Justyn-Henry Malloy is so new to the bigs that in a recent post-game interview, he apologized for twice asking a reporter to identify opposing pitchers by role: "Sorry — I don't know names yet. I haven't been here long enough." They might learn his name first.
The 24-year-old rookie is looking like a quick study at the plate. Malloy hit his second homer in as many games in the Tigers' win over the Guardians on Monday and his seventh since being called up last month. He says he's "stacking that confidence" with each good swing, which accounts for an OPS of 1.057 over his last 15 games -- more than double his mark after his first 20.
"Just doing the little things right in my at-bats," Malloy said earlier this month. "Winning in the margins, I like to say that."
Now the Tigers are starting to win in the majors. Malloy has added thump and some on-base ability to a lineup that still needs more of both. He was hitting third Monday night when he turned on a Carlos Corrasco sinker under his hands and drilled it over the big wall in left at Progressive Field to stake the Tigers to a 2-0 lead in the first, setting the tone in a 9-1 win. It was a good pitch by Corrasco, and a better swing by Malloy.
"He's very confident right now and he's doing a good job of hunting the pitches he can hit, and he hasn't missed a couple of them now," said A.J. Hinch. "J-Hen gets us started and boom, we're up 2-0 and it feels like a bigger lead with Tarik (Skubal) on the mound. It was a timely swing and another good approach."
Malloy has always been selective at the plate. His precocious eye is one of the traits that appealed to Scott Harris when the Tigers acquired him from the Braves two years ago in the Joe Jimenez trade. Jimenez is enjoying another strong season in the back of Atlanta's bullpen. Malloy is just getting started in the middle of Detroit's lineup.
Hitting third last Sunday in Toronto, he turned a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead when he jumped on a fastball on the inner third from Kevin Gausman and watched it soar into the left field seats for the first grand slam of his career. The Tigers lost the game but won the series, their fourth in a row. They can make it five straight this week for the first time in Hinch's tenure.
Hinch is selective himself, always searching for the right spots for his hitters. He had enough trust in Malloy to pinch-hit him in the ninth inning against righty Yohan Ramirez of the Dodgers in the final game before the All-Star break, the Tigers down by one with a runner on third. Malloy smacked a sweeper up the middle to tie the game, then came around to score the winning run.
For Malloy, winning in the margins is making the right decision on each pitch: "It's not easy by any means, but the pitches that you even decide to swing at, that's a small margin and such a small decision that happens so fast, so quick. That one decision doesn't end the at-bat, but it can absolutely lead to the end result of the at-bat."
"For me, and most of the time for hitters, you don't necessarily get out on the pitch that you grounded out on," he explained. "You probably got out on the fastball that you didn't move to down the middle. You might have gotten out when you put yourself in a 1-2 count because you swung at the slider in the dirt. When I talk about winning in the margins, that's what I mean."
Malloy generally refuses to expand the zone, a tenet of the Tigers' offensive philosophy under Harris. His chase rate, if he qualified, would be the lowest on the team and one of the lowest in the majors. His walk rate would rank fifth among qualified rookies and second on the Tigers, between Riley Greene and Mark Canha.
At times, Malloy can be patient to a fault. He's also prone to swinging and missing. His whiff rate would be one of the highest in the majors. His strikeout rate would be the highest among rookies and on the Tigers, in both cases by a wide margin. He's striking out in more than a third of his plate appearances, including three more times Monday night. That's the risk of getting deep into counts.
Still, 36 games into his big-league career and with a hellish start behind him, Malloy has a .770 OPS and a 113 OPS+. Among qualified Tigers, only Greene has better numbers this season. Detroit's hitters are exceptionally young, but showing signs of growing up. Between Greene, Malloy and Colt Keith, the Tigers have three players under the age of 25 making noise in the middle of their order. If Malloy keeps it up, his spot in the field is a non-issue. He'll bring plenty of value as a designated hitter.
"To be a young player and just contribute in small ways is a plus, and that's all I've been trying to do," said Malloy. "And it's so cool to see my boys doing the same. We just want to continue to stack up good games, good at-bats and let things fall where they may."
For Malloy, they're starting to fall into place.
