Detroit Tigers: its time to start the Daz Cameron era

With the futility which is the Detroit Tigers outfield, the day has come for Daz Cameron to get his chance.

First-round draft pick, check. Top ten prospect, check. A key piece in deadline deal the team had to have to part ways with a Cy Young pitcher, check. You could even throw in the son of a former MLB player, check. On paper, the resume is chock-full of reasons Detroit Tigers prospect Daz Cameron is ready for the limelight.

The Tigers have a plethora of outfield candidates vying for playing time this year. They are the same ragtag bunch who patrolled the massive confines of Comerica Park last year. A core that finished in the cellar of Major League Baseball. Not the division, not the league, all of baseball, with only 47 wins. And from that team, the best outfielder (Nicholas Castellanos) was traded away and only one outfielder (Jorge Bonifacio) was brought in this offseason.

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All this while Daz Cameron waits in the wings at AAA. The time in now for Cameron to get his shot at playing time. Drafted out of high school in the first round, Cameron was the prize piece the Tigers pried away from the Houston Astros in the Justin Verlander trade two years ago. Cameron has spent four years in the minors, the last two at the top rung.

A career .247 hitter in the minors doesn’t exactly turn heads, but neither do the numbers of the guys the Tigers project to headline the outfield this year. Christin Stewart, career .238 hitter. Jacoby Jones, career .211 hitter.

Victor Reyes, four career home runs in nearly 500 career at-bats. Travis Demeritte, career .225 hitter. Jorge Bonifacio, the one free agent signing of the season, secured just twenty-one plate appearances last year for the Kansas City Royals.

The Detroit Tigers are clearly in rebuilding mode and it would be wise to give Daz Cameron a shot. At 22 years of age, Cameron can start his development at the Major League level now. Yes, there will be growing pains. Let the growing pains happen with Cameron and not the mish-mash the Tigers deployed last year.