Detroit Tigers Delmon Young back in lineup

On the 27th of April, Detroit Tigers OF/DH Delmon Young was arrested for aggravated harassment in New York as a hate crime. The NYPD stated that he yelled anti-Semitic slurs while intoxicated with alcohol and was put on the restricted list after the incident. The MLB suspended Young for seven days without pay, and he was released on a $5,000 bail. However, he is due back in court on the 29th of May.

At 4:05 PM ET today, Delmon Young will be in the line-up to face one of the team’s rivals in the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox. He will bat fifth in the line-up, and the abysmal defensive player will DH for the Tigers, with Andy Dirks starting in left and batting eighth in the order.

So far this season, the 26-year-old right-hander has been hitting just .242 with a .311 OBP and a .283 wOBA. He currently has a wRC+ of 76 with just one home run in 74 plate appearances after having 12 last season.

Young’s ZiPS projection is down from 1.2 to 1.1 WAR, mainly because his defense has been a little worse than usual and his overall hitting has been a bit worse. He is barely above the 1 WAR threshold anyway and is a poor starter/decent backup at this point. ZiPS has him in line for 15 homers, 73 RBIs, and a .317 OBP and wOBA for this season.

LF Andy Dirks has a .513 slugging percentage through 40 plate appearances early on in this year and has been impressive. He is projected to be a 0.9 WAR player and is only a little worse than Young. ZiPS likes his defense and sees Dirks hitting ten home runs with a .311 wOBA this year.

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