Colt Keith set goals entering his first big-league season, "very lofty goals," he said this week. "Similar to the stats that I had in Double-A and Triple-A," where he cranked 27 homers and hit .306 last season on his rapid rise to Detroit. He might have considered adjusting them -- or abandoning them -- in April.
"I’m not going to change those, going to keep them where they’re at," he said Monday afternoon before the Tigers opened a four-game set with Cleveland. "They’re definitely still obtainable. Still a lot of time left, still a lot of at-bats, and we’re going to see if we can reach them by the end of the year."
The next day, Keith hit his fourth homer in eight games this month. His two-run bomb off Ben Lively, Cleveland's best starter this season, sparked the Tigers' rally from a 6-0 deficit, though they would ultimately lose in extras. He had another multi-hit game in the two hole, where he's starting to look at home: he's hitting .356 in a small but growing sample in his new spot in the lineup. And Keith nearly capped his night with a walk-off in the 9th on a line-out to left.
"It’s no secret that a lot of our production in the top of the order has come with Colt warming up for the better part of a couple months," A.J. Hinch said before the game. "I love that fact that he went double-homer the other day and he’s doing a ton, but really over time, since May he’s been pretty good. Lately I think he knows he’s going to be in. When he does well, we do well."
Slowly but surely, the Tigers rookie second baseman is putting his brutal start behind him. Keith was hitting .154 with a .387 OPS through April, the latter by far the worst mark in the majors. He's hitting .294 with an .808 OPS since. He said his mechanics have improved "just from being more comfortable" in the box. He looks more and more limber with the bat, like when he waited on a changeup from Lively and drilled it into the seats in right.
"Hands are a little looser, more adjustable to fastballs, and off-speed as well," he said. "Obviously I’m able to put the ball over the fence every once in a while now, versus in April I wasn’t able to do that. But just overall, that helps."
Keith signed an extension with the Tigers this winter worth up to $82 million over nine years, then didn't hit his first big-league homer until late May. A weight came off his shoulders when he did. His eight bombs since then are tied for second among MLB second baseman with Jordan Westburg of the Orioles, who was just elected to the All-Star Game. Keith had his first multi-homer game last weekend in the Tigers' sweep of the Reds.
Hitting behind Keith that day -- and most days now -- was Riley Greene. He homered himself, his 17th of the season, to seal Detroit's win. Not long ago, Greene was in Keith's cleats, a highly-regarded rookie scrapping and clawing against big-league pitching. Through his first 81 games, half a major-league season, Greene hit .247 with a .672 OPS. Through his first 81 games, Keith is hitting ... .248 with a .669 OPS.
"You get a taste of having to adjust and struggling for a little bit (on your way up) the minors, but this is definitely the biggest jump," said Keith. "There’s always going to be an adjustment period for most guys, but especially for me. I didn’t hit the ground running like I wanted to like when I was in Triple-A and Double-A, but now I’m starting to feel like I belong here. I’m starting to get more confidence and more comfortable. Hopefully I just keep going on the trajectory I’m on right now and keep getting better and better and better until one day I’m an All-Star like Riley."
That's the Tigers' hope. It's beginning to feel more like a vision. Greene's rise has been the best story of Detroit's season. Keith's rise, if it continues, would be another reason for belief about their outlook under Scott Harris, which at times still feels bleak. The Tigers' mostly woeful offense is why they're buried before the All-Star break and destined to miss the playoffs for the 10th year in a row.
But Greene has emerged as a cornerstone. Keith could be on his way, at the keystone. The Tigers are so desperate for middle-of-the-order bats that they are facing serious questions about trading maybe the best pitcher in baseball, lest they waste his left arm. Greene and Keith feel like answers.
"I’m just going to focus on getting better every day and hopefully that turns into a corner piece for the organization," said Keith. "If not, I’m not, but I think Riley has the same mentality, just keep getting better every and try to help the team win in any way we can and see where it takes us."
The Tigers, said Hinch, have more young players on the way, some of whom are "coming sooner than maybe even they expect." And when they arrive, the Tigers' hope is that players like Greene and Keith, "guys that have learned up here how to be good," can serve as models for success and "help those guys (grow) faster," said Hinch.
"We've talked a ton about needing our young players to develop quickly and contribute quickly," Hinch said.
It's harder than ever to do that in the bigs. Greene, in year three, has come out the other side. Keith is turning the corner -- or is it cornerstone?