Since his first season in the Detroit Tigers‘ organization back in 2009, infield prospect Dixon Machado‘s biggest asset has most likely been his defense. Slowly but surely, however, his bat appears to be catching up.
In 2014, Machado enjoyed a true breakout at the plate, hitting a combined .286/.375/.404 with six homers and 40 RBIs across two levels of the Tigers’ minor league system (Class A Advanced Lakeland and Double-A Erie).
This past season, Machado began the year in Triple-A Toledo but received a brief call-up in May and later returned for more playing time in September. Overall, he continued swinging a decent bat, slashing .261/.313/.332 with four home runs and 48 RBIs in Toledo and .235/.307/.279 over a small sample size of 78 plate appearances for the Tigers. His numbers in the Venezuelan League this offseason actually look extremely impressive (.295/.403/.486 with four homers and 14 RBIs).
Still, going into spring training, the chances of Machado grabbing a spot on the 25-man roster don’t appear to be in his favor. The Tigers already have a shortstop in Jose Iglesias, and they are pretty well covered at second and third base as well, with the underrated Ian Kinsler and breakout candidate Nick Castellanos manning those positions respectively. Plus, the Tigers already have a pair of utility men in Andrew Romine and Mike Aviles, so there likely won’t be much room for him on the bench either.
While Machado may very well be poised to begin the season in the minors, he will give the Tigers an excellent insurance policy in the event of an injury. The soon-to-be 24-year-old can be expected to continue playing solid defense, and he could have even more room to grow with the bat as well.
