Detroit Tigers: Brandon Dixon has been a nice find
By Brad Faber
The Detroit Tigers are in the middle of another long summer. However, one of the bright spots is that they have found an unlikely source of power in Brandon Dixon.
Before the 2019 MLB season began, if one were asked who would be leading the Detroit Tigers in home runs with just one game left to play in June, their answer probably wouldn’t have been Brandon Dixon. Instead, they likely would have answered Miguel Cabrera, Nicholas Castellanos — or perhaps even Christin Stewart, JaCoby Jones, Niko Goodrum or Jeimer Candelario.
However, Dixon hit his team leading 10th homer this past week, becoming the first Tiger to reach double digits in the home run department. Jones is right behind him at the moment with nine home runs.
What’s more? Dixon did not appear with the Tigers until April 21st, and he didn’t hit his first home run until May 5. He is also leading the Tigers with a .467 slugging percentage, holding a slight edge over Castellanos who is slugging .461.
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The 27-year-old Dixon has been a relatively unlikely source of power. He had his first big league opportunity with the Cincinnati Reds last season, slashing just .178/.218/.356, but showing some pop with five home runs.
Dixon has also shown decent power in the minor leagues, hitting 19 homers back in 2015 and then posting back-to-back 16-homer seasons in both 2016 and 2017. That said, few would have expected him to come up and slug the way that he has been over the past several weeks.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, Dixon has graded out at just 0.0 bWAR and -0.3 fWAR. His current .269 on-base percentage also clearly leaves much to be desired. That said, his power has certainly been an asset to the team in 2019.
In the field, Dixon has actually proven to be rather versatile. Although he has seen most of his time at first base, he has also made starts at third base, second base, left field and right field.
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It remains to be seen if Dixon will be able to continue performing the way he has, but it is not inconceivable that a hot second half could put him in the neighborhood of — or perhaps even push him beyond — the benchmark of 20 home runs. Nevertheless, Dixon’s power surge throughout the months of May and June has certainly been a bright spot in what has been another rough season for the rebuilding Detroit Tigers.