Tigers’ Nick Castellanos to make outfield debut next week

One of the truly wonderful things about having a team that isn’t competing for the postseason, is their willingness to try new — and some might say silly — things in the lineup or player positioning.

Over the remainder of September we’re sure to see more of what some of the young up-and-coming Tigers can offer, more pitchers will get chances in the starting rotation, and one particular infielder will try his hand at a new field position.

Nicholas Castellanos, whose bat has been a welcome addition to the Tigers’ offense, but whose defensive abilities have been found wanting at third base, will make the move to the outfield. Castellanos has done some limited training sessions with the Tigers’ coaching staff in the outfield in preparation for this move, one that is expected to be made permanent next season in order to make room for Jeimer Candelario to step in.

While there is not a set date yet for this outfield test, Tigers’ manager Brad Ausmus has said it will happen during the next road trip.

It will be interesting to see how Castellanos does in the outfield — likely playing in right field — and whether or not Candelario will be defensively superior at third base.

The nice thing about the Tigers’ current position in the standings is that they can experiment as much as they want now, in order to see how things might play out in 2018.