Don Kelly.jpg

Don Kelly could see more time in left field at the start of the season now that Andy Dirks is out of action due to a back injury.

(AP Photo)

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Do not finalize that opening day roster just yet.

The Detroit Tigers have a slot to fill in the outfield for their roster following the surprising news Tuesday afternoon that left fielder Andy Dirks

.

The news will mean more action early in the season for Don Kelly, who, like Dirks, hits left-handed and could serve as a platoon partner for Rajai Davis. The injury also leaves a wide open spot on the opening day roster for another outfielder to fill.

Could the Tigers make a trade? Sure. But it seems unlikely. How much would they want to give up for an outfielder to share time in left field for two months?

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said the Tigers will focus on an internal candidate for the position but would not rule out entirely -- Dombrowski rarely if ever rules out an option -- that the Tigers could make a trade to fill the spot. He said the Tigers did not acquire Davis with the idea that he would serve as the everyday left fielder, but that manager Brad Ausmus would ultimately decide on how to split up playing time in left.

Davis has a .294 batting average and a .779 OPS for his career against left-handers, but has hit .255 with a .650 OPS against right-handers. With Dirks out, he will likely get more starts against right-handers than initially planned, but the Tigers are unlikely to entirely abandon a platoon in left field. At the same time, Kelly has hit .235 with a .657 OPS against right-handers for his career. Overall, those number aren't any better than Davis's.

The two internal candidates Dombrowski mentioned are non-roster invitees Trevor Crowe and Ezequiel Carrera, neither of whom has a track record as a strong hitter.

Crowe, 30, is a switch hitter with .240 average and a .615 OPS in 265 games in the majors. He hit .218 in 60 games last season for the Houston Astros.

Carrera, 26, is a left-handed hitter who has played in 131 games in the majors over the course of three seasons. He is a career .251 hitters with a .644 OPS in 366 major-league at-bats and appeared in 15 games for Philadelphia and Cleveland in 2013.

Steve Lombardozzi, acquired in the trade that sent Doug Fister to Washington, could be in the mix, too. With the flexibility provided by Kelly and Lombardozzi, the Tigers could use both of them in left along with Davis and carry another infielder at the start of the season.

The only two outfielders on the 40-man roster who are not expected to start the season with the Tigers are Daniel Fields and Steven Moya, but both of them seem to be long shots to make the roster.

Fields, 23, hits left-handed and batted .284 for Double-A Erie last season but has never played above the Double-A level. Moya, 22, is very unlikely to see time in the majors in 2014. He spent the 2013 season at Single-A Lakeland, where he batted .255.

Expect Dombrowski to scour the trade market. Expect him to ponder picking up an outfielder off waivers who could fill the role in the short term. But it seems likely that, no matter what he does, both Davis and Kelly will get more playing time in April and May than anyone expected.

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