DETROIT — The Tigers might not have much collective success during their eight-game losing streak, but there’s something to be said for the mindset that keeps the team grinding.
Detroit has had more than its fair share of players on the injured list this season, many of them key cogs in the machine that saw the Tigers in second place in the AL Central standings as recently as a week ago. The club has dealt with the lack of flexibility on its roster as best it can, and the players who remain are busy brainstorming ways to provide a spark (see: mustacheless Jake Rogers’ two-homer night on Friday).
“The 26 that are healthy need to do whatever it takes to win,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
Zack Short didn’t do damage at the plate during Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the D-backs at Comerica Park, but he’s also quietly strung together one of the more consistent stretches in the lineup since his April 29 callup from Triple-A Toledo.
Short’s four-game hit streak ended Saturday, but he’s still hit safely in 11 of his past 15 contests, over which he’s slashing .293/.375/.463 with a double, two home runs and 11 RBIs. It’s a far cry from the Short who couldn’t seem to stick with the Tigers last season no matter what he did.
Much of the difference boils down to an attitude tweak that Short said came courtesy of hitting coach Keith Beauregard.
As Short remembers it, Beauregard approached him in the cages prior to Short’s first game with the Tigers this season and asked him if he was having fun. A no-brainer question for a guy who’s just gotten a promotion, right?
But Short, who was sub-Mendoza with the Mud Hens at the time and wasn’t producing “anywhere near what I know I’m capable of,” had other ideas.
“No,” he told his new hitting coach. “Not at all.”
When Short struck out on three pitches in his first at-bat that day, Beauregard took what the now-28-year-old said to heart.
“He stopped me in the game and said, ‘Hey, next AB, I want you to enjoy the smells, everything in the box … feel it,’” Short said. “And since that day, if I get out, one at-bat, in the past, I’d be [upset], but he has been like, “Hey, next thing, here we go, move on, move on.”
The mentality of appreciating the moment but also keeping it moving has certainly worked so far for Short, who’s earned praise from Hinch for his patience at the plate as much as his knowledge of the strike zone.
“It can lead to better pitches to hit,” Hinch said. “I think Shorty has done a good job of shrinking that go zone where he needs to put the ball in play, and hopefully, that continues.”
Veteran pitcher Matthew Boyd has a similar approach, preferring to “take [things] for what they are and just go forward.”
“Everything’s there, all the stuff’s there,” said Boyd, who took the loss Saturday after allowing five runs — all on a pair of home runs — across five innings. “Just continue to stay the course and know that I’m doing what I want to do.
“When it all shakes down, when the dust settles at the end, you’ll be where you want to be.”
The Tigers are decidedly not where they want to be. Detroit battled back from a 9-15 start to the season to pull to within one game of .500 with a 6-5, 10-inning victory over the White Sox on May 28. The club has gone 1-10 since as a myriad of injuries, a lack of situational hitting and some uncharacteristic outings on the mound have conspired to drop the Tigers from second in the division to fourth.
Short, Boyd, Hinch and the rest of the bunch firmly believe things will come back around. The way the club turned things around in a short time in May is proof that it can happen.
It has got to continue to toss aside the bad, hold onto the good and be ready to jump on the next wave.
“Our mindset’s the same,” Hinch said. “We do a really good job every day of coming ready to play. … Our mindset’s been good, our vibe is good and our expectations are the same.”