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Return Of Alex Avila Will Make Detroit Tigers A Better Team Against RHP

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Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

According to multiple reports, Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila may be getting very close to going on a rehab assignment. The 28-year-old has been on the DL since May 9 with a knee injury.

In Avila’s absence, James McCann, who made the team out of Spring Training, has done a more than admirable job in taking over the starting duties. Bryan Holaday, last year’s backup who was recalled from Triple-A Toledo upon Avila’s injury, has also done respectable work.

Above all else, McCann’s defense has been particularly impressive, and he now leads all qualified catchers in MLB with a 50 percent caught stealing percentage. At the plate, McCann has also been quite good, hitting .252/.289/.374 with two homers up to this point. However, most of his damage has come against left-handed pitching. Against right-handed pitching, he is only hitting .230/.263/.310. This is an area where the left-handed hitting Avila will be able to help the Tigers.

Although it now appears safe to say that Avila is unlikely to return to being the Silver Slugger-award winning hitter he was back in 2011, he was batting a respectable .244/.404/.400 with two homers against RHP prior to being placed on the DL. Over the course of his career, Avila has hit righties at a .256/.359/.433 clip with a 118 wRC+. Avila may not hit for a much higher average than McCann would against RHP, but he can likely hit with a little more power and draw more walks.

In spite of having very few left-handed hitters, it should indeed be noted that the Tigers have actually been doing nice work against RHP as a team this year. When facing righties, they entered play on Wednesday ranking first in the AL in batting average (.276), first in OBP (.331), seventh in slugging percentage (.417) and third in OPS (.748).

So, while the Tigers may not necessarily need much help in this department, getting Avila back into the mix should still be a major plus. In a perfect-world scenario, Avila and McCann may have the potential to form one of the best catching duos around.

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. 

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