Two Tigers should return to the MLB roster; one should be sent down to Triple-A.
The Detroit Tigers were incredibly enthusiastic about their young players during the offseason, and while it was difficult for fans to fully rally behind that enthusiasm in the absence of the team acquiring any top talent on the free agent market, the young Tigers did provide us with a lot to be excited about.
Riley Greene was returning from injury, Spencer Torkelson had a solid first year, and Kerry Carpenter was expected to have another strong offensive season. Parker Meadows was expected to break out, and Colt Keith was the gleaming new rookie on the block after signing a unique contract before making his MLB debut.
However, things haven’t gone quite as planned. Carpenter was hurt, Torkelson and Meadows were demoted, and Keith has failed to meet expectations.
However, everything is not lost. The Toledo Mud Hens are third in the ILW, and a couple of players are leading the way in hopes of being called up to the majors.
Two Tigers who should return to the MLB roster: Parker Meadows
Meadows was appropriately demoted on May 7 after struggling tremendously in what was meant to be his breakout season. His batting average dropped to.100 just three games into the season, and he was unable to surpass that low mark for the next 29 games. The Tigers had to declare defeat for the time being and send him back to Triple-A to try to regain his swing.
And it appears he has done just that. Since being optioned, he has played 28 games in the minors and has a.288 batting average and.923 OPS. He’s also regained some of the power he was sorely lacking in the majors, hitting six home runs, five doubles, and two triples in that time.
Jace Jung
Jung has yet to make his major league debut, even though there have been some windows of opportunity the Tigers just haven’t taken. Gio Urshela was absent for almost a month, from April 20 to May 14, with a hamstring strain and second/third baseman Jung could’ve been a perfect interim replacement for infield utilityman Urshela. However, Jung had less than 20 Triple-A games under his belt at that point after being promoted from Double-A to start the season.
But Jung has been fighting hard for that call up through almost 60 games in the minors; he’s hitting just as well as Meadows, with a .283 average and .933 OPS on the season and .382/1.328 in the month of June. He had his own two-homer night on June 11, along with an extra RBI and two walks. He’s walking a lot more than anyone expected, with a 16.5% walk rate versus a 10.2% projection from FanGraphs.
With Spencer Torkelson’s more recent demotion, the Tigers have had to do some shuffling that’s led to Mark Canha, Urshela, and even Colt Keith getting some reps at first base, Jung could fill the Urshela-Keith gap at second or third. His 60-rated power could be a massive help to the power-deficient Tigers.
1 Tiger who should be sent down to Triple-A
Colt Keith
Speaking of Keith, he may not be long for the majors either, which would leave the perfect gap for Jung to make his MLB debut. After Torkelson was demoted, attention turned to Keith, who is hitting just as badly as Torkelson was before he went down. Keith is batting .215 with a .544 OPS on the season and sitting at just 19 RBI in 59 games, but his last 15 games have been bleak: .138/.194/.276.
His defence has also fallen short; he has a -1 OAA, which places him in the 30th percentile, and an overall fielding run value of -1 (41st percentile). He recently collided with Akil Baddoo while pursuing a fly ball, and neither appeared to express their intention to get it to the other. Keith was removed from the game following the run-in.
In a recent interview with FanGraphs, Keith stated, “It’s not about the analytics or facts right now. It’s all about your level of comfort. It’s about reaching the major leagues and slowing things down.” Okay, true, but he’s had more than a third of a season to feel comfortable and has It may be difficult for the Tigers to swallow their pride and send Keith, their $28.6 million offseason investment, down to the minors, but it also took a lot to do it with Torkelson, their first overall selection pick in 2020. With Jung waiting in the wings and Keith’s troubles plateauing, it might be time to declare defeat.