With his team beginning a six-game homestand and hanging around in the AL Central, Tigers president of baseball ops Scott Harris met with reporters prior to Monday night's game against the Royals -- and immediately dodged a question about whether or not the Tigers consider themselves contenders in a division that's up for grabs about a month from the trade deadline.
Detroit was 30-40 entering play Monday, but just five games out of first after taking three of four from the Twins over the weekend.
"I think, very consistently from AJ (Hinch)’s mouth and my mouth, we’ve been trying to preach a single-minded pursuit of winning today," said Harris. "I know it’s June, I know it's an intuitive question, we just aren’t really thinking about that right now. We’re trying to beat the Royals tonight. There’s going to be plenty of time next month to look up and see the forest and determine the path forward. We’re not really ready and we think it’s a little premature to commit to something right now."
Makes sense from a front office chief in his first year on the job, as he sorts through what he inherited from the prior regime. Some of the shinier hand-me-downs are Eduardo Rodriguez, Austin Meadows, Tarik Skubal and hot-hitting prospect Colt Keith, all of whom Harris talked about Monday.
On Rodriguez, the Tigers' ace who's been sidelined for the past three weeks with a ruptured pulley in his left index finger, Harris said that Rodriguez "feels great" and continues to make progress in his rehab: "We’re itching to get him back on the mound and he’s itching to get back on the mound." Harris added the Tigers will have a more detailed update on Rodriguez on Tuesday.
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On Meadows, the Tigers' starting right fielder who was supposed to hit in the middle of their order, Harris said "the reports we have received from Austin are positive" as he continues to treat the anxiety and mental health issues that have sidelined him since early April. Meadows has been conducting rehab from his home in Florida since last week.
"He is working through treatment, he is also working out and he is in a very healthy environment for him and his progress," Harris said. "We’re keeping tabs on him and we’re rooting like hell for him. That’s about all I can share right now."
On Skubal, whose rehab assignment has progressed to Triple-A Toledo as he nears his return from the elbow injury he suffered last season, Harris said the Tigers are erring on the side of caution with the 26-year-old lefty -- and same for 25-year-old righty Matt Manning, who's also progressed to Triple-A as he makes his way back from the foot injury he sustained in April.
Neither one has allowed an earned run in their rehab outings; Skubal struck out five and allowed one hit across three innings last Thursday for Toledo.
"It's tough. When you see that happen, you want him to be in the big leagues immediately," said Harris. "But we do a lot of work behind the scenes on the history of those injures and the success rates of rehab progressions. We’re going to stay hyper-disciplined. We can’t afford not to. These guys are too important to our future to accelerate their rehab to give them one extra start this year."
On Keith, who's rocketing up prospect rankings as he rakes in Double-A, Harris said the 21-year-old "in many ways embodies the offensive approach we’re trying to build around in this organization."
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"He’s swinging at the right pitches, he’s accessing his power almost every night," said Harris. "If you don’t catch yourself, it’s easy to forget that he’s the youngest player on the team and one of the youngest players in all of Double-A. And he’s missed some valuable reps over the course of his young career due to injury."
Keith missed all of last summer due to a shoulder injury and recently missed a few games with Double-A Erie due to arm soreness. Harris said he's "seen all the speculation about promotions for him," but the Tigers won't rush their top hitting prospect to the next level.
"The standard he’s setting at that level, being obsessed with trying to get better every day, is the standard we want to have at all levels," Harris said. "The development goals for him right now are continuing to see different types of pitching, working to refine his defense at both third base and second base and making up for some of those lost reps. If he continues to do that, he’s going to be just fine. We’re really excited about his future, but nothing to report as far as promotions."
Harris added that, in general, the Tigers "wouldn’t entirely rule out" jumping a player from Double-A to the big leagues, "but it’s really hard to make up for the reps they can get against different pitchers in Triple-A."
"The gap between Triple-A pitching and Major League pitching has never been wider," Harris said. "I want to see all these players up in Detroit just as bad as all the fans do, but I have an obligation in my position to make sure that they’re prepared to be able to hit this pitching.
"We want our young hitters to face struggle before they get to this level, to fight through those struggles and figure out what pitchers are doing to them and adjusting back."
Speaking of adjusting to big-league pitchers, Harris said that the Tigers will continue to be patient with Nick Maton, who's batting .156 in 221 plate appearances this season. The 26-year-old was acquired this offseason from the Phillies in the Gregory Soto trade.
"He is working through it right now," said Harris. "He is adjusting back to what the league is doing to him. There are some nights where you can see a lot of progress and some nights where it’s difficult for him. He’s still a young hitter. He still doesn’t have quite the body of work at this level to suggest that he’s going to be as consistent a performer as we think he’s going to be in the future.
"As long as the work looks good and he continues to show some of those adjustments at the plate, we’re going to give him some runway."
As for hiring a general manager to work beneath him, Harris he's "not actively working on it" but still intends to hire one and will likely resume the search in the offseason "when things slow down."
By then, of course, we will know what became of the 2023 Tigers -- and what Harris will have seen when he peers through the trees next month.
"I’m exposed to a lot chatter out there, but the best thing we can do for our team and our organization is to beat the Royals tonight," he said. "So we’re focused on that and there will be plenty of time to sort the rest of it out."
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