Detroit Tigers: Could John Hicks be challenged for backup catcher job?
By Brad Faber
The Detroit Tigers will have a few position battles this spring. Among these is the backup catcher job, although John Hicks certainly appears to be the frontrunner.
Back in 2016, the Detroit Tigers claimed John Hicks off of waivers from the Minnesota Twins. Hicks had a solid season in the minors that year, batting a combined .310/.358/.480 with 10 homers and 47 RBI over 352 plate appearances. He later saw time with the Tigers in September.
While Detroit entered the 2017 campaign with a catching tandem of James McCann and Alex Avila, Hicks was ultimately given his opportunities with the big league club. Through 60 games, Hicks batted .266/.326/.439 (100 OPS+) with six home runs and 22 RBI. When including his Triple-A numbers, Hicks belted a total of 13 home runs last year.
Though Hicks saw time with the Tigers early on last season, he received the majority of his playing time in the final two months of the season after Avila was traded to the Chicago Cubs.
Any chance of the Tigers bringing Avila back for a third tour of duty with the team has now been ruled out — at least for the time being. In late January, Avila signed a two-year deal to join the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Going into the 2018 season, McCann is apparently in a position to be the Tigers’ starting catcher. However, Hicks appears to have a great chance to open the year as the Tigers’ backup catcher. According to Evan Woodbery of MLive, Hicks appears likely to earn the job this spring. Woodbery also notes that Hicks is out of minor league options, so the Tigers could risk losing him on waivers if he does not make the Opening Day roster.
Potential competition
While Hicks certainly appears to have the inside track on the backup catcher job, he should still have some mild competition in spring training. The Tigers signed a pair of veteran backstops to minor league deals this offseason in Derek Norris and Brayan Pena.
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Norris was an All-Star with the Oakland Athletics in 2014, but his production has fallen off over the past few seasons. Last year, he batted only .201/.258/.380 (72 OPS+) with nine home runs and 24 RBI through 53 games with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Pena, a former Tiger who served as a capable backup catcher for the club in 2013, spent last season in the Kansas City Royals minor league system. He last appeared in the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016 but was limited to only nine games due to injuries. Pena did, however, have a nice run with the Cincinnati Reds after leaving the Tigers, hitting .263/.313/.339 over 739 plate appearances between 2014-15.
Although Norris and Hicks could potentially make the backup catcher battle a bit more interesting in Spring Training, it appears far more likely that one or both will begin the season in Triple-A as insurance policies for the Tigers.
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Last year, Hicks, who is now 28 years old, showed that he could be a solid backup catcher and also deliver a certain amount of thump with his bat. He has a history of swinging a hot bat in the minor leagues and has finally been given a decent opportunity to show what he can do in the majors. Assuming he gets the job, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him do very respectable work for the Detroit Tigers once again in 2018.