Despite the painful aspects that a rebuild brings, the Detroit Tigers have also had plenty of pleasant surprises this season. Chief among them has been the play of catcher and first baseman John Hicks, who has stepped into an increased role and produced very well with the stick.
For those of you who are calling this a ‘breakout’ it’s worth pointing out that Hicks did almost exactly this same thing last year. In fact, here is a look at Hicks’ offensive numbers in several key categories:
2017: 6.8% walk rate, 26.8% strikeout rate, .173 ISO, .