"Opposite of our identity:" A.J. Hinch addresses two major struggles for Tigers

Under A.J. Hinch, defense has generally been a strength for the Tigers. Not this year. Not so far.

The Tigers were on the plus side of Defensive Runs Saved each of the past four seasons, finishing ninth in the majors last year and fifth in 2024. Outs Above Average, which is based on range and therefore rewards athleticism, hasn't always told the same story, but the Tigers have generally gained an edge on defense through sharp preparation, smart positioning and a consistent attention to detail.

Their loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday night was the latest example of the opposite. Jack Flaherty struck out 10 and walked one over five innings in maybe his best outing of the year, but allowed four runs -- two earned -- because of sloppy plays behind him. A hot ground ball that got through shortstop Kevin McGonigle and a dropped foul pop up near the Tigers' dugout by Spencer Torkelson helped the Red Sox plate two in the third, and an error by third baseman Colt Keith on a ground ball that went through his legs gifted them two more runs in the fourth.

Entering Thursday, the Tigers were 24th in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-7) and dead last in Outs Above Average (minus-19). They have committed the sixth most errors in the majors, the second most throwing errors. They have undermined themselves in the field. The only position where they grade out positively in DRS is catcher, thanks to Gold Glover Dillon Dingler. By the metrics, first base and right field have been particular sore spots.

"I’m a little surprised at just the up-and-down nature of the defense," Hinch said on 97.1 The Ticket. "There are some things you can point to that I feel like are a little bit unjustified in talking about our defense, but at the same time, the reality is, we have to play a little bit faster, we have to play a little bit cleaner and just handle balls that we’re supposed to."

It goes beyond the errors, which are easy to see. It even goes beyond some of the mistakes that weren't charted as errors Wednesday night, like the foul pop that Torkelson dropped one pitch before Flaherty allowed an RBI double for Boston's first run of the game. Their second run came two batters later on a sacrifice fly to shallow center field where Matt Vierling got a slow jump on the ball that led to a choppy catch and a delayed throw to the plate. It was Boston's catcher who scored from third.

While watching Wednesday night's game from a suite during his one-game suspension (as part of the discipline against Framber Valdez for beaning Trevor Story on Tuesday night), Hinch noticed "miscues within the play that are creating more stress on ourselves."

"And it’s a not a lack of effort or a lack of attention to detail," he said. "We certainly miss some of the higher-end defenders that we have that would make our team defense feel a little bit better, but it’s more of an execution issue. We obviously preach playing clean baseball, and it’s a pretty sharp team when we’re executing.

"But little small things, whether it’s pre-pitch (positioning), or attacking a ball at a certain angle on the ground. The one benefit of the suite level is that when you’re up above the field, you can see the formation and where guys are playing and who’s getting off the ball better. It’s little things that will lead to better team defense, but it hasn’t been great so far."

Getting healthy will help, too. The Tigers are without two of their more dynamic defenders in center fielder Parker Meadows, who's been out since early April after a collision in the outfield -- another recurring issue -- with Riley Greene, and shortstop/center fielder Javy Baez, who went down last week with an ankle injury. Utility man Zach McKinstry just returned from an oblique injury, but committed a two-out error at third base in the first inning of his first game back that led to a three-run homer in Boston's 10-3 win.

The Tigers have more than missing parts to blame. The miscues on Wednesday were committed by regulars in the lineup. As a team, they have to start playing crisper, cleaner defense, especially with the pitching staff ravaged by injuries.

Speaking of the pitching staff, this was supposed to be the Tigers' best asset. Even with several arms on the shelf, Hinch didn't hesitate when asked what he considers the strength of his team: "We should throw strikes. At the end of the day, the walks are the thing that just creates innings (for the opponent)."

"We need to be a better strike-throwing team and trust that we’re going to convert those into outs," he said. "It’s always easy to point to the defense, but the play starts by controlling the strike zone and throwing strikes. That, to me, is our identity. It’s something that in this ballpark we need to be dominant at. The competition is over the plate more today than ever before, and we can do it. We’ve thrown a ton of first-pitch strikes."

Hinch is right. Detroit's pitchers have done a good of getting ahead, tied for third in the majors in first-pitch strike percentage (63.3%). They were second in this category each of the past two seasons. But their walk rate has spiked over the past few weeks, which has created too many scoring opportunities for the other side.

"You find yourself first and second, nobody out, because of a walk, or first and third and then they can steal second because of a walk," said Hinch. "That stress that we’re putting on ourselves is probably the single thing that is the opposite of what our identity generally is."

Missing parts are the main culprit here. Jack Flaherty is the only member of the Tigers' Opening Day starting rotation who's currently active, with Tarik Skubal (elbow), Casey Mize (groin) and Justin Verlander (hip) recovering from injuries and Framber Valdez serving a five-game suspension. The absence of Will Vest looms large in the bullpen, along with rehabbing arms like Beau Brieske and Troy Melton.

The Tigers were built to win games with their pitching, but their staff is in shambles a quarter of the way into the season. This weekend in Kansas City, they will start Keider Montero on Friday, Ty Madden on Saturday and piece together a bullpen game Sunday.

"The baseball season tests you all the time," said Hinch. "We can quickly feel better about ourselves by going in division and taking care of Kansas City. The methodical nature of our sport tests that resolve a little bit. We can talk about everything that’s going wrong, we can talk about some bright things that are ahead and looking forward to getting this roster back together and playing a little bit better, but you can’t get caught up in the roller coaster as a participant, as a manager, as a coach, as a player.

"And it’s hard, because there’s a lot of things that we could point to right now to play victim, and that’s not right. So, get back at it and get to the competition on Friday."