Detroit — It had to happen, and by the end, everyone knew it. The first error Sunday was a crusher. The second misplay was the finisher.
Nick Maton had no excuses and no disagreement. The Tigers sent him to Toledo immediately following their 6-3 10-inning loss to the Twins, a game that swung on two groundballs to him at third. The Tigers had the lead and could’ve pumped a little juice into their contention intentions. Instead, it was an awful day for Maton, who has struggled all season at the plate, his confidence seemingly wrecked.
More than 30 minutes after the game, he was one of the last players in the clubhouse, getting instructions from a team official about the logistics of getting to Toledo. He looked and sounded demoralized, but respectfully understood his demotion.
“I need to get right, I need to be the player I know I can be, and I am,” Maton said. “This is probably the move that needed to happen. … Obviously I’ve struggled, a lot. Everyone knows the player I can be, and maybe this will help me out. I’m not going to sulk around about it.”
At the core, this is a standard baseball transaction. One player goes down and another comes up, in this case likely Tyler Nevin, who previously struggled in Detroit. But it’s also evidence that even for the rebuilding Tigers, patience has limits and mistakes have repercussions. The harsh truth is, this would’ve happened sooner if the Tigers had strong Triple-A options, and it still should have happened sooner.
They dropped two of three to the first-place Twins and fell to 33-43, 5½ games behind. Whatever this rickety ride turns out to be, the Tigers can’t afford to keep carrying non-productive passengers. Maton has worked diligently, but his .163 batting average was enough to warrant a demotion. His fielding gaffes in two clutch situations Sunday sealed it.
“Coming off this game, it was time to give him a different environment,” AJ Hinch said. “He needs to do that in Toledo. I just had an emotional meeting with him. It’s tough, but it was necessary.”
Costly miscues
One game, or one error, doesn’t necessarily alter a career trajectory. But for Maton, 26, who came over from Philadelphia with Matt Vierling in the Gregory Soto trade, this was an accumulation. The Tigers were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the eighth and the Twins had runners on first and second with two outs when Willi Castro chopped a grounder to third. Maton had plenty of time to field and throw, but fired it way over Spencer Torkelson’s head, and Royce Lewis scored the tying run.
Then in the 10th, with the ghost runner on second and nobody out, Lewis slapped a hard shot that Maton knocked down with a dive, but couldn’t hang on. It was ruled a hit and Carlos Correa scored, and the Twins added on from there.
The Tigers got five solid innings from starter Michael Lorenzen and were playing a relatively crisp game, after the first pitch was moved up 90 minutes because of looming storms. Their bullpen again was doing its job and they were poised to move 3½ games out of first, just behind second-place Cleveland.
Yes, it’s summer and the standings are relevant now, no matter how flawed the Tigers are. Baseball rules clearly state someone must win the AL Central, and with a batch of injured players — Eduardo Rodriguez, Riley Greene, Matt Manning, Akil Baddoo — expected back soon, the Tigers are in the muddled mix. They’re 15-11 against division opponents, and this could’ve been their seventh win in eight division series.
Obviously Maton was not the only problem. But it was a mistake to keep thinking he’d figure out a solution as the pressure mounted. Hinch and GM Scott Harris didn’t go looking for a scapegoat, but this finally was too glaring to ignore.
Hinch maintains a famously balanced demeanor, but he wasn’t in the mood to soft-pedal it.
“It’s very frustrating because we made the wrong mistake at the wrong time, and it was very costly,” Hinch said. “It was a bad time to make a bad error.”
Toledo reset
Maton will get a couple days off and then play regularly for Toledo, while the Tigers head on a seven-game road trip to Texas and Colorado. Hinch had stuck with Maton in the middle of the lineup because he was one of only three left-handed hitters, and it was painful at times. The Tigers were hoping to wait it out until Baddoo or Greene came back and Maton could be dropped in the order, while Jonathan Schoop could play third more often. The team is adamant about not rushing prized 21-year-old Colt Keith, and that hasn’t changed.
“(Maton) needs to commit to the full adjustments to get back to a more well-rounded baseball player, and he will,” Hinch said. “We have total confidence in him. The best environment is in Toledo, where he can be a little out of the spotlight, a little bit more free to play every single day, get every single rep, and not continue to drag the struggles from the previous day.”
With his relatively young age, the pop in his bat and his energetic disposition, Maton always seemed on the verge of breaking out. He hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning in Philadelphia to break up a no-hit bid. He has six home runs and leads the team with 33 walks.
But as of last week, Maton ranked 168th out of 173 position players in advanced offensive production. His short-term replacement, Nevin, hit .128 in 16 games with the Tigers earlier.
Hinch has talked repeatedly about avoiding distractions and earning the right to be taken seriously, not just “patted on the head like we’re a nice team that tries hard.” Fair enough. This wasn’t a pat on the head, but a kick in the butt.
“This guy’s crushed when he’s swinging and missing, or when he makes an error in the field,” Hinch said. “He is very much the life of the party type personality. Respectful, yes. Understanding, yes. Happy or relieved, no.”
On a day the Tigers moved up the game to beat an expected storm, Maton was trying desperately to weather the storm. For much of this season, his teammates have done the same. This was a necessary response by the club with an important message: To be taken seriously, there must be serious ramifications for poor performance.
bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @bobwojnowski