Detroit Tigers should be encouraged by Jeimer Candelario’s performance in 2018

Although he went through his share of highs are lows, third baseman Jeimer Candelario turned in an overall solid body of work for the Detroit Tigers in 2018.

In the summer of 2017, the Detroit Tigers received third baseman Jeimer Candelario from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for reliever Justin Wilson and catcher Alex Avila. Detroit also received shortstop prospect Isaac Paredes in the deal.

Candelario played 27 games with the Tigers in 2017, hitting .330/.406/.468 with two home runs and 13 RBI over 106 plate appearances. Granted, it was a small sample size and it was logical to assume that he might not be able to produce at that level for an entire season, Candelario gave Tigers fans plenty of reasons to be excited heading into 2018.

As could be expected, Candelario went through a few ups and downs in his first full season in the big leagues. In 2018, Candelario had months like April, when he hit a robust .284/.354/.529. But he also had months like June when he it .172/.304/.344, or July when he hit .182/.217/.260. Overall, Candelario hit .224/.317/.393 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI through 144 games.

A switch-hitter, Candelario hit for power from both sides of the plate this season, but was more consistent as a right-handed hitter. As a left-handed hitter, Candelario batted just .199/.303/.358 with 13 homers, compared to .291/.356/.486 with six homers from the right side.

It should be interesting to see if his splits will begin to even out as his career progresses. Moreover, although his batting average may have been a bit lower than some were expecting this season, it was a big positive that he showed he has the potential to be someone who can eventually deliver 20-plus home runs per year for the Tigers.

Going forward, however, Candelario might want to work on cutting down his strikeouts. His 25.8 percent strikeout rate was the highest among all qualified third basemen in baseball in 2018.

Candelario did show a great eye in 2018, posting a 10.7 percent walk rate. Among all qualified AL third basemen, only Alex Bregman and Jose Ramirez were better, posting marks of 13.6 and 15.2 percent, respectively.

Although Candelario’s wRC+ (95) and OPS+ (93) registered below league average (100) in 2018, there is no reason to believe he shouldn’t evolve into a well above league average hitter for many years to come. He has already shown power and the ability to get on base. He just needs to work on his consistency.

At third base, Candelario delivered a noticeable defensive upgrade to Nicholas Castellanos, who moved to right field. Candelario had a 3.5 UZR/150 in 2018, ranking sixth among qualified third basemen in the American League.

Overall, Candelario was worth 2.5 fWAR and 2.0 bWAR. While it may have been a bit of a roller coaster ride, he provided respectable work for the Tigers on both sides of the ball in 2018 while also leaving plenty of room for improvement.

The Tigers are still mired in what is likely to be a rather long rebuilding period, but it is certainly quite possible that Candelario could be a key part of Detroit’s next winning team. He could be representing the Tigers as an All-Star before too long as well.