Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

Free Press sports writer Anthony Fenech examines what each player on roster has to offer:

Catcher

James McCann handles himself well defensively, with a rocket arm and immense aptitude behind the plate. If he takes a step forward offensively, like his spring performance indicates he can, he could, as one NL East scout predicted, emerge as one of the best catchers in baseball.

He hit .264 with seven home runs and 41 RBIs last season. But his top job is handling a stable of established pitchers.

“If he continues to hit better and manage the staff and call good games, he could make the difference between playoffs and not,” one AL East scout said.

McCann will be in a Tigers uniform for many years to come. This season, he is backed up by veteran Jarrod Saltalamacchia, added because of his left-handed power bat. They won’t platoon, but look for Saltalamacchia to spell him when the matchups are right.

In the minor leagues, Miguel Gonzalez, Raffy Lopez and Bobby Wilson serve as depth.

First base

Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in baseball.

The numbers speak for themselves. Last season, he won a fourth AL batting title. He is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the only question is whether or not he can hold up for an entire season as the years keep coming off his career.

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Defensively, he is overlooked, with great hands and instincts to make up for his lack of range. If he were to get injured for a substantial time, though, the Tigers don’t have much depth. Victor Martinez wasn’t able to play first base this spring. Given his injury history, he probably shouldn’t play there at all. But at some point this season, the Tigers will try Martinez there and hope he can spell Cabrera at times in order to keep him off his feet and more fresh down the stretch run.

Utilityman Andrew Romine can play first but isn’t a long-term option. Same goes for John Mayberry Jr. in the minor leagues. Prospect Dominic Ficociello could be the next man up if something goes awry.

Second base

Ian Kinsler, the consummate professional.

Year in and year out, the Tigers’ second baseman is consistent. He hits, he fields, he plays the game right, and last season, after shaking off an early-season slump, he was their hottest hitter in the second half.

Kinsler is a lifetime .276 hitter. He is a perennial Gold Glove finalist and hasn’t endured any serious injuries in his two years with the team. He will be the key to the ignition of a high-powered offense, hitting leadoff.

Off the field, Kinsler has taken it upon himself to show shortstop Jose Iglesias the ropes, and between the two, the Tigers have their best double-play combination since Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker. Kinsler is a glue guy, a winning player, one the team can’t afford to lose for an extended time.

But unlike first base, they have insurance policies in place. Utilitymen Mike Aviles and Romine can play the position. Kinsler routinely plays over 150 games, so his absences in the lineup come sparingly.

Third Base

Nick Castellanos is entering his third full season in the big leagues.

And if the second half of last season was any indication, it’s going to be his best season. After nearly getting demoted to Triple-A Toledo before the All-Star break, the third baseman rebounded in a big way in the second half, hitting .269 with a .478 slugging percentage.

Defensively, he remains the team’s weak spot. That isn’t likely to change. While he made improvements last season, he still wasn’t even average at the hot corner. But the Tigers, in reality, don’t need him to be.

One NL West scout said this of Castellanos: “He makes the plays he needs to. Not going to be flashy, but not going to kill them, either.”

Aviles and Romine have experience playing third base, and Castellanos again likely will be subbed out as a late-innings defensive replacement.

Shortstop

Everybody knows about Jose Iglesias’ defense.

He is one of the premium shortstops in baseball. He makes hard plays look easy and makes plays that others can’t. Last season, he was on the outside looking for a Gold Glove largely because of the time he missed late in the season.

But this spring, Iglesias has been opening eyes with his bat.

“I think he’s grown up as a hitter,” one NL Central executive said, noting his comfort level inside the batter’s box and ability to hit the ball to the opposite field.

Iglesias hit well above .300 for the spring. In 2015, he hit .300 with 44 strikeouts in 416 at-bats. He will hit near the bottom of the order.

Questions about his durability remain, but the larger issue of the stress fractures in his shins that kept him out for the entire 2014 season have been quieted.

