Brandon Inge Prospect Retro

by John Sickels on Oct 21, 2025 12:57 PM EDT in News

Prospect Retro: Brandon Inge

Brandon Inge was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the second round in 1998, out of Virginia Commonwealth University. He was a shortstop in college, praised for his arm strength and overall athleticism, though there were some questions about his bat. The Tigers decided to convert him to catching duty. He hit .230/.312/.419 in the New York-Penn League in his pro debut, hampered by poor plate discipline. I didn't put him in the 1999 book since I didn't concentrate on short-season players back then, but nowadays I'd have probably given him a Grade C+, based more on his athleticism and draft status than his early pro performance.

Inge moved up to the Midwest League in 1999, hitting .244/.320/.403 in 100 games for West Michigan. Very mediocre numbers, certainly. He made rapid progress on defense, adapting very quickly to backstop work. But his bat was a major issue. I gave him a Grade C in the '00 book, noting that his glove was promising but that offensive doubts held his grade back.

Inge began 2000 in Double-A, hitting .258/.313/.409 in 78 games. Promoted to Triple-A, he was overmatched and hit just .221/.280..379 in 55 games. By this time his defense was very well-regarded, but his hitting remained problematic. I gave him another Grade C in the '01 book, comparing him to Brad Ausmus as a good-field, no-hit type.

Inge spent most of 2001 with the Tigers and he was terrible, hitting .180/.215/.238 in 79 games. His glove was solid but his hitting was unacceptable. This remained the case in 2002 and 2003. . .he could barely keep his batting average over .200, and his OPS hovered around .600. He was 27 years old entering 2004, and I was extremely skeptical that he'd ever turn into a useful offensive player.

The Tigers converted Inge to third base in '04, and the switch back to the infield revived his bat: he hit .287/.340/.453 that season. He's been a steady contributor for the Tigers in '05 and '06, and seems to have settled nicely into the .750-.790 OPS range, certainly far better than anything he did while being a catcher. It's interesting to speculate what Inge's career would have been like if he'd never converted to catching in the first place. . .would his bat have developed more quickly if he'd remained an infielder all along?

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Inge

Many people in Detroit want to see Inge become a supersub. We know what he can do at 3B, he seems to have been a pretty decent OF the few times he's been out there, and I'm sure he has the range to play some SS (along with experience there in college), not too mention, he could certainly be the emergency (or even the backup) catcher. I think he holds his own enough at third base for now, that I wouldn't put too much priority into this idea.

Watching Inge at third base is a treat. He has a tendency to misplay a fair amount of routine plays, but he makes some phenomenal plays that your average third basemen just don't make.

by mcq fesijiba on Oct 22, 2025 2:29 PM EDT reply actions

wow interesting

wow Inge definately have one of the more unususal rout . guess it shows you can never predict much.

by RollingWave on Oct 23, 2025 5:05 AM EDT reply actions

Inge hated playing catcher

I saw an interview recently with Inge where he mentioned that although he was willing to play wherever he was asked, that he really disliked playing catcher and was thrilled when they moved him to third base. I'm sure that had an effect on his hitting.

The other interesting thing about Inge is that ever since he broke into the Majors the local newspapers were talking about how Inge was winning "longest drive" competitions in golf. Tiger coaches were quoted as saying that they knew Inge had power potential based on his golf swing, and they were trying to figure out how to get that power into his baseball swing.

by HavyBeaks on Oct 23, 2025 8:47 AM EDT reply actions

Now Inge says

he hated playing catcher
but when they signed IROD he publically complained when they wanted to move him off of catcher...

by Johnny Ruin on Oct 23, 2025 9:48 AM EDT reply actions

Yes

He complained because he was losing his starting job at the time and going to a backup job as a utility guy. I think complain is probably not the right word, but moreso, he was concerned about his role adn frustrated coming off of a 119 loss season where he wasn't very good offensively. He started off in utility playing some 3B, LF, CF, (very little) RF, and still some C, but before we knew it he was the starting third baseman.

IMO, his athleticism was wasted at catcher. I had no idea he was this kind of athlete, aside from the fact that he had a gun for an arm.

by mcq fesijiba on Oct 23, 2025 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions