Biographical

Portrait of Brennan Boesch

Brennan Boesch RFTigers

Tigers Player Cards | Tigers Team Audit | Tigers Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years PA AVG OBP SLG DRC+ WARP
11 1713 .250 .303 .400 91 1.7
Birth Date4-12-1985
Height6' 4"
Weight225 lbs
Age39 years, 0 months, 11 days
BatsL
ThrowsL
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA H 2B 3B HR BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ DRAA BRR FRAA BWARP
2010 DET 25 133 512 119 26 3 14 40 99 5 7 1 .256 .320 .416 93 -3.6 -2.8 5.5 0.9
2011 DET 26 115 472 121 25 1 16 35 83 5 5 3 .283 .341 .458 115 8.5 -1.1 2.3 1.9
2012 DET 27 132 503 113 22 2 12 26 104 5 6 3 .240 .286 .372 79 -12.1 1.0 -2.4 -0.5
2013 NYA 28 23 53 14 2 1 3 2 9 0 0 0 .275 .302 .529 96 -0.1 -1.2 1.1 0.1
2014 ANA 29 27 79 14 2 0 2 2 19 0 3 0 .187 .203 .293 79 -1.8 0.2 -0.1 -0.1
2015 CIN 30 51 94 13 2 0 1 4 30 1 1 0 .146 .191 .202 40 -6.2 0.2 -1.4 -0.5
Career48117133947974810934416227.250.303.40091-15.2-3.75.11.7

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G PA oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ DRC+ DRC+ SD FRAA BRR DRAA BWARP
2006 ONE A- NYP 70 317 .248 .325 .341 .327 110 7.3 7.2 -2 104 0 -10.3 -1.2 -3.8 -1.1
2007 WMI A MDW 126 542 .260 .331 .383 .301 97 -5.9 17.5 -6.9 84 0 3.1 -1.6 -9.1 0.3
2008 LAK A+ FSL 111 461 .255 .327 .371 .303 106 -10.8 13.7 -5.3 87 0 -11.3 -3.8 -14.2 -2.1
2009 ERI AA EAS 131 571 .262 .338 .392 .314 103 16.3 16.1 -6.3 113 0 2.2 2.9 8.3 2.4
2010 DET MLB AL 133 512 .264 .326 .413 .297 111 -1.8 14.1 -5 93 9 5.5 -2.8 -3.6 0.9
2010 TOL AAA INT 15 66 .267 .331 .425 .500 105 6.9 2.0 -0.8 151 0 -0.7 -1.4 3.8 0.3
2011 DET MLB AL 115 472 .256 .317 .402 .315 108 8.5 12.7 -4.1 115 10 2.3 -1.1 8.5 1.9
2012 DET MLB AL 132 503 .255 .319 .412 .284 105 -12.7 13.8 -5.3 79 10 -2.4 1.0 -12.1 -0.5
2013 NYA MLB AL 23 53 .253 .320 .406 .282 102 0.5 1.4 -0.5 96 17 1.1 -1.2 -0.1 0.1
2013 SWB AAA INT 8 37 .258 .332 .397 .273 96 0.9 1.1 -0.4 103 0 -0.2 0.6 -0.3 0.1
2014 ANA MLB AL 27 79 .252 .313 .398 .214 97 -4.1 2.0 -1 79 19 -0.1 0.2 -1.8 -0.1
2014 SLC AAA PCL 95 407 .276 .341 .423 .374 104 31.8 12.2 -3.7 150 0 -15.7 1.8 19.0 1.3
2015 CIN MLB NL 51 94 .249 .311 .399 .207 92 -10.1 2.5 -0.3 40 11 -1.4 0.2 -6.2 -0.5
2015 LOU AAA INT 51 208 .250 .313 .367 .399 95 8.4 5.8 -2.6 145 0 -0.2 -1.5 6.6 0.8
2016 PAW AAA INT 38 158 .246 .308 .363 .233 101 -4.2 4.4 -1.9 78 0 0.4 0.3 -5.5 -0.2
2016 RSX Rk GCL 3 11 .274 .351 .324 .222 89 0.1 0.3 -0.1 117 0 -0.3 -0.4 -0.2 -0.1

