The Detroit Tigers fell short in the playoffs losing to the Cleveland Guardians in the second round of the playoffs. The front office has done a masterful job of securing a young core that will continue to contribute to the team for the foreseeable future. The Tiger’s President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris may elect to build around that core with proven veteran players that can provide stability to that young group. The corner infield was a heavily platooned, and often inconsistent part of the Tiger’s team. The team could benefit from a proven veteran player that can provide production on the offensive and defensive side.The first player we will profile is Alex Bregman, who played 3rd base for the Houston Astros this past year.

CHAMPION

Bregman is a career Winner. He was former player of Aj Hinch form 2015 to 2019. In 2017 they won a World Series. Bregman would go on to win another World Series in 2022 as well after Hinch departed in 2019. He would certainly bring a winning culture to a team that is still riding high off their success in a historical year where they manage to knockout Bregman and the Houston Astros in the first round of the playoffs this year.

🧡Alex Bregman left his mark with the Houston Astros.

🏆2x World Series Champion
🏆2x All-Star
🏆All-MLB Second Team
🏆Silver Slugger Award

⚾️.272 AVG
⚾️1,132 Hits
⚾️181 Home Runs
⚾️663 RBIs

🗣️@justinVerlander: "One of the most impressive baseball minds, competitors I've been… pic.twitter.com/HAJCkY88fu

— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) October 3, 2024

SPLITS

Bregman has a very uncharacteristic split line as far as right-handed batters are concerned. Normally righties fair better against lefties. He has a reverse effect in that regard. His splits against lefties are .224/ .287/ .424/ .712 and .274/ .327/ .464/ .791 against righties. The one major knock he has is his splits with runners in scoring position which are .230/ .279/ .410/ .689.

ADVANCED ANALYTICS

The advanced analytics suggest he is a 5 tool player, who is highly disciplined batter at the plate.  In addition he displays excellent fielding value on the defensive side. More or less he is a prototypical “Scott Harris guy”. According to Baseball Savant he rates in the 95 plus percentile as far as strikeout and whiff rate, as well as the 80 plus percentile of chase rate. Not only is he striking out at a low rate, but he is squaring pitches up at a very considerable clip. Defensively he ranks at 6 OAA (outs above average) which puts him in the 91st percentile.

DURABILITY
Bregman is 30 years old and will be 31 at the beginning of Spring Training. With the amount of money he will be commanding, one might worry about him being on the wrong side of his prime, but overall he has maintained a consistent level of play and durability as he’s entered his 30s. Bregman has played in an average of 150 games over his last 3 years.

Bregman will be setting the new market at 3rd base after San Francisco Giant’s Matt Chatman signed a massive $151 million deal this past summer. Scott Harris has expressed on numerous occasions that he prefers not to stunt the growth of his young developing players, but if they decide to kick the tires on a major signing, Alex would be a nice addition for this already budding team. He would be able to play for a manager he is very familiar with in AJ Hinch, and would certainly bring veteran leadership and vast playoff experience to a team lacking in that department.