Earlier today Jake Rogers Sadly Gets Disowned By Family As A Result Of His Numerous Keith’s at-bats appear to be more about hitting them where they are than making hard contact as compared to his minor league track record.
Colt Keith is, on the one hand, struggling mightily against major league pitching in his first six weeks of play. However, he still has a strikeout to walk ratio that is far higher than normal, and his barrel % is higher than that of rookie elite prospects like Wyatt Langford and Mookie Betts as well as Julio Rodriguez. Oh, baseball.
Even still, with more than a month of the season remaining, it becomes more difficult to contain a.152 batting average and a horrifying 17 wRC+. The barrel rate issue is mostly just an illustration of silly tiny sample sizes and the statistic’s lack of value until much later in the season. Keith doesn’t appear overburdened. He’s still making solid swing selections.
Look past the obvious and take a closer look at his at-bats; his numbers are horrible and they should send him down. Not just today, but also for the next ten years, Keith will be an important component of the Detroit Tigers’ puzzle. The club’s issues go far beyond filling the void for this season if he fades away.
A persistent shadow hanging over the Tigers organization, affecting numerous owners, team presidents, and general managers, is their inability to develop hitters. They must do this correctly. It’s probably better for Keith to give himself a few more weeks to work through this. While it might not be the ideal strategy right now to win games, making every effort to help him grow as