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
Year Team lvl LG PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO SF SH
2006 ONE A- NYP 317 292 27 85 15 6 5 127 54 21 42 3 4 .291 .345 .435 .144 0 0
2007 WMI A MDW 542 513 52 137 19 4 10 194 86 23 81 15 4 .267 .300 .378 .111 0 0
2008 LAK A+ FSL 461 417 46 104 17 8 7 158 64 36 90 3 5 .249 .314 .379 .129 0 0
2009 ERI AA EAS 571 527 89 145 26 7 28 269 93 33 127 11 2 .275 .321 .510 .235 1 1
2010 TOL AAA INT 66 58 6 22 3 1 3 36 17 4 17 2 1 .379 .455 .621 .241 0 0
2010 DET MLB AL 512 464 49 119 26 3 14 193 67 40 99 7 1 .256 .320 .416 .159 3 0
2011 DET MLB AL 472 428 75 121 25 1 16 196 54 35 83 5 3 .283 .341 .458 .175 4 0
2012 DET MLB AL 503 470 52 113 22 2 12 175 54 26 104 6 3 .240 .286 .372 .132 2 0
2013 SWB AAA INT 37 30 6 6 2 0 0 8 2 7 8 0 0 .200 .351 .267 .067 0 0
2013 NYA MLB AL 53 51 6 14 2 1 3 27 8 2 9 0 0 .275 .302 .529 .255 0 0
2014 ANA MLB AL 79 75 6 14 2 0 2 22 7 2 19 3 0 .187 .203 .293 .107 2
2014 SLC AAA PCL 407 374 68 124 25 7 25 238 85 29 86 10 4 .332 .381 .636 .305 2
2015 CIN MLB NL 94 89 4 13 2 0 1 18 5 4 30 1 0 .146 .191 .202 .056 0 0
2015 LOU AAA INT 208 187 17 61 9 0 4 82 30 19 41 0 2 .326 .386 .439 .112 1 1
2016 RSX Rk GCL 11 9 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 .222 .364 .222 .000 0 0
2016 PAW AAA INT 158 145 15 32 6 0 4 50 15 9 24 2 1 .221 .266 .345 .124 3 0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr% CSAA
2010 1751 0.4466 0.5614 0.7660 0.7506 0.4087 0.8501 0.6414 0.2340 0.0058
2011 1731 0.4431 0.5101 0.7995 0.6806 0.3745 0.8831 0.6787 0.2005 -0.0032
2012 1809 0.4544 0.5229 0.7928 0.6667 0.4032 0.8777 0.6759 0.2072 -0.0026
2013 170 0.5235 0.5118 0.7931 0.6742 0.3333 0.9000 0.5556 0.2069 -0.0052
2014 269 0.5093 0.6022 0.7531 0.7664 0.4318 0.8857 0.5088 0.2469 0.0037
2015 326 0.4847 0.6074 0.6970 0.7278 0.4940 0.8435 0.4940 0.3030 -0.0044
Career60560.45490.53810.78010.70290.40080.87040.64610.2199-0.0002

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2014-05-17 2014-06-01 Minors 15 0 - Abdomen Strain Oblique - -
2013-03-22 2013-03-27 Camp 5 0 Left Trunk Soreness Ribcage - -
2013-02-17 2013-03-06 Camp 17 0 Right Abdomen Strain Oblique - -
2012-06-11 2012-06-12 DTD 1 0 Right Ankle Sprain - -
2012-04-01 2012-04-02 Camp 1 0 - Neck Spasms - -
2012-03-13 2012-03-15 Camp 2 0 - Low Back Soreness Swinging - -
2011-09-01 2011-10-16 15-DL 45 26 Right Thumb Surgery Ulnar Collateral Ligament 2011-09-06
2011-08-25 2011-08-31 DTD 6 6 Right Thumb Sprain -
2011-08-11 2011-08-14 DTD 3 3 Right Thumb Sprain Moderate - -
2011-07-06 2011-07-08 DTD 2 2 Right Knee Contusion Foul Ball - -
2011-03-05 2011-03-08 Camp 3 0 - Back Soreness -
2010-03-03 2010-03-05 Camp 2 0 Left Face Laceration Batted Ball -
2009-07-08 2009-07-16 Minors 8 0 Right Shoulder Soreness -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2016 BOS $
2015 CIN $1,250,000
2014 ANA $
2013 NYA $1,500,000
2012 DET $502,500
2011 DET $430,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
4 yrPrevious$3,682,500
4 yrTotal$3,682,500

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
4 y 49 dCAA (Brodie Van Wagenen)1 year (2016)

