Ryan Kreidler was the footnote when he was called up to Triple-A Toledo with Tigers top prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene last month. Now he's the lede.
It's been that sort of season for the 23-year-old shortstop, who began the year without a bat and suddenly looks like a slugger. He's always had the glove.
In 16 games with the first-place Mud Hens, who continue a seven-game (!!) series with second-place Omaha Friday night, Kreidler is hitting .353 with a .992 OPS. This comes after the 2019 fourth-round pick hit .232 with a .658 OPS in his first pro season in A-ball.
He did show signs of a breakout this year in Double-A, with 15 homers and 15 doubles -- but an average of .256 -- in 88 games. Now he's tearing the cover off the ball one stop from Detroit.
At a serious position of need for the Tigers, Kreidler might be playing his way into the club's long-term plans. GM Al Avila acknowledged in an interview with 97.1 The Ticket this week that shortstop is Detroit's biggest weakness, "from an offensive perspective in particular."
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"So that is one area where we certainly need to improve," he said. "We are keeping a close eye on Kreidler. We feel he’s a very good defensive player and his offense is coming around very nicely, so we do feel we have a guy there that might be able to help us in the future."
Kreidler's hot bat in Toledo has kept some of the glare off Torkelson, who's hitting .180 since the promotion. Greene, meanwhile, keeps on keeping on, boasting an .850 OPS and 15 RBI through 16 games. All three of them are good bets to debut in Detroit next season.
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