When Cameron Maybin was selected 10th overall in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft by the Detroit Tigers, he was immediately tabbed as one of the top Tigers prospects. In 2007, he was the team’s top prospect and a top 10 prospect in all of baseball for the next three years.
In the same year he topped the Tigers farm charts, he was prematurely summoned to the big leagues in August. His five-tool skills shined almost instantly on the game’s biggest stage at Yankee Stadium; he collected two hits in his second MLB game, the second his first career home run to straight away center field off of, oh, only Roger Clemens. I remember watching Maybin’s bomb at a beach bar while on a family vacation at Martha’s Vineyard and being incapable of controlling my giddiness. I’d walk around the rest of the day talking to my Dad about how Maybin was destined to be the next Tiger great. My Dad humored me.
My excitement didn’t last long, though, and that home run is the only positive image I can recall from Maybin’s time in a Tigers uniform, as he went on to hit .143 and strikeout in almost half of his plate appearances over the next two months. Those would be Maybin’s only two-plus months as a Tiger and, if you told me that was the last I’d see of him on the last day of the season, I probably would’ve let it roll right off my back, a reaction far different from the smug chuckle I would’ve given you had you told me that on August 17 after he took Clemens deep. I was frustrated, confused as to how a .143-hitting human-fan could possibly be a TOP prospect in all of baseball and, of course, I was very stupid.
In the winter of 2007, the Tigers obviously didn’t believe he’d be the next Tiger great — or at least were as impatient as I was — because he was traded along with left-handed pitching prospect Andrew Miller to the Florida Marlins. Sure, that’s also the deal that landed the Tigers perennial MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera and, even if the Tigers knew for sure that Maybin would pan out, it was well worth the risk for an established hitting monster; Miguel Cabrera can help make you forget about the hype of any prospect fairly easy. After the trade, I conceded that Maybin could one day be a tremendously productive player, but I convinced myself that my feelings toward Maybin were better dismissed indulgently and chalked up as unrequited puppy love.
Maybin’s potential endured, though. He only saw a week and a half’s worth of ABs in his first season with the Marlins, but he made the most of them (.500/.543/1.105, two doubles, two homers, and four stolen bases in 36 PA), which, along with accentuating the hype, paved the way for him to win a job with the team in 2009 at the ripe age of 22. Unfortunately, the Marlins were as rash as I was, sending him back to the minors by the middle of May. Yes, MAY! Mark Texeira disagrees with that player management decision.
Maybin reignited the hype yet again, making the most of his September call up when rosters expanded (.293/.353/.853, eight doubles, triple, and three homers in 104 PA) and won a job the next Spring, but he just couldn’t seem to sustain it long enough to appease the Marlins’ brass. He was out of the lineup by the first week of June and when he returned in August, he hit better, but it wasn’t good enough for the Marlins to spend the offseason all love-struck at the thought of their future with the dreamy athletic Maybin. In fact, they had enough, trading the 23-year-old to the Padres in November.
Maybin’s season with the Padres has not been much unlike his years with the Marlins — up and down, up and down — but all of the up and downs have come while still with the Padres’ big club, going through the daily grind of an MLB season, and figuring out what it’s like to get into that rhythm. He was on his way there (.308/.327/.770 in 15 games) when an injury derailed him to the 15-day DL at the end of May. I don’t have first-hand knowledge on how hard it is to get into a rhythm as an MLB hitter, but I’m pretty sure what the Marlins did to Maybin and DL stints in the middle of a hot streak are high on the list of unhelpful things toward achieving baseball Hellenism. But it didn’t phase Maybin one bit this time, because when he returned from the DL, he was re-plugged back into his normal gig as the Padres’ starting CF and his game continued to click. And for the first time in his big league career it has stuck and appears to be getting even better.
Since coming off of the DL on June 13, Maybin is hitting .300/.342/.761 with 20 doubles, four triples, two homers, and 21 stolen bases (in 22 attempts). In the process of swiping 21 bags, he became the first player in baseball this season (and set a Padres record) for stealing a base in six consecutive games.
Maybin still has a ways to go to live up to the hype he saw 3-6 years ago, but he’s starting to show that he belongs and the Padres, for the first time in his career, provided him that opportunity. The Padres allowed Maybin to work through his early season struggles without tisking, impatiently stomping their feet and buying Maybin a bus ticket at the first sign of trouble and it’s clearly paying dividends. Take this from an article ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick published last week:
From Maybin’s vantage point, his improvement this year is rooted largely in self-confidence. He’s found it a lot easier to move forward now that he’s not so busy looking over his shoulder.
“This is the first time in two or three seasons where I’ve felt comfortable,” Maybin said. “I’m not worried about the consequences of going out there and trying to get a hit every night. Even if I have a bad week or a bad month, I feel like these guys are still with me.
“In past situations, I’ve always felt like I had to be perfect or I might get sent down a month or two into the season. Now I’m able to relax and make the adjustments I need to make. I’m just believing in myself a little more.”
And now that he’s able to relax, he can start to focus on making those adjustments. The adjustments he needs to make in hitting off-speed pitches better and being more patient at the plate to take his game to the next level. We’re already starting to see those improvements in one of those areas, too; Maybin’s strikeout rate, which is a ghastly 26% in his career, is just 18% over the last two months and, get this, just 2% in his 40-plus August plate appearances.
The chart below via FanGraphs (click to enlarge) shows you where Maybin currently ranks amongst other MLB centerfielders, not taking into account that he was 2-4 with a HR, BB, and another SB (and no strikeouts!) on 8/11 (hint — he’s in the top EIGHT). In fact, I know he’s not a CF, but I’d argue Maybin is putting up numbers that are comparable to Carl Crawford’s since his own DL stint and, you know, he’s the guy who just earned himself a 7 year/$142 million contract at 29-years-old. At just 24-years-old, Maybin still has to show he can keep it up for more than just a few months at a time, but it’s a start (and it’s making me look like a fantasy baseball genius — I traded Carl Crawford for Roy Halladay right before he returned from the DL because I needed pitching for the stretch run and Maybin was my pick up to replace Crawford).
Anyway, it’s funny what a little patience with a kid as hyped up as Maybin was when he was drafted as an 18-year-old fresh out of HIKE SCHOOL can do. Here’s hoping it continues.
photo via
