The Detroit Tigers recently made a move impacting the roster, inking infielder Josh Harrison to a 1-year deal. The two-time All-Star will become the Tigers starting second baseman for the upcoming 2019 season. With the addition of Harrison to the organization a number of roster changes and lineup shuffles will likely happening before Opening Day.
This begs the question: Who does Ron Gardenhire slot into the leadoff position?
The options: Josh Harrison, Jeimer Candelario.
Josh Harrison: In his eight year career Harrison has collected 2787 at-bats, 1109 of those at-bats have come in the leadoff position. These reps constitute 39% of Harrison’s career at-bats. In his time as the leadoff hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates Harrison slashed .296/.332/.436 while displaying a decent amount of power; slugging 69 doubles, 9 triples and 23 homeruns in that span. The veteran has also proven that he is not afraid to steal a bag or two collecting 75 stolen bases thus far in his career. The only downfall to Harrison in the leadoff position is his strike out rate (16%). His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.81/1, meaning he strikes out nearly 4 times to every base on balls he receives.
Jeimer Candelario: Despite only entering his fourth year in the major leagues, Candelario has received 192 at-bats in the leadoff position; around 28% of his 677 career at-bats. In those at-bats Candelario has only mustered a .244 average. In his short career Jeimer has fared much better in the No. 2 slot (.255), No. 5 slot (.267) and No. 6 slot (.300), albeit most of his career ABs have come in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots of the lineup. There are a couple of issues when it comes to Candelario hitting in the leadoff position; he displays little to no power, only collecting 10 doubles and 5 homeruns, and he is unwilling to run with only three career stolen bases.
The solution: Harrison bats leadoff.
Food for thought….
With Harrison being added to the roster, things will likely be shuffled up in comparison to what was originally thought to be the 25-man roster on Opening Day in 2019. I doubt the Tigers and manager Ron Gardenhire will carry a 5-man bench entering the season. Originally, I had thought the bench would consist of Bobby Wilson (C), Mikie Mahtook (OF), Ronny Rodriguez (IF) and Brandon Dixon (UTL). The addition of Harrison likely means that Niko Goodrum will be relegated to bench duty as the Utility player, sending Dixon down to Triple-A Toledo.
When it comes to the double play tandem of Harrison and Mercer, I would expect that there is no learning curve regarding player chemistry, rather, just the adjustments to a new home field. The duo commanded the Pirates middle infield for a majority of the 2018 season, so they should know each other’s fielding nuances and on-field capabilities.