Javier Báez. Riley Greene. Spencer Torkelson.
Some combination of those three players in the middle of the Detroit Tigers‘ batting order, but always with Torkelson as the cleanup hitter, has happened 10 times this season and eight times since April 29. The Tigers are 5-5 in those games, and 14-17 in their 31 others.
The exact combination of Greene batting second, Báez batting third and Torkelson batting fourth occurred in three straight games, from Saturday through Tuesday, for the first time in the 2023 campaign.
“They have to decide who they want to pitch to,” Báez said, “and if everybody’s hot, they’re in trouble.”
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Finding consistent middle of the order bats, and getting production from those players back-to-back-to-back in the lineup, is another positive sign for the future of the franchise as the Tigers (19-22) continue to play winning baseball.
All three position players — Báez, Greene and Torkelson — have been playing some of their best baseball in the first half of May. This month, the trio is hitting a combined .321 (51-for-159) with five home runs, eight walks (4.7% walk rate) and 31 strikeouts (18.1% strikeout rate) across 171 plate appearances.
“They’re great,” Torkelson said of Báez and Greene. “It’s really fun to watch from the on-deck circle and in the hole on the top step (of the dugout), so I’m fortunate they’re on our team.”
Báez, Greene and Torkelson have driven in 23 runs in May, which is 44.2% of the Tigers’ 52 RBIs.
The three players aren’t drawing walks at a high clip, but they’re not striking out at a high clip, either, due to their selectively aggressive approaches. The approach, for all three players, boils down to getting a pitch to hit inside the strike zone. If that happens, they’re tremendously confident in their swings.
“That’s pretty common for guys that are around each other to naturally pay attention to one other,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “You see every at-bat right in front of you. They’re all pretty super-aggressive, so maybe that’s something they’ve latched onto. They all have similar success when they get a good pitch, and when they don’t and swing a little too much, they get themselves in trouble.”
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The Tigers, as a result of the middle-of-the-order success, have a 9-5 record in May and a 17-13 record since April 13, when Hinch benched Báez for a mental mistake. Their power numbers remain the worst in baseball, but the quality of the plate appearances has significantly improved from the beginning of the season.
In Tuesday’s 4-0 win, Greene ripped a changeup to left field for a single and chased Pittsburgh Pirates starter Luis L. Ortiz in the fourth inning. During the pitching change, Báez and Torkelson chatted about Greene near the dugout.
“Tork told me, ‘I want to see the ball the way Greeney sees it,'” Báez said. “I said, ‘Me too, bro. Who doesn’t?’ It’s been fun.”
Báez, 30, is the veteran of the group, with two All-Star appearances, a World Series championship (in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs), a Gold Glove award and 1,045 games of experience in his MLB career. He is hitting .273 with two walks and eight strikeouts in 14 games in May.
His 16.7% strikeout rate for the season ranks in the 79th percentile and is the lowest of his career.
Báez posted a 33.6% strikeout rate in 2021 and a 24.9% strikeout rate in 2022. The improved strikeout rate comes from an increased focus during plate appearances and sacrificing some of his power for contact.
“I’m making adjustments,” Báez said. “I’m trying to be short to the ball and not trying to hit it so hard, but it’s hard because I have strong legs and that’s where my power comes from. It’s hard for me to control it. But I’m seeing the ball good, and timing-wise, it’s pretty good.”
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Hinch shared his understanding of Báez’s approach.
“The game doesn’t always give you homers,” Hinch said. “I think sometimes you can fool yourself by hitting a bad pitch over your head out of the ballpark, or you can chase a ball below the zone out of the ballpark, but generally speaking, at this level, you’re not going to get sustained success by swinging outside of the zone and trying to hit every ball out of the ballpark.”
Báez, currently in the second season of a six-year, $140 million contract, has been studying Greene and Torkelson and feeding off their success. He said he feels comfortable batting between Greene and Torkelson in the lineup.
“I’m seeing their timing and their at-bats, like how deep Greeney lets the ball get in the zone,” Báez said. “There are obviously things that you pick up and take into your approach, and they do that. They have a great approach and great talent.”
Greene, the 2019 No. 5 overall pick, is leading the way with a .412 batting average, three walks and 12 strikeouts through 13 games in May. Torkelson, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, is hitting .283 with three walks and 11 strikeouts through 14 games in May.
Greene is 22; Torkelson is 23.
Together, they’re carrying the Tigers’ offense and the future looks bright again.
Báez has been teaming up with the youngsters and paying attention to everything they’re doing this season. The three players could be teammates for at least the next four seasons, and the Tigers hope to keep them at their best in the middle of the batting order for years to come.
“Confidence is everything in the box,” Greene said, “and we just have to keep it going.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.