For the past five years, Tucker Barnhart and his wife rented a home in the Cincinnati area. At the end of last season, Barnhart’s eighth with the Reds, they packed everything up and moved back to Indianapolis. Barnhart had a hunch. Sure enough, the veteran catcher was traded to the Tigers on the first day of the offseason.
“I had been on the other end of the situation in Cincinnati, being the younger catcher and having a veteran in front of me," Barnhart said Thursday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "I see how those things work. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the nature of the game. You have a younger guy that has shown he can play in the big leagues, they are going to want to see if he can do it every day, and I get that. I’m excited for a change of scenery.
“I’m very excited to play in Detroit and can’t wait to get to work with the talented young arms that we have.”
Barnhart displaced former All-Star Devin Mesoraco in Cincinnati at the end of the 2017 season when he signed a four-year, $16 million deal – with a $7.5 club option for 2022 that now belongs to the Tigers. And former first-round pick Tyler Stephenson displaced Barnhart and his two Gold Gloves four years later. The Tigers and their rotation will be better for Barnhart’s presence behind the plate. He’s widely regarded as one of the top defensive catchers in the game.
Ask A.J. Hinch, a former big-league backstop himself: a catcher’s most important job is to get the most out of his pitchers. That’s what Barnhart's known for. That’s what he prides himself on. He’s yet to meet Hinch in person, but he's heard nothing but great things from former teammates who played for Hinch in Houston, like veteran pitcher Wade Miley. Barnhart called Miley after learning of the trade.
“He was pumped for me,” Barnhart said. “He said there’s no better guy that he’s played for or been around than A.J. He said, ‘You’re going to absolutely love him.'"
Then Barnhart chatted with Hinch himself. Right away, they were putting down the same signals.
“Listening to him talk, I just really appreciate his perspective when it comes to pitching and catching. He mentioned how important he feels it is, and I echo the same thing,” Barnhart said. “I think there’s some people in the game today that undervalue the catching position and the stability that it can bring to a team to have a guy that’s very good defensively behind the plate and (how) it allows young guys to have confidence to throw certain pitches at certain times. I love everything that I heard from A.J.”
Related
Barnhart admits he doesn’t know much about the Tigers’ young arms. Not yet. But he faced Casey Mize toward the end of last season when the rookie held the Reds hitless over three innings. He also saw All-Star Gregory Soto and Alex Lange out of the bullpen. By the end of the series, Barnhart had seen enough – and that's without mentioning Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning.
“It never felt like you could let up or take a breath from a hitter’s perspective,” he said. “It felt like you were on the defensive from the get-go. And for me personally, from a game calling and pitching standpoint, if you have guys that put hitters on the defensive from the first pitch of the at-bat or the first pitch of the game, you’re already winning. That’s what it felt like to me, so I’m excited to build off of what we have.”
Barnhart is Midwest to his core. He was born and raised on the outskirts of Indianapolis and drafted and developed by Cincinnati. This makes Detroit a natural fit -- for the most part. Barnhart is also a diehard Pacers fan. Basketball is his "first love." He said "it’s a prerequisite to get out of the state of Indiana that you have to be able to hit a corner three." The Pistons and the Pacers haven't always got along.
"Man, that’s going to be an interesting hurdle to get over, because I’m a huge Pacers fan," Barnhart said with a laugh. "I’m a huge Pacers fan. I was at the game (Wednesday night) against the Knicks. That’s going to bring back some interesting memories. To this day, I can tell you exactly where I was when the Malice at the Palace happened. Yeah, it’s an interesting angle to this whole thing."
Otherwise, the Tigers and Barnhart are the right match, a young team in need of a steady presence behind the plate, a veteran catcher in need of a new opportunity. Barnhart said he's even looking forward to hitting in Comerica Park because "I hit doubles -- and I think Comerica’s got a hell of a lot of doubles in it for me."
"For me," said Barnhart, "change is going to be good."