J.D. Martinez
It's report card time for the Detroit Tigers, and as we used to say in college, the grades are nothing to write home about.
Chris McCosky of The Detroit News hands out the grades, accompanied by comments.
Here's a sampling with abbreviated comments:
Justin Verlander -- B: Verlander finding his form is the most encouraging news for the Tigers heading into 2016.
Anibal Sanchez -- D: Forgettable. From start to finish.
Alfredo Simon -- C-: Brad Ausmus joked about his Jekyll and Hyde inconsistency, but it wasn’t all that funny – especially because he was more Hyde than Jekyll.
Daniel Norris-- B: He was the Tigers’ main prize in the David Price trade and he showed why.
Alex Wilson -- B: Hard to imagine where the Tigers would have been without him. He was used in literally every situation, including one start.
Bruce Rondon-- F: The Tigers drew a firm line in the sand by sending him home with two weeks left in the season.
James McCann-- B+: It is the rare and special rookie that can win the respect of a veteran clubhouse as quickly as he did,
Miguel Cabrera -- B: It seems wrong to say a player closing in on his fourth batting title had an off year. But when your standards of offensive achievement are as high as Cabrera’s, it can happen.
Ian Kinsler -- B+ :Through all the turmoil this season, Kinsler was a rock.
Jose Iglesias -- C: For all the flashy, highlight reel plays he makes, his defensive runs saved is minus-3. So, as talented as he is with the glove, he needs to be better – particularly positioning himself and reacting to balls.
Nick Castellanos -- C+: He endured the worst offensive slump of his life, got benched and wound up turning his season completely around.
J.D. Martinez -- A: One-hit wonder? Hardly. Going into the final week of the season, Martinez, who made his first All-Star team, was pushing 40 home runs (38) and exceeded 100 RBIs.
Brad Ausmus-- C+: Ausmus never lost the clubhouse and the team continued to play hard, competitive baseball right to the bitter end.
