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During the early part of the offseason, Tyler Collins looked like he was a near-lock to make the Detroit Tigers‘ 2016 opening day roster after a strong showing down the stretch last year. Then, in a move that came as a surprise to some, the Tigers signed Justin Upton to a reported six-year, $132.75 million deal in January.
At first glance, it seemed quite likely that Collins would end up being the odd-man out. The Tigers had Anthony Gose, Cameron Maybin, J.D. Martinez, Upton and a couple of utility guys in Andrew Romine and Mike Aviles, and it appeared that there just wouldn’t be enough room on the 25-man roster for Collins. Although he was still very deserving of having an MLB job, it just looked like he was going to get caught up in a numbers game.
Early on this spring, however, Maybin suffered a wrist injury, which, at least temporarily, has opened up an outfield spot. The Tigers did have a natural center fielder in Wynton Bernard in camp, who was indeed an intriguing candidate to fill the void, but he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday after slashing only .212/.257/.212 this spring. The signs now seem to point to the job going to Collins in all likelihood.
Tigers option Wynton Bernard to Toledo. Barring a move, looks like Tyler Collins will back up Anthony Gose in CF.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) March 29, 2016
Collins may be a better fit for the corner outfield spots, but he should still be more than capable of handling the center field duties on a part-time basis. Plus, considering the fact that he has slashed an impressive .318/.412/.636 through his first 21 games this spring, it is more than fair to say that he has earned a spot on the roster.
Of course, it will indeed be interesting to see what happens once Maybin is ready to return to the team. That being said, at least for the time being, Collins appears poised to contribute in a big way, especially with his left-handed bat.
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