St. Louis – While the rest of the baseball world might marvel at his poise under pressure, 23-year-old rookie Mason Englert just shrugs.
“It’s just all the stuff I’ve been doing for my mind,” he said Saturday morning after his clutch, two-batter performance in the eighth inning of the Tigers’ 5-4 win Friday. “It’s helping me stay quiet in those moments. With the adrenaline, I didn’t feel my thoughts racing. I just felt like I was totally present there and just having a lot of fun.”
Englert, who before this season made three starts above High-A ball, came into a one-run game in the eighth inning with runners at second and third. He engaged in an excruciating 11-pitch battle with left-handed pinch-hitter Brendan Donovan.
Finally, after Donovan fouled off five straight 3-2 pitches, Englert walked him to load the bases. Undaunted, he came right back and punched-out another left-handed pinch-hitter, Nolan Gorman, with a gutsy, 3-2 slider.
“Just the energy of all the fans standing, the bases loaded, two outs – it’s one of those situations you dream about as a kid,” Englert said. “And when it went our way I was just screaming, I was so pumped.”
He might’ve had a hard time collecting his emotions after the inning, but he was in complete control during it. Just the confidence to throw a 3-2 slider with the bases loaded and the tying run on third base was impressive.
Although statistically the slider is his most effective pitch (hitters are 1 for 22 against it), he’s seemingly relied more on changeups in tight situations, especially against left-handed hitters. That was one of the reasons manager AJ Hinch went to Englert in that situation. He anticipated the two lefty pinch-hitters and liked Englert’s changeup as an antidote.
“I wasn’t landing the changeup for strikes,” Englert explained. “I showed him a couple of fastballs and (catcher Eric) Haase observed the same thing I did – the best chance of being in the zone with something other than a fastball was the slider.”
He also thought back on something assistant pitching coach Robin Lund told him.
“He told me, ‘You don’t have one pitch that you should favor over the others,’” Englert said. “’You have four pitches. Don’t think of one as the primary.’ It’s not like you force a pitch just because of the idea of it being ‘my’ pitch.”
The calmness under pressure – Englert works on that as much as he works to develop his pitches. He does cold exposure. He meditates. He was sitting in the outfield grass here Saturday morning in full meditation before anybody else got on the field.
“Just focus on a thought or a phrase or a breath,” he said. “Coming back to it, it allows you to feel super present. When you get into the game you’re not sitting there mind-racing and worried about things. You’re just making your pitches.
“When your mind is quiet, it allows your true self to come out.”
Faedo time
Alex Faedo walked into the Tigers’ clubhouse Saturday morning, answering the question of who would get the spot start in the series finale Sunday.
Hinch said he would announce the corresponding roster move either after the game Saturday or pre-game Sunday.
“The numbers are good,” Hinch said of Faedo, who posted a 0.89 WHIP with 19 strikeouts and four walks in five starts at Triple-A Toledo. “We’ve been using him conservatively, pitch-count wise, to get him through April coming off the injury.”
Faedo, who made his big-league debut last season, had hip surgery during the offseason. He’s been averaging less than four innings per start (18 innings total).
“He’s been controlling the strike zone,” Hinch said. “Here we go again, another day talking about the strike zone, but he’s been taking it to the extreme and done very well with multiple pitches. He’s been in attack mode.”
Around the horn
… Alex Lange, who notched his third consecutive save in three days and seventh on the season, hasn’t allowed a run in his last 12 outings. That’s one shy of his longest scoreless streak, which was 13 from Sept. 4-Oct. 2 last season.
… How hot has Javier Baez been? He’s hit three homers in his last four games, the three coming in 12 plate appearances. Entering the game Saturday, he’d hit safely in 15 of 17 games, slashing .359/.417/.578 with five doubles, three homers and 14 RBI in that stretch.
… Speaking of streaks: Riley Greene took a nine-game hitting streak into play Saturday.
Twitter@cmccosky
On deck
Tigers at Cardinals, Busch Stadium
2:15 p.m.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports Detroit, 97.1.
Scouting report:
RHP Alex Faedo (season debut), Tigers: This is expected to be a spot-start for Faedo. He’s pitched well at Toledo (0.89 WHIP, 19 strikeouts and four walks), but, coming off hip surgery, his innings and pitch-counts have been restricted. He’s averaging less than four innings per start.
LHP Steven Matz (0-4, 6.39), Cardinals. The last time he faced the Tigers, he was a Blue Jay and he allowed one run over six innings. That one run was Miguel Cabrera’s 500th career home run. He’s struggling to get right-handed hitters out this season. They are slashing .333/.403/.524 with five homers and a .927 OPS against him so far this season.
— Chris McCosky