Detroit Tigers: Do They Have Their Outfield of the Future in the Lineup Now?

Possibly feeling the early season heat of a first-place showdown, Jim Leyland surprisingly started a previously unheralded 25-year-old rookie over a possible Hall of Famer Tuesday night against the Cleveland Indians.

Andy Dirks responded to his opportunity and led the Tigers offense going 3-4 with 2 RBI and a stolen base in the 4-0 Justin Verlander shutout of the Indians.

Leyland says he was loading the lineup with left-handed hitters against right-hander Justin Masterson, but rarely has Magglio Ordonez been used as a platoon player.

Could it just be that there is a changing of the guard in the outfield for the Detroit Tigers?

The Tigers are rolling—they're 25-13 since May 2—and have flown past the Indians into sole possession of first place Tuesday night.

In the opener against the Indians they started an outfield that included Dirks and second-year players Brennan Boesch (26) and Austin Jackson (24).

Boesch was on a tear his rookie season before hitting a wall in the second half of the year.

Expected to be a backup outfielder, Boesch played his way into the everyday lineup with a new, more patient approach at the plate.

He's battled through an extended slump in May—something he was unable to do last season—to get hot again in June. 

His defense has improved to the point that he is no longer a liability in the outfield as he appeared to be last season. 

Boesch seems to have played his way into the Tigers' future.

He'll probably never be a star, but it appears more and more that he will be a solid player for the organization for years to come.

Austin Jackson, seemingly was on his way to stardom after narrowly losing out on the AL Rookie of the Year award, had a nightmarish start to 2011.

On April 19, Jackson was hitting a mere .152 with 3 RBI and had the Tigers' brass contemplating a demotion.

Jackson has rebounded nicely, raising his average to .258 and resembling the spark plug in the lineup that he was last year.

Outside of Miguel Cabrera, Jackson is arguably the Tigers' most important position player and getting himself right at the plate has been one of the biggest keys to the team's recent surge.

The least experienced of the trio is Andy Dirks—Casper Wells plays sporadically also—who was called up when Magglio Ordonez went to the DL.

Dirks has played well enough in his brief stint to survive Ordonez's move back to the active roster.

He's a gritty player who caught the eye of fans in spring training as well as with a torrid start for the Toledo Mudhens.

He's got decent power, speed and a good glove and appears to have major league ability.

When 2011 began, 30-year-old Ryan Raburn and 37-year-old Magglio Ordonez were expected to play with Jackson in the outfield.

Raburn has flamed out at the plate and in the field and has been moved to second base in a last ditch effort to keep him on the roster while Leyland hopes his bat will heat up.

Ordonez has had an outstanding career with the Tigers, but it's becoming evident that this will be his last season.

While he is still valuable to this team—his $10 million salary notwithstanding—he may be best served as a part-time player and pinch hitter. 

Magglio Ordonez coming off the bench to pinch-hit in a late September game against the White Sox looks a lot more attractive than the options the Tigers have had in past seasons—Gerald Laird, anyone?

The Tigers' long-term outfield had far more questions than answers heading into 2011, leaving many to expect to Tigers to have to deal for an outfielder. 

Thanks to a few unexpected contributors, the Tigers may have found those outfield answers inside their own organization.