An Historically Bad Offense Is Just One of the Tigers’ Problems

Collectively, these Tigers are hitting .221/.278/.318. Their slugging percentage is the majors’ worst by 18 points, and their 70 wRC+ the majors’ worst by nine points, while their batting average and on-base percentage are merely the AL’s second-worst behind Oakland. Their 31 homers is 15 fewer than any other team, and meanwhile, they’re in a virtual tie for the majors’ lowest walk rate (6.6%) and own the AL’s second-highest strikeout rate (24.3%)....

Some of what the Tigers have dealt with may be bad luck, sheer randomness, or a product of the deadened baseball. By Statcast, they own the majors’ largest gap between wOBA and xwOBA (-34 points), the fourth-largest gap between actual and expected batting average (-23 points), and are tied for the third-largest gap between actual and expected slugging percentage (-69 points). Even so, their .301 xwOBA and .387 xSLG represent major league worsts, and their 300-foot average fly ball distance is the shortest, 14 feet short of the major league average. In the words of James Brown, “People, it’s bad.”

Individually, just two of the 14 Tigers who have taken at least 55 plate appearances have a wRC+ of 100 or better, namely Harold Castro (142 PA, 119 wRC+) and Meadows (147 PA, 101 wRC+), neither of them full-timers due to their struggles hitting lefties. Castro, a 28-year-old superutilityman, entered the season with a wRC+ of 84 and has nearly tripled his previous barrel rate, from 3.0% to 8.8%. He’s ridden a combination of a 2.1% walk rate and a .343 BABIP to a .299/.312/.460 line while starting 12 games at third, 11 at shortstop, seven at first base, two in left field, and one at second base; the jack of all trades has also pitched twice, including on Wednesday. Meadows has split his time between the two outfield corners but missed 19 games in May and June due to a bout of vertigo and has struggled since returning to the point that he’s slipped below replacement level (-0.1 WAR).