Detroit Tigers Must Be Mindful Not To Block Rookie’s Development at Key Position
The Detroit Tigers have started up Spring Training and the team will be having high expectations coming into the new campaign.
It was a strong offseason overall for the Tigers. Despite a slow start in terms of additions, Detroit did a good job strengthening a couple of areas of need.
Most notably, the pitching staff received the most amount of upgrades. The additions of Alex Cobb and Jack Flaherty in the starting rotation have helped not only with the depth of the unit, but Flaherty will be able to provide them with some high-end talent.
In the bullpen, the addition of Tommy Kahnle will give manager A.J. Hinch another arm to use in high-leverage situations.
While the pitching staff is looking much better overall, the lineup didn’t quite get the upgrades that many were hoping for. The signing of Gleyber Torres was a fine move to improve the infield, but getting Alex Bregman would have been a massive splash for the franchise.
However, there is still a lot of young talent on the team that will potentially improve in 2025, making the need for outside upgrades hopefully unnecessary.
Furthermore, the Tigers will also be hoping to get something productive out of one of their most expensive players on the team, who has painfully underperformed.
Brian Murphy of MLB.com recently spoke about Javier Baez potentially getting every possible chance to start at shortstop, which could potentially limit rookie Trey Sweeney.
“The Tigers will likely give him as many chances as possible to remain their leader at shortstop in part because of that commitment.”
Shortstop will certainly be a position to keep an eye on heading into the season for Detroit. Baez will be coming back from hip surgery at some point this coming season, and even though he has struggled, his massive contract might result in him getting opportunities.
Since signing with the Tigers, he has slashed 221/.262/.347 with just 32 home runs in 360 games. The numbers have been awful, but the hope has to be that the hip surgery will help him turn his career back around.
However, if Baez is going to continue to get opportunities, it could hurt the development of Sweeney. The 24-year-old came over to Detroit from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Flaherty trade last season. Due to Baez getting hurt and ruled out for the year, it was Sweeney who was called up and took over as the starter.
In 2024, he slashed .218/.269/.373 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 34 games played. Even though the offensive numbers weren't great in his first chance in the Majors, he played strong defense.
As the team heads into 2025, they will have to find the balance of giving Baez a chance to prove himself without hurting the development of Sweeney in the position. For a team that is going to be trying to compete, this will be a challenging task.
