This offseason the Tigers traded for former-Tiger Cameron Maybin, in hopes that he and Anthony Gose could combine to become an “okay” CF combo this season; however, they never could have imagined just how good Maybin would be on his own.
In 63 games this season, due to injuries that cropped up during Spring Training and again recently, Maybin is hitting .325 with an OBS of .394 and an OPS of .792. He and Ian Kinsler (.291-21-62 with 91 runs scored) have combined with Miguel Cabrera (.312-26-76) to form one of baseball’s best “top-of-the-order” combinations in baseball. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Justin Upton hasn’t hit at all for them, plus J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos have battled injuries (as we previously noted). Maybin also chipped in with 13 SBs, which is tied for the team lead with Kinsler, which is important for a team who only has three players with six or more stolen bases (Upton, 8).
The team may have to call up Gose from AAA to fill Maybin’s spot; however, while the defense may marginally increase, the offense will disappear as Gose is hitting just .209 in 91 ABs this season.
There is speculation coming out of Detroit that the Tigers may kick the tires on CF Carlos Gomez who was recently waived by the Houston Astros. Should the Tigers make a play for Gomez they would owe him about $2.5 million through the end of the season. This move would be easier to make than finding a replacement for our last injured Tiger…