Before yesterday, Detroit Tigers rookie Kevin McGonigle had never led the club in hits or OPS.
After going 3-for-4 with his first Major League home run Sunday against Seattle, he’s now leading the Tigers with 19 hits and a .920 OPS.
The guy he passed? That’d be Colt Keith, who carries an .847 OPS with 18 hits into the upcoming series against Kansas City. Keith’s having quite the year after a couple seasons of being pretty average at the plate.
What makes this different is how Keith’s getting there.
“His hard-hit percentage ranks among the best in the majors, as does his chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone,” Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote Monday. “Keith is also hitting breaking balls maybe as well as anyone in baseball, slugging .750 with an xSLG of .960, that is just ludicrous.”
Miller’s pointing to Keith’s plate discipline – he’s laying off the junk and waiting for his pitch. When it comes, he’s crushing it. The 24-year-old isn’t a huge power threat, connecting for 13 home runs in each of the past two seasons, but that approach is working.
“While we aren’t buying him as an MVP candidate or anything just yet, we’re ready to buy him as a legitimate heart-of-the-order option for a postseason hopeful.”
That’s where this gets interesting for Detroit. If Keith keeps improving at the plate, it’s not just good for his future role with the Tigers – it’s huge for their postseason chances this year.
Now that McGonigle’s emerged as another offensive threat, the Tigers suddenly have some depth they didn’t expect. Not bad problems to have.
