Detroit Tigers Star Earns Top 10 Outfielder Ranking, Teammates Close Behind
The Detroit Tigers pitching staff lead the team on a miracle run into the postseason last year and will now need their offense to take a step up next time around.
They do have at least some promising young position players, with most of them patrolling the outfield.
Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently released an updated ranking of the top 25 best outfielders in baseball. The Tigers had one player make the top 10 and three others named honorable mentions.
Kerry Carpenter - Honorable Mention
Carpenter could have made the top 25 if he didn't miss so much time due to injury.
In the 87 games he did play last season, he put up a 284/.345/.587 slashing line with 18 home runs and 57 RBI. He has one of the best bats in baseball and is at least an average defender thanks to his strong arm.
He splits time between right field and designated hitter, but mostly shines as the latter.
Parker Meadows - Honorable Mention
Meadows was one of the many rookies in Detroit to get off to a solid start for his career. He had an okay stint last year, but built upon it for his longer run in the Majors this season.
He struggled heavily to start the year, posting just a .096/.224/.219/.443 line and getting demoted back to the minors after just 32 games.
The 25-year-old didn't stick around on the MLB roster until August. During his final stretch of 47 games, he put up a .296/.340/.500 slashing line with six home runs and 23 RBI.
Matt Vierling - Honorable Mention
Vierling has become an at least reliable presence in the outfield. While it isn't likely that he breaks out into a surperstar, he has been at least solid over the last two seasons.
The now 28-year-old put up a .257/.312/.423 line this past season with 16 home runs and 57 RBI. He had one of the best campaigns of the Tigers offense.
Riley Greene - No. 9 overall
Greene is the team's offensive superstar. He has lived up to the expectations of a No. 5 overall draft selection and has continued to only get better.
His age 23 season saw him make his first All-Star team with a .262/.348/.479 slashing line with 24 home runs and 74 RBI.
Along with being an elite slugger on offense, he has been an above average defender in left field.
He both draws a lot of walks and hits the ball hard when he makes contact. His biggest issue right now is a fair amount of whiffs leading to strikeouts.