Details
  • 1 year (2016). Signed by Boston as a free agent 1/13/16 (minor-league contract). Salary of $1M in majors. Retired 4/17.
  • 1 year/$1.25M (2015). Signed by Cincinnati as a free agent 11/19/14 (minor-league contract). Contract selected by Cincinnati 4/5/15. Sent outright to Triple-A by Cincinnati 10/30/15.
  • 1 year (2014). Signed by LA Angels as a free agent 1/28/14 (minor-league contract). Salary of $0.8M in majors. Contract selected by LA Angels 4/16/14. Sent outright to Triple-A by LA Angels 10/7/14 (refused assignment).
  • 1 year/$2.3M (2013). Re-signed by Detroit 1/18/13 (avoided arbitration). Released by Detroit 3/13/13 (due 30 days' pay, about $379,000). 1 year/$1.5M (2013). Signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 3/15/13 (split contract paying $0.5M in minors). Performance bonuses: $50,000 each for 100, 150 plate appearances. $0.1M each for 200, 250 PA. $0.15M each for 300, 350 PA. Released by NY Yankees 7/19/13.
  • 1 year/$0.5025M (2012). Re-signed by Detroit 3/3/12.
  • 1 year/$0.43M (2011). Re-signed by Detroit 3/11.
  • 1 year (2010). Contract purchased 11/20/09. Re-signed by Detroit 2/16/10. Recalled 4/22/10.
  • Drafted by Detroit 2006 (3-82) (Cal). $0.445M signing bonus.

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ VORP FRAA WARP
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Comparable Players (Similarity Index )

Rank Score Name Year DRC+ Trend

BP Annual Player Comments

YearComment
2016 Remember those magical days of 2011, when Will married Kate, Adele arrived, Charlie Sheen imploded and Boesch tore into major-league pitching like a warlock with tiger blood? Since that one heady season in Detroit, the lanky outfielder has posted a .225/.266/.353 line with four different teams and last year managed the lowest WARP on a 64-win Reds squad. Teams continue to dream on the power in his bat but his free-swinging ways make unleashing it an accident, not a planned result. But he'll always have 2011, so expect to find Boesch on lists of spring non-roster invitees for years to come.
2015 The Angels gave journeyman Boesch every opportunity to rekindle some of that old Tigers magic and earn the lefty half of a DH platoon in time for the postseason. Alas, he faltered, leaving right-handed teammate C.J. Cron platoonless and the punchless Efren Navarro as the lefty "power" off the bench in the ALDS. Boesch's big-league plate appearances were disastrous; he hacked at more pitches outside the strike zone than Josh Hamilton while posting an isolated power of zero against hard stuff. To be fair, that wasn't the whole Boesch tale in 2014: Between stints of futility with the big-league club, he won the PCL batting title, joining Willie McCovey, Edgar Martinez and Bobby Bonds in the only conceivable list that includes the four of them. He signed a minor-league deal with the Reds, but he has a pretty clean look at a big-league job unless Skip Schumaker is supposed to stand in his way.
2014 Time may heal the shoulder problems that ended Brennan Boesch’s season, but it won’t relieve the pain of being released from rosters to make room for Andy Dirks and Brent Lillibridge.
2013 Doing less with more is never the way to go, yet that crystallizes Boesch’s 2012 season. He regressed in every significant category, whether you are into back-of-the-baseball-card numbers or sabermetrics. Beating the ball into the ground half the time was bad enough, but pairing that with a career-worst 5 percent walk rate turned Boesch into a left-handed Jeff Francoeur. The front office still loves his power and his ability to hang in against lefties, but it will take a small miracle to get him 503 plate appearances again this year.
2012 Boesch recovered from a historically atrocious 2010 second half to display continued power and a more selective plate approach in 2011, at least until his season was cut short by a thumb injury that resulted in September surgery. His newfound willingness to lay off pitches out of the zone certainly increases his offensive upside, but only time will tell if the approach sticks, and since he fields as if Comerica’s outfield were made of tapioca pudding his career will be defined by his bat. A healthy Boesch could launch 20 bombs this year while earning peanuts, so the Tigers will pencil him in for the right field job and hope he avoids enough outs to provide value—a hope PECOTA doesn’t share.
2011 Detroit’s Bunyanesque rookie outfielder posted a monster first half, with a .342/.397/.593 line that kept company with folk heroes like Pujols, Cabrera, and Hamilton, not to mention dwarfing the output of mere mortals like… Brennan Boesch, whose .163/.237/.222 line after the All-Star break was the worst half-season by a regular during the 21st century. Pitchers soon learned how to exploit his long swing, large strike zone, and hacktastic approach—A.J. Pierzynski offered at fewer pitches—and Boesch was never able to adjust. Already 26 and with his bat his only tool, the Tigers haven’t guaranteed him a roster spot, so unless Boesch sorts things out quickly at the plate, he won’t even stick as an outfield reserve.
2010 After hitting just 22 home runs in his first three years, the gigantic Boesch finally tapped into his power at Double-A, topping that total in just this one Erie season. He has a long way to go, though, because between a swing more hole-y than the Pope and a swing-at-anything approach less discriminating than Tila Tequila, there are issues that go beyond mere ironing out.

