A.J. Hinch stated the obvious after the Tigers were smacked by the Twins on Sunday to fall to a season-worst 20 games under .500: "We're not in a good place as a baseball team."
Asked to elaborate, Hinch replied, "Have you seen our record?"
"That's really the bottom line. That's why we're here, to play to win games, and we're not doing it enough obviously. We're beat-up as a team physically, we're not winning games. Put that combo together and it's pretty miserable," he said.
A season that opened with promise has turned into a nightmare for the Tigers. They've added injuries to insults, and insults to injuries. Their banged-up pitching staff took another blow Sunday when Rony Garcia, rushed back from a rehab stint to cover for Beau Brieske (arm fatigue), left the game with a biceps injury. And on it goes.
The Tigers had designs of pushing for a playoff berth this season. The rebuild was supposed to be over. After dropping two games to the division-leading Twins this weekend by a combined score of 17-5, they are now last in the AL Central and second to last in the American League. Asked if there's a feeling of embarrassment given the gap between expectations and reality, Hinch said, "I don't like losing today's game."
"I don't get caught up in the narratives, but I don't like losing today's game. We had a chance to beat a team that has really turned the corner, and in the last two days we've gotten beat by them," he said. "So that's pretty much how I feel."
And on it goes.
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