unless Sweeney picks it up, the Tigers could look for a short-term replacement to aid their pennant run, pushing the 25-year-old to the bench and putting his long-term future in doubt.