Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
In an effort to shore up their center field situation, the Detroit Tigers acquired Anthony Gose from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for second base prospect Devon Travis this past November. Although Travis got off to a scorching start with the Blue Jays, Gose has been doing tremendous work for the Tigers up to this point as well.
The speedster’s defense in center field has been just as good, if not better than advertised, and he has been swinging a much hotter bat than anyone expected him to. Through his first 28 games, Gose is slashing an impressive .336/.377/.486 with one home run, eight RBIs and seven stolen bases. He also gives the Tigers something they have had trouble finding in recent years: a solid left-handed stick.
Since the Tigers rose to the top of the AL Central in 2011, a large portion of their offense has come from the right-side of the plate. Sure, the left-handed slugging Prince Fielder gave the Tigers a pair of 100-plus RBI seasons before being traded to the Texas Rangers, and the switch-hitting Victor Martinez has been excellent when healthy. However, those are two rather large exceptions.
Over the past few years, the Tigers have seen many left-handed hitters come and go or simply fizzle away. A few of these flash-in-the-pan-type players include Brennan Boesch, Andy Dirks and Quintin Berry. Four years ago, many Tigers fans also thought that left-handed hitting catcher Alex Avila might be an offensive force for seasons to come after hitting .295/.389/.506 with 19 home runs and 82 RBIs and making an All-Star team in a Silver Slugger award-winning campaign, but he has managed to hit only .228/.333/.370 since that time.
Furthermore, Avila is currently on the 15-day DL with a knee injury. Martinez, who had another knee surgery over the offseason, has had trouble getting it going from the left-side this year, hitting only .141 with a .395 OPS. After that, the only other left-handed bat that the Tigers have had besides Gose up to this point has been switch-hitting utility man Andrew Romine.
It was, however, reported on Tuesday that the Tigers had recalled outfielder Tyler Collins, who certainly might be able to provide a little bit of thump from the left-side, but he was hitting only .248/.338/.301 with zero home runs and nine RBIs in Triple-A Toledo. Although it has yet to be confirmed, the move may also be a signal that V-Mart could be headed to the DL.
As of right now, Gose’s strong start is helping fix a huge deficiency in the Tigers’ batting order. Of course, the season is still rather young, and there is a question as to whether or not Gose can continue performing at his current pace. After all, he hit only .234/.301/.332 over parts of three seasons with the Blue Jays, but he did manage a healthier .259/.334/.381 over his minor league career.
While Gose will likely slow down at least a little bit at some point, there is no doubt that the Tigers have to be encouraged by what they have seen from him so far in 2015. Maybe, just maybe, he will turn out to be the left-handed bat that Detroit has desperately needed and continues to need.
Brad Faber is a Senior Writer and Sabermetrics Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Brad_Faber, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.