The Tigers have plenty of shortstop depth: Aviles and Romine are shortstops by trade and could hold down the fort in the case of an injury, and marinating in the minor leagues is young Dixon Machado, who has the ability to field in the major leagues on an everyday basis but not yet hit.

Centerfield

It’s Anthony Gose’s show — for now.

With Cameron Maybin out until at least mid-April recovering from a fractured left wrist, everyday playing time in centerfield will go to Gose. He has struggled offensively this spring but won’t play as prominent a role as he did last season, when he often hit at the top of the order.

In the short term, Tyler Collins will back up Gose. In the long term, Maybin is almost certain to hit against left-handers and could take the job outright if he proves to be an upgrade against right-handers.

Despite the defensive metrics that diminish his efforts, Gose is a good defender in centerfield. After he spoke out against such metrics earlier this spring, scout after scout came to his defense, speaking of the strong throwing arm and ground he covers. Maybin has good speed, too, but isn’t quite the defender Gose is.

Collins has shown the ability to play centerfield but isn’t a long-term option there. Romine has played sparingly there this spring and could play in an emergency role. At Triple-A Toledo, Wynton Bernard will spend another season developing and could see time with the big league club this year if injuries hit.

Leftfield

Justin Upton will start in leftfield.

He was the answer to the Tigers’ lone question offensively, when in late January he became the latest recipient of a lucrative, long-term deal from owner Mike Ilitch. The specifics: six years, $132.75 million.

Upton is a veteran and in his prime — at 28, some scouts think his best days remain on the horizon — and he transforms the team’s lineup from good to great. He should benefit from hitting in front of Cabrera, another threat in a lineup consisting of threats. Throughout his career, Upton has been the hitter that opposing pitchers don’t want to beat them.

He is streaky, as evident this spring, but possesses elite talent and has good baserunning ability. Upton’s power-speed threat will play nicely into the second spot in the lineup. He is average in leftfield and will hit second in the lineup.

Aviles and Collins (short term) and Gose or Maybin (long term) can play leftfield when Upton needs a blow.

Rightfield

J.D. Martinez will start in rightfield.

Last season, he not only answered questions about a repeat performance offensively after his breakout 2014 season, but he surpassed them, hitting .282 with 38 home runs and 102 RBIs. Martinez is one of the premier power hitters in baseball.

But his biggest improvements came defensively last season, when he was a finalist for the AL Gold Glove. In 2015, he ranked third in the league with 15 outfield assists, but those improvements were even more evident with the routes he took and the jumps he got on fly balls.

Martinez played nearly a full season last year. Barring injury, expect him to replicate that this year.

Designated hitter

Victor Martinez is back, and he looks healthy.

Last season, Martinez returned too soon from a second major left knee surgery and paid for it with a month-long disabled list stint and career-worst numbers. This spring, the rest that the Tigers hoped would restore him to top form seems to have worked, and he is hitting with authority from both sides of the plate.

But this spring hasn’t come without a hiccup. Martinez missed two weeks with a mild left hamstring strain. It is fair to question his durability, and whether all the miles on his knees will catch up to him at some point. If the Tigers can get 130 healthy games out of Martinez, it should be considered a win.

He doubles in importance as their only left-handed bat in the middle of their order.

Bench

Aviles and Romine can play all around the diamond. Aviles brings a veteran presence on and off the field, and Romine again will be deployed by Ausmus not unlike Don Kelly was in years past. The argument against having both of those similar players on the roster was answered by the Tigers preferring to have a multitude of options late in the game, which they provide. Saltalamacchia swings a power bat and can hit left-handed, which Ausmus can deploy in late-game pinch-hitting roles and either Gose or Maybin — whoever is not playing that night — can serve as a pinch-runner though neither is a basestealer in the mold of Rajai Davis. At the moment, Collins will get cracks sparingly but has proven to deliver a pinch-hit or two in key situations.

Starting pitching

Over the course of a full season, postseason teams have one thing in common: solid starting pitching.

Last year, the Tigers didn’t have it. This year, after revamping nearly half of their rotation, they appear to. But it isn’t as automatic as it has been in years past.

Again anchoring the rotation is right-hander Justin Verlander, who appears back to his normal self after a big second half in which he posted a 2.80 ERA in 15 starts. The team’s first off-season addition was arguably their biggest, signing right-hander Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year deal, and one NL West scout predicts that by the end of the season, he will emerge as the team’s ace.

But after those two horses, there are questions abound.

Right-hander Anibal Sanchez is a great pitcher when healthy, but he hasn’t been healthy a great deal in the past three seasons. Already this spring, he missed time with lower right triceps inflammation.

“It’s going to depend a lot on Verlander and Sanchez,” one NL Central executive said. “That’s where it’s going to live and die.”

Behind those three, which stack up nicely against all comers if healthy, is free-agent addition Mike Pelfrey, who is throwing harder than he did last season in Minnesota and should benefit from the team’s defense up the middle, and now right-hander Shane Greene, who looks close to his early-season self from a year ago.

“I like the top of rotation, but still questions on back end,” an NL East scout said. “If No. 3-5 pitch well, they will be tough.”

But given Sanchez’s injury history and the fact Greene is coming off surgery and Pelfrey’s ineffectiveness at times last season — not to mention the miles on the arms of Verlander and Zimmermann, which could expose them to more injuries — their rotation can’t be penciled in as a huge strength.

What does appear stronger than last year is their depth. Left-hander Daniel Norris — once the front-runner for the final rotation spot — will be back sometime in April. Lefty Matt Boyd just missed out on a rotation spot, and right-hander Michael Fulmer, the team’s top prospect, will start the season in the Triple-A Toledo rotation.

Relief pitching

The Tigers thought they had shored up the bullpen. Then the final two weeks of spring hit. And while the bumps and bruises they’re dealing with aren’t huge, and they don’t affect the back-end trio, it does show they are again a bit thin.

“I’m not sold on their bullpen,” one NL East scout said. “The overall depth just isn’t there.”

In the back, they added veteran closer Francisco Rodriguez, set-up man Mark Lowe and, in perhaps general manager Al Avila’s best move of the off-season, lefty Justin Wilson. Lowe has struggled this spring, which hasn’t sounded many alarms in camp. But the injuries to Alex Wilson and Blaine Hardy certainly do, with nonproven options like Buck Farmer and Kyle Ryan now making the Opening Day roster.

One reliever who has opened many eyes is right-hander Drew VerHagen. Scouts were surprised the Tigers optioned right-hander Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo, many thinking he was one of their seven best bullpen arms despite the inconsistency. Veteran Bobby Parnell’s velocity has risen, but his effectiveness is still inconsistent. The Wilson and Hardy injuries aren’t huge, but they are a sign of things that could come, with the Tigers unable to hold leads in the middle innings to get to their back-end guys.

Manager

It has been a tumultuous first two seasons for Brad Ausmus.

In 2014, the Tigers underachieved, a well-built machine swept out of the playoffs in the first round. Last season, they hit rock bottom, finishing last in the American League Central, and it nearly cost him his job.

This year, it won’t take until midseason for his seat to heat up. There were improvements in his second year, and there will be improvements in his third year. Major league managing consists of a steep learning curve, no matter how many years one has played the game. It’s even tougher when a manager doesn’t have reliable relievers to count on, which Ausmus didn’t on the majority of nights last season.

The Tigers have an improved bullpen. They again have a championship-caliber team. He is in the final year of his contract. One NL executive who has known Ausmus since his minor league days is convinced the Tigers have a long-term solution at manager. He escaped last year by the skin of his teeth. But if his improvements don’t translate into improvements in the win column — namely, a postseason berth — his days in the Detroit dugout will be short-lived.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@anthonyfenech.

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