The Tigers have a lot to blame for their ugly start. The offense, last in the American League in runs, hits and homers. The rotation, second to last in the AL in ERA. The defense, second to last in the AL in defensive runs saved. What's most frustrating for A.J. Hinch?
"The defense, the defense," Hinch said Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "The hitting stuff comes and goes all year. We always say, 'Hey, you're going to be 2-for-30 at some point during your season.' When it comes in the beginning it's painful. We've watched Jonathan Schoop get off to a slow start, Akil Baddoo, Jeimer Candelario, Eric Haase, a number of our guys. But I can handle the competition between the pitcher and the hitter. The defensive stuff proves to lose games."
Like a 4-2 loss to the Yankees last month thanks to a two-run error in the first on a bases-loaded pop-up. Like a 5-4 loss to the Twins last week thanks to a two-run error in the ninth on a botched run-down. Like a 7-1 loss to the Twins two days later thanks to three successive errors in the fifth that turned a close game into a blowout. And then there's everything that eludes the nightly box score, like the fact the Tigers have turned the fewest double plays in the AL.
"We've lost a couple games, some that you can measure in the box score with errors," said Hinch. "There's been other things on defense that we've done that aren't in the box score. Some of that is positioning, some of that is awareness, some of that is playing clean and turning a double play when you're supposed to -- or even not supposed to but still turning it.
"Those things as a manager eat at you at night because it's hard enough as it is to win at this level. We're a little bit banged up and then we start making it harder on ourselves by fundamentally not playing well on defense and that leads to some miserable times."
So what's the fix? Part of it is more practice, and the Tigers continue to do plenty of infield work. Hinch also relies on a "review process, kind of similar to football," he said, where he calls players into his office to consult the video of a play gone wrong.
"I have a big Smart Board where we can go through the video, so there's a continual awareness," said Hinch. "Part of baseball is (that it's) every day, so there's a balance between hammering these guys about a mistake and getting them ready mentally to play the next game. I don't have a week to prepare them like in football or a couple days like in basketball and hockey, so I balance a little bit of how much it is.
"But the next step is trying to churn the roster and give opportunity to people. You don't threaten playing time, but you're a realist with what you need out of people and the production is going to matter. But we've gotta just keep at it and trust that these guys can bounce back after a weird first 21 games."
