Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal put on a headset and stood at the end of the dugout,
Skubal was doing an in-game interview on Bally Sports Detroit on Monday afternoon as the Tigers played in Milwaukee, and something went whizzing by his head.
Some gum maybe. Or some seeds.
And Skubal looked stunned.
“Throw it back, whoever that clown was,” said Jack Morris, the Hall of Fame pitcher-turned-announcer.
“I’ll get him,” Skubal said. “I’ll get him.”
The camera zoomed back and showed Casey Mize throwing something else at Skubal, trying to mess with him. Then Matthew Boyd flicked something at Skubal but missed.
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Skubal laughed again and shook his head smiling.
“Unfortunately, you’re not able to feel the vibe that’s in our clubhouse and in the dugout,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Monday morning.
No, but we can see it on TV. We can feel it, even during a loss. Despite losing to the Brewers 3-2 in extra innings on Monday, the Tigers finished May with a 14-13 record, including wins in 13 of their past 21 games.
That’s improvement.
After a miserable 8-19 April, the Tigers are playing far more entertaining baseball. Shoot, even their antics in the dugout are more entertaining.
“I’m proud of our players of their buy-in,” Hinch said. “I’m proud of our coaches for the work. We’re nowhere near where I want to be. I don’t want this to be a success story, just given that the vibe is a little bit different. The win-loss column is what matters the most. And we’ve got to continually peck away at finding more wins.”
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All about the ‘buy-in’
There is so much to unpack in that quote.
Let’s start with “buy-in.”
Mize and Skubal have bought into the pitching philosophy of Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter and are developing at an impressive rate. Mize has been fantastic, with five starts in May and a 0.871 WHIP. Meanwhile, Skubal has a 1.188 WHIP over his last three starts. Those are encouraging signs, not just for this season but for the long term.
The batters have also bought into Hinch’s hitting philosophies.
In April, the Tigers were awful, hitting.199 with a .602 OPS while getting outscored by 58 runs.
But the Tigers have improved offensively, as they start to understand Hinch’s philosophy. Even with Monday’s loss, they outscored opponents by a combined three runs in May.
“We’re not as freelance-style of (an) approach as we were at the beginning of the season,” HInch said. “Cooley (hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh) and (coach Jose) Cruz have really found a nice way to communicate that to the players, and players are taking it out on the field. So the at-bats have been more productive.”
Cooley & Cruz sounds like a law firm.
But they are preaching being more selective at the plate.
“You got to cover one side or the other,” Hinch said. “You’re not going to cover the whole width of the plate and the whole height of the strike zone against an elite pitcher. I think our hitters have done a better job of staying disciplined in those lanes.”
Flexibility is impressive
So what do we know about this team two months into this season, as the calendar flips to June?
The young pitchers are developing, which is probably the most important thing to happen.
This team is developing a vibe and attitude. “It’s a tough loss today, but we’ve got to swallow it and come back and get a win,” Jonathan Schoop said after losing to Milwaukee.
That sounds like something Hinch would say.
Hinch hates losing more than he likes winning, which is carrying over to the team.
“We have pretty good at-bats,” Hinch said. “The pitching staff — we came in and battled, a tough fought game, but we came up short.”
More than anything, I’ve been impressed with Hinch’s creativity and flexibility.
He moved Michael Fulmer to the back of the bullpen, where he has thrived.
He has found a way to get guys onto the field when they are hitting — see Eric Haase and Harold Castro.
And Hinch has tried four different guys at short: Niko Goodrum, Willi Castro, Harold Castro and Zack Short.
Yes, that means that this is an organization still searching for somebody to man the middle of the infield — can you say “MLB draft”?
But Hinch is not afraid to try different guys in different spots. He is not afraid to send guys down to Triple-A Toledo. And some have come back and excelled: See Kyle Funkhouser, who was fantastic on Monday.
Make no mistake, this team still has flaws and holes, but the development is obvious, just from one month to the next.
Now comes the tricky part.
Hinch has to figure out a way to keep the improvement happening and keep the focus on winning, as the roster transforms.
Over the next few months, I’d rather see Derek Hill or Daz Cameron in the lineup overNomar Mazara.
I want to see Isaac Paredes get another shot in Detroit.
Shoot, I’d love to see Yariel Gonzalez, a 26-year-old who got promoted from Double-A Erie to Toledo and is hitting .400 with six home runs in 50 at bats for the Mud Hens.
Because creating a winning vibe is great.
Playing a more entertaining brand of baseball is fantastic.
But many of these guys won’t be here in the long term.
And seeing the young kids get a shot — and a chance to develop under Hinch and this coaching staff — is even more important in the long term.
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Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel/