Tiger catcher for ‘Most Impressive Player’

Boston Globe baseball reporter Nick Cafardo likes Detroit Tigers catcher Alexa Avila for “Most Impressive Player:”

“There is an award for Most Valuable Player, but how about a Most Impressive Player? Tigers catcher Alex Avila would win it, in my book.

He has been sensational as Detroit’s No. 1 catcher despite an extraordinary workload.

Avila played in 18 straight games until Thursday, and with that kind of workload at a demanding position, he is leading AL batters in August with a .418 average, an OBP of .530, and a slugging percentage of .806.

Manager Jim Leyland’s reaction: “That is mind-boggling to me.’’

Avila has also had streaks of 16 and 12 straight games. To put that in perspective, the other long streaks for catchers this year are: St. Louis’s Yadier Molina, 15 and 13 straight; the Yankees’ Russell Martin, 12 straight to start the season; and Seattle’s Miguel Olivo, Baltimore’s Matt Wieters, and San Francisco’s Buster Posey with 11 straight.