Detroit — One of the truly remarkable traits of Tigers manager AJ Hinch is his ability to face each day with renewed vigor and belief. Even on a steamy morning like Wednesday, with only a fast, fitful, few hours of sleep after another agonizing loss the night before.
He sat in the dugout with the assembled media 2½ before game time, upbeat and ready to take on all questions and topics.
He even anticipated one of the first topics. With University of Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich reportedly about to be hired by the University of Clemson, Hinch’s pitching coach Chris Fetter’s name has been popping up as a possible successor at Michigan.
“I knew that question was coming,” Hinch said.
Remember, Hinch lost two coaches off his staff to college gigs during the season last year — Chip Hale to Arizona and Jose Cruz, Jr., to Rice.
“I’m not surprised that the rumors have started,” Hinch said. “From what I understand, there’s been no contact or anything like that yet.”
Losing Fetter, a Michigan alum and former pitching coach for Bakich, would be especially difficult. He’s played a massive role in how the Tigers have built their pitching department, from the player development side (technology and analytics) up through the big-league club.
“We love Fett,” Hinch said. “He’s very talented. He can do anything at this level and certainly at the college level. We have to do everything we can to keep him. He’s a big part of what we’re doing. He needs to coach in this area; it just needs to be with the Tigers.
“We really want him to stay here. I have no idea what’s ahead, but he’s very happy here.”
When the defections of Hale and Cruz, Jr., were brought up, Hinch said, “I’m not losing another coach right now. Like, Fetter is in a good spot. He’s sitting right next to me and he’s completely happy.”
One of Hinch’s edicts is that his coaching staff is off-limits to the media. So there was no opportunity to get Fetter’s take on this situation.
Baez sits
Another pre-game topic Hinch probably anticipated was the ongoing struggles of shortstop Javier Baez.
Hinch gave Baez the day off Wednesday after Baez went 0-for-4 Tuesday night with a pair of strikeouts. Over his last six games, Baez is 1-for-20 with seven strikeouts. Hinch was asked if he thought Baez was still having fun coming to the yard these days.
“I don’t think he’s having fun with the results, hitting-wise,” Hinch said. “But the overall vibe, he’s always upbeat. It’s energetic inside (the clubhouse). But he carries the burden of the expectation of huge performances out of himself. So every out or every chase or like last night, when he punched out with the bases loaded — he carries a little extra burden with that because his expectations are so high.
“He’s not enjoying that part.”
It must be bewildering for Baez right now. It’s not just swinging out of the strike zone so often — on Tuesday he was swinging and missing at fastballs over the heart of the plate.
“But his job, being around him, the plays he’s making on defense, I think he’s having fun,” Hinch said. “That’s definitely separate. The pressure and stress of wanting to do better at the plate is more significant than what he feels in the field.”
The Torkelson dilemma
Topic No. 3: At what point do we start thinking about sending Spencer Torkelson to Triple-A Toledo for a reset? Not yet, apparently.
Torkelson, who was given the night off Tuesday, came into Wednesday’s game in a 3-for-38 rut with 11 strikeouts. He was hitting .181 on the season. In a three-strikeout game Monday, he was swinging and missing at pitches in the strike zone, pitches he’s normally clubbed throughout his career.
“He’s searching,” Hinch said. “He’s learning. We have to remember he’s a 22-year-old young man who has never experienced this at this level, in front of all of you (media), in front of the fans. So I see him grinding a little bit.
“But personality-wise, these guys are great. You can be in a good mood and still be in a struggling situation. You can be positive body language-wise and still be struggling. The competition is the competition. The human being is still locked in.”
The Tigers will face a pair of left-handed starters against the Rangers the next four days. It could be a good opportunity for Torkelson to break out a little bit.
Around the horn
… Outfielder Daz Cameron has not been cleared to come off the COVID injured list. “He’s going to be a little while,” Hinch said. “He hasn’t passed the proper protocols to be reinstated. There’s no timeline right now, but he’s going to be out for a bit still.” Hinch said Cameron would need a rehab stint once he is reinstated.
Rangers at Tigers
Series: Four games at Comerica Park
First pitch: Thursday-Friday – 7:10 p.m.; Saturday – 4:10 p.m.; Sunday – 1:40 p.m.
TV/radio: BSD/97.1
Probables: Thursday – LHP Martin Perez (4-2, 2.18) vs. RHP Beau Brieske (1-5, 4.34); Friday – RHP Jon Gray (1-3, 4.85) vs. LHP Tarik Skubal (5-3, 2.71); Saturday – LHP Taylor Hearn (4-4, 5.37) vs. RHP Rony Garcia (0-2, 5.06); Sunday – RHP Dane Dunning (1-4, 4.04) vs. RHP Drew Hutchison (0-4, 4.58).
Perez, Rangers: After a scorching month of May, he was knocked back to earth by the White Sox in his last start (12 hits, six earned runs in five innings). That’s after he allowed just three runs total in six starts in May. He mixes his elite changeup and cutter off a 92-mph two-seamer, getting a lot of weak contact (86.5 mph average exit velocity).
Brieske, Tigers: He is coming off his first big-league win, scattering seven hits but blanking a good Blue Jays lineup over 5.2 innings. His four-seam fastball and changeup remain his meal ticket, holding hitters to a .207 and .186 average, respectively. As his slider continues to improve, his chase and swing-and-miss rates should improve (24.5% and 17.5%).
Twitter@cmccosky