FanPost

2018 Outlook: Nick Castellanos

Towards the end of the 2017 season fans got a taste of what was to come in 2018. The Tigers were in full tank mode and 30-plus games out of first place. Now former Tigers manager Brad Ausmus decided to begin making moves which would in theory help the team progress into next season. One of these moves was promoting prospect Jeimer Candelario to play third base and moving longtime Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos to the outfield.

Up until now, Tigers fans have assumed Castellanos transition to the outfield would take full effect next season. Many fans currently have him penciled in as the opening day right fielder. But remember, that was the Brad Ausmus regime. Although the front office remains the same, new Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire might have different thoughts on how the 2018 lineup will look.

Castellanos move from third base was made necessary due to his inability to field the position and made possible by the deadline trade that brought in a major league ready third base prospect from the Chicago Cubs. The new, metric savy Tigers front office understands that a third baseman with a career -64 DRS and -43 UZR is not acceptable. But this does not necessarily mean Castellanos will be a good defensive outfielder. He might just be not as bad as he was at third.

In his 173 innings last season in right field, Castellanos' advanced fielding statistics suggest he struggled. His UZR was an astounding -5.3 in his short outfield stint. Over an 150 game season, that averages out to a -80.5 UZR. That's six times worse than his career UZR at third base. His -7 DRS in the outfield is twice as good as his -14 DRS at third base in 2017. The issue there is Castellanos played 925 and a third more innings at third base last season.

While Castellanos is nowhere near a good defensive third baseman, his September sample suggests he has work to do in the outfield to become even league average. If Gardenhire is as open to sabermetrics and advanced statistics as he claims, these will be the numbers he looks at before he decides where he wants to play Castellanos defensively.

There are other possibilities for Castellanos. With Victor Martinez still awaiting doctor's approval to play during the 2018 season, their could be a potential opening at the DH/First base positions. If Martinez is not healthy enough to continue, Miguel Cabrera would likely takeover as the Tigers full time designated hitter, leaving a vacancy at first base. There is a precedent for players making the transition from infielder to first basemen. Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Carpenter and Yuli Gurriel are all former second or third basemen who are currently consider some of the more athletic first basemen in baseball.

With the current state of the team, Castellanos defense is not bad enough to take his bat out of the lineup. As it sits now, he projects to hit in the middle of the Tigers lineup in 2018 and be one of the teams premier offensive players. Moving him positions also allows Jeimer Candelario to enter the Tigers lineup. Candelario's bat projects to be better than that of any four-A player who would be slated in the outfield, (Alex Presley, Tyler Collins, Steven Moya) in the event Castellanos was to stay at third.

Nick Castellanos does not have a defined position yet for 2018. Where he will play is a mystery. Nonetheless you can expect to see him penciled into the middle of the Tigers lineup on opening day.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.