BP Articles

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BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2014-10-23 14:00:00 (link to chat)Steven Moya.... next JD Martinez or the next Brennan Boesch?
(DetroitDale from Tallahassee (eternal spring))		One should never expect a career path like that of JD Martinez, who reminds us that there is considerable development and evolution that is required to succeed at the highest level, and that such development can happen a bit later in a player's career. Moya completely broke out in 2014, though I would need to ask the Prospect crew for more info on how his skills at the plate will translate to the highest level, it is a very good sign when a player's performance improves as he climbs the minor-league ladder.

On the jukebox: Neil Young, "Cowgirl in the Sand" (Doug Thorburn)
2012-12-04 14:00:00 (link to chat)So, Detroit's looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder to platoon with Dirks. . . assuming that resigning Delmon I-don't-want-to-DH Young is out of the question, who is available? Do they have any depth anywhere for trading?
(John Carter from Toronto (Tigers fan originally from the New York a)		Glad to see you in the queue again, John Carter.

Jon Morosi reported (and then retracted) yesterday that the Tigers had a two-year offer out to Scott Hairston, and while that report proved inaccurate, I think Hairston could be a fit there. Cody Ross is another possibility, though his price would need to come down if he's going to serve in a platoon role, and they could also consider Andruw Jones or Matt Diaz.

In terms of pieces the Tigers could trade, Brennan Boesch and Andrew Oliver were mentioned yesterday by CBS Sports' Danny Knobler: https://twitter.com/DKnobler/status/275663979584552962. (Daniel Rathman)
2011-06-21 13:00:00 (link to chat)Is Brennan Boesch likely to be a keeper in a 12-team, 10-keeper 5x5 league for next year, or would I do better to trade him to someone who can use him for his value this year?
(Dan from NY)		Depends who else you have and what you can get via trade, but I am a Boesch fan. I don't think he's in for too much of a decline from his current production. (Derek Carty)
2010-08-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)What do you see as the future for Brennan Boesch with his extreme splits (home/away, left/right, May-June/July-Aug)?
(m1rch00 from Maryland)		I'm not a big Boesch fan. I think he can be an above-average hitter, but I don't think he's a special hitter like his first few months made him look like he could be. (Marc Normandin)
2010-07-26 14:00:00 (link to chat)Where does Brennan Boesch top out?
(Phil from NYC)		He's a guy I'm pulling for. The power is real, but the batting average and OBP are sure to continue dropping. He can be a solid corner outfielder, but not a star. (Ken Funck)
2010-07-06 14:00:00 (link to chat)So, how did Barry Bonds get into Brennan Boesch's body, a la Man in Black / Locke.
(Phil from NY)		Has anyone actually seen Bonds' body lately? Possibly the same way that the Man in Black got into Locke's. Regardless, I see things ending roughly the same way. (Ben Lindbergh)
2010-07-09 13:00:00 (link to chat)Do any comps for Brennan Boesch come to mind? Would you sell high on him in a keeper league?
(DS from LA)		Keeper? Yes. Unless you had Choo and had to pick up Boesch because you're afraid no one else on waivers was going to hit. Not that this happened to me recently. :-(

He's going to be good, but this is way over what he should be producing. (Marc Normandin)
2010-06-18 14:00:00 (link to chat)Who would you rather have for the next five years: Austin Jackson or Brennan Boesch?
(Oden from Motown)		Jackson -- even when the BABIP gods smite him, he still has speed and looks to have solid range in CF. Boesch has never been a high OBP guy and even this year's mark is infused by the .340+ BA. I'd love to have both in some capacity but Jackson was rated higher for specific reasons. (Eric Seidman)
2010-06-02 13:00:00 (link to chat)Thank you for answering my earlier question. Brennan Boesch: are you a believer? Also, how good do you think Aroldis Chapman will be?
(Dennis from LA)		I think Boesch is fine, but not nearly as good as he has been so far (perhaps obviously). If that sounds like hedging, it's because it is, but remember that Raburn is ready if Boesch stumbles. The last two years, though, Boesch seems to have found a good power stroke. As long has he can keep his batting average up, the lack of walks won't kill him. If not...look out. (Tommy Bennett)
2010-05-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)Do you think Brennan Boesch is going to get enough ABs? It looks like he could provide some solid pop in mixed leagues. Also - have patience with Adam Jones, I'd imagine?
(nschaef from CT)		Boesch was impressive at Double-A last year and started the season very hot at Triple-A, so he's definitely worth a look if you have the roster spot for him. I'm a little nervous about his lack of hitting against LHP though, so even if he ends up with a permanent spot in the bigs he's either not going to play everyday (or be a required sit against left-handers).

Patience with Jones, yes. He's got a ton of upside and has shown in the past he can hit. (Marc Normandin)


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PITCHf/x Hitter Profile

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