You see him as a fast outfielder with really high pants who can get on base and hit a little. Tiger’s General Manager, Al Avila, sees him as someone he thought wrong of. Let’s be fair for a second here and see his side of this. Before he was a Tiger, Maybin’s career high batting average in a full season was .267 and his on base percentage wasn’t pretty either. He was a good defender who can steal bases. When the Tigers picked him up, he became a spark plug for them getting career highs in batting average and OPS. Any GM would have had "Fluke" thoughts of Maybin.
Avila clearly thought Maybin’s breakout season was a fluke and he sent Maybin to the Angels in November for a 24 year old minor league reliever who hasn’t seen success past the Double- A level. Maybin hoped to bring stability to a Left Field position on a team that hasn’t seen success in quite some time: Vernon Wells, Josh Hamilton, Matt Joyce, Daniel Nava, Craig Gentry, and Gary Mathews Jr to name a few recent Angel left fielders.
Maybin started out his Angels career with a poor .206 BA .299 OBP .578 OPS and 3 SB in April while manning left field alongside Ben Revere.
When superstar Mike Trout went down with his injury, Maybin was given the opportunity to play every day and lead off games. Ever since he began leading off games, he has taken off. In 23 games leading off, Maybin has hit .391 with a .477 OBP 1.129 OPS and 12 SB. His season WAR is now at 2.1. Unfortunately it took an injury to a superstar to have Cameron breakout. When Trout returns, Maybin will likely start everyday in Left Field and lead off. He has been very productive thus far and will likely get even better pitches to hit when he is hitting in front of Mike Trout.
While being productive at the plate, he also leads the American League in Stolen Bases, he is a solid defender in both Left Field and Center Field, and he brings energy to the clubhouse. Cameron Maybin is trying to prove last season was not a fluke, and is doing a good job at it....
