THE FINAL GRADES

/ totallytigersblog

by Holly Horning

The Tigers have now completed the 2021 season.  Let’s finish the evaluation of each player that was started back in May.

This list is indicative of the entire year so far, not just the month of September.  Consider it the final grade for each player.

Roster moves have been taken into account.  If you don’t see a player, it’s because he has disappeared into the minor league system or has been on the IL for an extensive period of time.

When sorting through the roster, I’m taking into account the entire picture of each player – slash line, defensive ability and, to a lesser extent, their flexibility/value to the team including the intangibles of leadership, mentoring and mental fortitude.  It’s not entirely about the stats. And for the record, if they are a position players, I’m looking at both their offensive and defensive stats. 

If he’s a rookie, I’m grading a lot on potential as development is usually not linear and early performance is often not a true indicator of talent.

On Thursday, we’ll further dissect this list and make predictions about who will – and should – return next year.  So please save your thoughts about the 2022 roster until then.

Now, for the final evaluation of this year’s players……

LOOKING GOOD

Tyler Alexander (moved up)

Jeimer Candelario

Harold Castro

Michael Fulmer (moved up)

Kyle Funkhouser (moved up)

Casey Mize

Jonathan Schoop

Gregory Soto (moved up)

MORE GOOD THAN BAD (formerly “Trending Up”)

Akil Baddoo (moved down)

Miguel Cabrera

Jose Cisnero

Dustin Garneau (new)

Robbie Grossman (moved down)

Eric Haase (moved down)

Derek Hill

Alex Lange (moved up)

Matt Manning (moved up)

Wily Peralta

Victor Reyes (moved up)

Tarik Skubal

TOO CLOSE TO CALL (could go either way)

Jason Foley (new)

Derek Holland (moved up)

Drew Hutchison (new)

Joe Jimenez

Isaac Paredes

Zack Short

Jose Urena

NOT LOOKING GOOD

Daz Cameron

Bryan Garcia (moved up)

Grayson Greiner

TIME TO GO

Matthew Boyd (moved down)

Willi Castro

Niko Goodrum (moved down)

What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

  • Totally Tigers tweets A. J. Hinch.
  • Where will the Tigers rank in next year’s draft?
  • Why the draft may be changing dramatically.
  • Did you notice Hinch’s change in game strategy over the past week? Do you know why?

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20 thoughts on “THE FINAL GRADES”

  1. Two thoughts: Isn’t it astonishing that Harold Castro deserves to be in a top tier? Secondly, with his penchant for striking out and his .141 batting average, Zach Short is not looking good. His fielding competence dazzled relative to Willi Castro, but he is not a major league player.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Those are two wo very good points. Not only is Harold Castro’s story amazing, but he’s a gritty baseball player who makes key plays at the plate and in the field. Short looked good only relative to his competition but has been a disappointment.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hi, All – As I had prefaced, I give rookies a longer leash. I’m not going to judge a guy like Short who has played only parts of 60 games. Esp. a guy who was being coached by a number of the coaches who were just recently let go by the Tigers. Hinch stated that they have been totally retooling his swing and he’s been getting extra help in coaching. That tells me that they see talent and consider him to be a valuable piece. I’d like to see Short perform after he’s had some time with real coaches before I make a decision. – Holly

      Liked by 2 people

      • Agreed, it’s all about player development which apparently was not readily received by these young prospects. I am certain that Garko will be very careful to not throw the baby out with the bath water. Im sure, with Garko in charge, Meadows, Liniak and Quitana will be given a new learning curve before the Tigs move on.

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      • Hinch and his staff along with the new front office is not going to get everything right all the time. As FA’s are signed and players in the minors develop quicker the context in which players are allowed to develop change rapidly. Today’s project can quickly become tomorrow’s after thought.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. My ‘eyeball’ analysis would put Baddoo and Grossman in the top group ‘Looking Good’ based on their performance YTD. Short has been a disappointment so put him in the group below, ‘Not Looking Good’.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Harold should not be in top tier. I also feel both Funk & Soto should be a tier down. Soto had a few too many blow ups but always rebounded nicely and I do love his ability to go 2 innings so he is just on the outside looking in. Baddoo I would put in the top tier because no had expected anything from him this year. Grossman should also be top tier as I believe he was the first one to embrace the hitting approach and lead others.

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    • I agree. I am curious to Holly’s rational for moving Grossman down. He’s played in more games than he ever has before and although he hasn’t been great lately he has maintained his OBP and solid defense. And he’s got to be close to the best in clutch hitting for the team.

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      • Hi, Naldo – I moved Robbie down, in part, because his numbers started to come down from where he was before. His SO’s are much higher than anyone else’s. His OPS came down where he now sits 4th out of 8th in the everyday lineup instead of the former ones that were #1 or #2. It’s hard to keep someone in the same grading level when their stats have lowered across the board for the most part. My guess is that his age and the long season had something to do with it. – Holly

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Watching the maturation of the bullpen has been exciting. The fact that Holly has included Fulmer, Soto, and Funk in Looking Good is a testament to the fact. And with Lange and Cisnero just a step below, it gives AJ a real arsenal for leverage situations. I truly believe these last 9 to 12 outs would never have known success if roles rather than situations determined the reliever.

    Liked by 4 people

  5. I haven’t been able to watch the Tigers on my satellite network for a few years now, so I only get the perspective brought by reading TT. This is why I was surprised to see Baddoo, Grossman, and Haase moved down. All year long people here heaped praise on these three players.

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  7. Holly: Super job on the ratings. The fact we can nit-pick some of the players up or down highlights our real problem: too many marginal players. I can come up with 4-5 games lost because of Goodrum/W Castro not getting there or blowing a DP. That might have meant 2nd place and/or .500 finish. I think AJ does see potential for Short. He should get a real chance in ST but I can’t predict the result. 2022 is not he time for expensive FA’s . We should fill holes and give our minor leaguers time to develop.

    Liked by 7 people

    • I agree totally but would say the minor leagues are still very threadbare with position players. Yes, there are 2 top prospects and a couple more who may be gold, but Aviila and cronies have failed to select and develop depth, so they will need to be shrewd with trades and free agents.

      Liked by 2 people

  8. Great post Holly. For me, the biggest improvement this year went to the quality of at bats. Not perfect but a definite increased ability to take more pitches and work the count. One notable exception: Niko Goodrum. He simply cannot hit at the big league level and has to go. The other surprise was Miguel Cabrera and his ability to stay healthy, get base hits, RBIs and be productive. Looking forward to 3000 hits and 600 doubles in early 2022!

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Looking at this roster t seems to me that somehow this season the Tigers were able to accomplish 2+2=5. I think .500 will be a difficult achievement next year, unless, of course, there is some serious free agent spending.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. They overachieved with the list of guys here. No objections to rankings. Not sure where 20 more wins comes from if this is the same crew next year. AJ has squeezed for all it’s worth to get to 77.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. So glad to see Funkhouser in the looking good category. I remember seeing him win games with the Whitecaps in 2016 and have been rooting for him ever since. Always excited to hear when he took the mound this season.

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