Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Tigers were going to be faced with a tough decision at the end of the season, but Jose Iglesias is trying to make it a little easier for them.
Jhonny Peralta was set to return to the team with just a few games remaining in the regular season, but with the way Iglesias has been playing lately, it doesn’t look like they’ll need him.
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Iglesias is a defense-first shortstop, and there is no doubt he is a better defender than Peralta. The difference is what Iglesias brings to the plate. Over the past seven days, Iglesias is 10-for-23. He is hitting for a .323 batting average this season, and striking out at an impressively low rate for someone who is just 23-years-old. He has just 44 strikeouts in 282 at-bats this year and is figuring out how to be the pesky out the Tigers want him to be.
Peralta was one of the best power hitters at the shortstop position in the league, but the Tigers don’t need someone who can hit home runs out of that spot in the lineup. They need someone who can make up for Miguel Cabrera‘s lack of range, and everything that Iglesias is bringing at the plate is just an added bonus.
Outside of the fact that he may be a little rusty, it doesn’t make much sense to put Peralta back in the lineup. Cabrera’s injuries have shown that his range has diminished and the Tigers would be better off with a defensive-minded player at the position.
The Tigers were able to take a position in which they had a surplus of players and add one who will certainly improve the team for years to come. Iglesias is making the Tigers’ decision easy while simultaneously making Dave Dombrowski look like a genius.
David Fouty is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davefouty, “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.
