DETROIT – The full Detroit Tigers roster reports to spring training today, and for some players, these next six weeks have a little extra importance.
Most of the Opening Day roster is set in stone, but there are a few roles that still need to be ironed out.
Team President Scott Harris called the next month and a half critical for the Tigers because they don’t have the type of team that can afford to just through the motions. They need to get better if they want to compete in the AL Central.
But this spring will be especially important for a handful of players.
Akil Baddoo
I don’t think it’s any secret that Baddoo is fighting for a roster spot this spring. The one-time Rule 5 success story limped through a couple of disappointing encores to his rookie season, and now the outfield in Detroit is starting to get a bit crowded.
It was spring training when the legend of Baddoo first began to grow in 2021. The Tigers took a chance on him in the Rule 5 draft, but he had never played a game over Single-A and didn’t seem likely to make the Opening Day roster.
But Baddoo didn’t give the Tigers a choice. He was so good during spring training that the Tigers took him north, and he rewarded them with a 13-homer, 18-steal rookie season.
Over the past two seasons, Baddoo has played 185 games with the Tigers while bouncing between the majors and Triple-A Toledo. He’s still got some power, great speed, and the ability to draw a walk. But a strikeout rate over 26% and a weak-contact profile give Baddoo a thin margin for error.
Two of Detroit’s likely starters in the outfield -- Riley Greene and Parker Meadows -- bat left handed, and utility man Zach McKinstry does, as well. So Baddoo really can’t afford to have a poor spring training if he wants to hold off emerging players like Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Casey Mize
It’s been nearly two full years since Mize pitched in an MLB game, and even when he was healthy, he had a lot to prove after an underwhelming start to his career.
But now Mize is back, and nobody knows what to expect.
Even though he was a top-five prospect with solid strikeout numbers in the minor leagues, Mize lacked dominance at the big-league level. His 19.3% strikeout rate in 2021 suggest he was very fortunate to post a 3.71 ERA in his only full season.
The Tigers are almost certainly going to give Mize a spot in the starting rotation this year, but what does the role look like? Is he a full-blown starter right out of the gates? That seems unlikely. Mize won’t be allowed to go from 10 combined innings over the past 24 months to 150 innings in 2024 -- he’ll need to be managed carefully.
If Mize looks fully healthy this spring, he’ll likely open the season with some shorter starts -- maybe three or four innings apiece. But Reese Olson and Sawyer Gipson-Long both earned opportunities to compete for rotation spots, so former top prospects like Mize and Matt Manning can’t afford to take this spring for granted.
Kerry Carpenter
Carpenter was a bright spot for the Tigers last season, settling into the heart of the order and hitting 20 homers with an .811 OPS.
The Tigers are really counting on Carpenter to be a power source alongside Spencer Torkelson this year, and to do that, he needs to shake off a poor end to his first full season.
On Aug. 27, 2023, Carpenter woke up with a .905 OPS, 20 home runs, and a .356 on-base percentage through 86 games. In his final 32 games, he didn’t hit a single home run and posted a .599 OPS with 42 strikeouts in 139 plate appearances (30.2% strikeout rate).
Full-season results are more predictive than focusing on specific hot or cold stretches, but that final month does raise some red flags for Carpenter, who wasn’t exactly a high-profile prospect at the time of his promotion.
But this spring will be most important for Carpenter in the outfield. Carpenter isn’t likely to be removed from the batting order, but he might be banished to designated hitter if he struggles defensively.
Carpenter improved as an outfielder last season, but with Greene, Meadows, and Mark Canha all on the roster and the designated hitter spot wide open, he might not get as many defensive reps.
The Tigers would love to see one of their young building blocks earn a corner outfield job over the 35-year-old Canha, but Carpenter is going to have to prove it in Lakeland.
Colt Keith
The Tigers very much want Keith to seize the starting second base job and run with it, but that’s not a foregone conclusion just because he received a long MLB contract.
There’s nothing left for the 22-year-old to prove in the minor leagues after posting a .932 OPS across the top two levels last season. But the Tigers don’t want to set him up to fail, either, if he looks overwhelmed by MLB pitching in the spring.
Keith has an advanced approach at the plate that should result in strong OBPs and 20+ homer power. But he’s only played 126 games above Single-A ball, so earning a starting role on an MLB roster is a big leap.
Keith also needs to prove he can at least stay afloat defensively. The Tigers already have an error-prone shortstop and some questions at third base, so they can’t afford a liability at second. Defense is not considered a strength for Keith -- he just needs to be good enough.
As long as he puts together competitive at-bats and makes the routine plays in the field, Keith will break camp as an everyday player for the Tigers.
Matt Vierling
Vierling is going to be an MLB player for a long time. He’s a solid hitter, an excellent runner, and a versatile defender. For those reasons, he’ll always have a spot on a roster.
But this spring, Vierling has a chance to be more than a roaming fill-in at several different positions. He arrived in Lakeland as an early favorite to be the Tigers’ primary third baseman. With Josh Jung knocking on the MLB doorstep, that probably won’t be the case next year if he doesn’t capitalize on this opportunity.
Vierling played more and more third base as last season wore on, and he handled himself well defensively. The question is whether he deserves to be a full-time player or part of a platoon with someone like McKinstry, who bats left handed.
Vierling actually hit right-handers better in his first full MLB season, so he doesn’t seem doomed to platoon for the rest of his career. But he was still basically just a league average hitter, and the Tigers might think they can maximize their production at third base by pairing Vierling with someone like McKinstry.
This spring is Vierling’s chance to seize a rare everyday job while one is available.
