Given how long a baseball season is, the game tends to move very fast. If you miss too much time, people will forget about you. It feels like that has happened to Matt Verling. Matt Verling‘s first two years in Detroit were very successful. I don’t think there was anybody who was ever going to claim that he was a star, but he did a lot of the little things right, played different positions, and always seemed to find himself in the middle of some big moments. Last year was a mess. He had injury after injury, and while he actually ended up playing in more games than I remember him playing, I don’t think there was a single instance last year when we got a healthy Matt Verling.
Over the last few years, it feels like the outfield (and the infield, for that matter) has become progressively more crowded, and there are some legitimate questions about where Matt Vierling is going to fit into this offense, but so far in spring, he’s turned a few heads. We’re very early in the process, but I’ve been saying for several weeks now that I think it’d be very smart for us to keep an eye on Matt Vierling. He was a glue guy here after he was acquired from the Phillies in the Gregory Soto deal. Matty V is well-liked in the clubhouse, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he finds his way back into the starting lineup almost every day.
Each year is a new chapter, and players like Javier Baez and Zach McKinstry are due for a fair amount of regression this season. When you look at their career numbers, especially since coming to Detroit, Vierling has shown more consistency than either one of the guys I just named. McKinstry kind of took over that super utility position a year ago, and Javy ended up putting together a great run in centerfield. Still, when you take a look at Matt Vierling, we’re talking about a guy who is only 29 years old and two years removed from a three-war season in 2024. For certain players like Baez and McKinstry, the first half of last season was a magic carpet ride, but we saw in the latter half of the 2025 campaign what happened to these guys. Their offensive numbers fell off big time. If that happens again, I could easily see Verling playing his way back into the core here.
Another thing that could help Vierling is the fact that there’s no guarantee that Colt Keith is going to stick at third base. I like Colt, but the fan base doesn’t seem like they’re too high on him, and the one thing he’s done in each of his first two years is get off to a slow start. If that happens again and Vierling stays hot in spring, AJ might be forced to go with the hot hand.
I’m getting out in front of this now because I think every team needs a Matt Vierling. This team does not make the playoffs in 2024 without his contributions, and it wasn’t that long ago when A.J. Hinch trusted him to be third in a postseason lineup. While I don’t think batting in the middle of the lineup is a suitable role for him, this organization has evolved a lot over the last several years, and the idea of Vierling being that scrappy guy at the bottom of the lineup who can grind out at-bats could definitely help make this offense a lot deeper and a lot better.