Detroit — The goalposts have moved. Whatever the expectations were coming into the season, they are different now. Not exactly lofty, by any means. But bigger.
The Tigers, since May 8, posted a 31-27 record leading into the All-Star break. They did that without two of their top starters, without — for the most part — one of their best leverage relievers, with a rookie catcher tandem and the worst middle infield defense in baseball.
Not a small feat.
“I do think things have changed a little,” manager AJ Hinch said, assessing the team’s progress before the break. “When people talk about how good you’re going to be at the beginning of the year, you are either going to prove them right or you’re going to prove them wrong. Everybody thought we’d be at the back end of the division.”
And the Tigers played down to those low expectations with a dreadful eight-win April.
“Things sort of piled up on us and there was a lot of stress, a lot of tension and angst over our April,” Hinch said. “And I think we flipped that with a couple of winning months.”
A winning mindset, a winning culture. Those were just talking points, hollow rhetoric, the past few years. It’s tangible now. You can see it building. So, yeah, these final 71 games have some juice. Not so much in terms of being in contention for a playoff spot in October. But definitely in terms of building upon and cementing that winning culture.
“The goalposts have moved because the expectation of winning has moved,” Hinch said. “We come into every day thinking we can win today’s game. I know it’s coach-speak, I know it sounds cliché. But it’s super important for a young team to have that expectation and to have the bar set high enough to where you should be disappointed when you lose and happy when you win.
“That in itself is a successful shift in the sightline.”
There is a standard of performance in place. Look at the transaction wire since the start of the season: Christin Stewart was the starting left fielder that last two years and he didn’t make the team out of spring training. JaCoby Jones, Victor Reyes, Wilson Ramos, Grayson Greiner, Renato Nunez, Joe Jimenez, Buck Farmer, Bryan Garcia, Alex Lange — they’ve all be optioned or designated for assignment at some point this season.
That’s only going to intensify in these final two and a half months as the organization continues to separate the players who will be part of the foundation from those who are just passing through. Tough decisions are ahead.
“I don’t want to just get back to .500,” Hinch said. “I want to have a winning record. I want to have a winning season. I want to push for a playoff spot and ultimately I want these players to feel what it’s like to play in October. Is that going to happen this season? We have to go on a nice run for that to happen.
“But we’re going to know at the end of the year who is going to be a part of the next wave of Tigers baseball. The players understand that and they have bought into that.”
Some post-break storylines to watch.
Shoring up the middle
The Tigers are a major league-worst minus-38 in defensive runs saved and minus-15 at shortstop. That’s untenable, especially as they try to develop a vital crop of young pitchers at the big-league level, and it will be an area of acute attention in the second half.
The Tigers have been exceedingly patient with Willi Castro. They quickly moved him out of the shortstop spot to second base. No matter how hard he’s worked, though, the results haven’t been there. His minus-10 rating at second base is worst in baseball.
You can’t fit a square peg in a round hole. He still doesn’t look comfortable in the infield. Nothing seems to be instinctual or natural, from positioning to his play around the bag at second. Former manager Ron Gardenhire saw this, too, and talked to Castro about moving to the outfield.
Perhaps it’s time to revisit that. It seems like his defensive worries have impacted his hitting, too. He’s slashing .214/.278/.341, far below his production in a small sample size last year.
The Tigers still believe Castro can be a productive big-league hitter. This might be a good time to send him to Toledo and refashion him as an outfielder.
More: The next frontier for Tigers’ development — tighten up the defense across the board
The Tigers best defensive alignment is with veteran Jonathan Schoop at second base and Zack Short at shortstop. Schoop was a Gold Glove finalist at second base last year. But his future here is clouded by the possibility he could be moved at the trade deadline.
If Schoop is moved to first, though, what will they do at first base? Schoop had been platooning there successfully with Miguel Cabrera. Here’s three options the Tigers could consider:
► Keep Schoop at first and call up Isaac Paredes or prospect Kody Clemens from Triple-A Toledo to play second base, rotating with Harold Castro.
► Commit Schoop to second base, move Jeimer Candelario from third to first and insert Paredes at third, again platooning with Harold Castro.
► Move Candelario to first, Schoop to third and platoon Paredes (right-handed hitter) and Clemens (left-handed hitter) at second.
The club has been steadfastly disinclined to bring back Nunez from Toledo. Perhaps if Schoop is traded, that would change, but for now it’s not an option.
The Tigers’ long-term solution at shortstop might have to come this winter, either through free agency or a trade.
Sorting out the outfield
The Tigers’ best defensive outfield includes Derek Hill and the expectation is he will be back soon. Which means there will be difficult debates over the future of veteran Nomar Mazara.
As much as the Tigers need more left-handed thump in their lineup, Mazara hasn’t got untracked. He’s hitting .212 and slugging .321 with three home runs and 19 RBIs. You wouldn’t think the prorated portion of his $1.75 million contract would be a barrier.
If the Tigers do decide to part ways with Mazara, expect Niko Goodrum to play more in the outfield, with Akil Baddoo, Robbie Grossman and Hill.
Daz Cameron and Reyes could also fight their way back into the mix by the end of the season.
Rebooting the rotation
It’s hard to imagine how the Tigers can make it to August without adding another starting pitcher.
Matthew Boyd might be back in early August. Spencer Turnbull might be back by the end of August. Julio Teheran might be back in September. None of that is certain.
For now, the Tigers rotation consists of three rookies, Casey Mize (who has one or two short-stint starts left to go before he ramps back up), Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal (who will have his innings rationed at some point, too), and veterans Wily Peralta and Jose Urena.
Peralta has been a godsend but Urena hasn’t survived five innings in five straight starts.
Since the start of June, the Tigers have gotten at least six innings out of a starter just 10 times. The bullpen, even if it’s 10 or 11 deep, can’t sustain such a heavy workload, which played out in Minneapolis in the four-game sweep before the break.
Already there are two scheduled bullpen starts over the next three weeks, and that doesn’t count Mize’s short starts.
One option would be to stretch out lefty Tyler Alexander, which may happen. The counter argument, though, is what’s the benefit of adding another five-inning starter? Better, probably, to keep Alexander in this hybrid role that he’s had success in.
The other options are in Toledo: Drew Hutchison, the former Blue Jay; Logan Shore, who has been on the injured list, and Mark Leiter Jr. — none of whom are on the 40-man roster. There is some hope that lefty prospect Joey Wentz would debut sometime this year. But he’s been battling command and other issues in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
September surge
If the Tigers can soldier through these next three or four weeks without a freefall, they could be set up to for a strong September.
There are five off-days in August, which will help keep the bullpen fresh. Hopefully Boyd and Turnbull and reliever Michael Fulmer will all return in August.
Not saying the Tigers will be pushing for a playoff spot, but the final month can be about more than Cabrera’s milestones and September call-ups. It could be a momentum- builder into the offseason and a catalyst for the front office to raise their sights and open the wallet.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky