Seeing some exciting renewals in Detroit; Mize, Tork, and dare we say it…Baez?
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“Part of it is tapping into his athleticism,” Hinch said. “The other part is, when you frame it to Javy that it’s all about winning, that resonates with him. He’s a winning player. He makes winning plays.”
That’s something Hinch had to reinforce to Báez, especially as his offensive game cratered over the last three years. There are other ways to impact wins.
“Just because a stat line isn’t perfect, it doesn’t make you a non-winning player,” Hinch said. “That’s what I want to explain to Javy.”
What Hinch tried to convey in words, the Tigers did in deeds last season. As Báez sat out rehabbing from hip surgery, he watched his teammates go on a two-month run to the playoffs with just about every player moving around the diamond and making sacrifices to enable Hinch to mix and match and exploit every matchup advantage.
Not there yet
Baez came into the game Monday with six hits in 18 at-bats, and those six hits came in two three-hit games.
“I’m just trying to get there,” he said. “I just fight every day to feel better. I feel good. Physically, I feel good. But I just don’t feel good timing-wise, like I got my comfort.”
He’d only struck out twice this season, which is a positive. And he’s 4 for 5 against fastballs. But his hard-hit rate was 12.5%.
“I want to get that trust and feel back out there,” he said. “Like, I feel like my timing is pretty good and then once I’m out there I get too excited. I get a little jumpy and that’s the thing we are working on.
“Sometimes you’ve got to hold your ground. That’s what I told the hitting coaches. Just try to stay back and not be so jumpy to the ball.”