How Detroit Tigers are paddling away the blues during dark season
'Nonstop' by Drake is playing at a decent decibel on the surround sound in the Detroit Tigers' clubhouse during pregame Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.
Tarik Skubal and Tyler Alexander are laughing over a game of ping pong; presumably part of the double-elimination tournament among 16 players.
Will Vest asks Tucker Barnhart "did you tell them who your daddy is?" alluding to the two times he won on the table earlier in the day. Barnhart clarifies it wasn't a part of the tournament and that he beat reliever Alex Lange in the opening round.
The mood is light, as it often has been throughout this disappointing 2022 season.
"I'm proud of the players, our team is tight, we have a good group, we have a group that's together, we're not pointing fingers, nobody is blaming coaches, manager, players, we're all responsible," said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch on Thursday. "So I think the make up of this team is one of the strengths that has to pull us out of this performance that none of us are happy about."
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From the outside if one didn't already know, they'd have no idea the Tigers have been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball.
The Tigers aren't hiding from it — Hinch called Wednesday's 13-0 thrashing from the Chicago White Sox the "low point" of the season — but aren't dwelling on it, either.
Their most recent drubbing led to a players-only meeting postgame, something Spencer Torkelson says is not uncommon. And sometimes, like Wednesday, he said the point of them can be rather basic.
"I think the main message is we need to go out there and have fun," he said. "Not play stale, show up to the yard every day expecting to win and play for each other.
"Yeah little things like the tournament, a home run belt, every team's got a little something to (stay upbeat). The season can get monotonous. 162 games in 180-something days you know if you let it it will get dry and stale, so you've got to spice things up and make things fun in anyway possible and that's what the meeting was about."
Fans are livid; n obody inside the walls at Comerica Park is happy either.
The Tigers know they're last in runs scored. They know Aaron Judge (25) nearly has as many home runs as they do as a team (31). Players say they have two options: continue to focus on what's going wrong, or do their best to enjoy each game.
"We're in a position that if you focus on what's happened, then the next couple days could continue to put us in a hole," Barnhart said. "So with 100 games left, you just got to focus on whatever it takes to win tonight, and focus on tomorrow, tomorrow."
The team is 7-31 when the opponent scores first compared to 17-6 when they get the game's first run. Hinch said across the league it's common teams will lose more often when the opponent gets ahead early and win more when getting off to an early lead.
He acknowledged the Tigers are probably outliers to the extent in which it's happening, but said the team does not feel as if it's over when it falls behind.
"There may be a game like yesterday where you fall behind with a three-run homer that can be demoralizing, but we're all professionals," he said.
"But I don't want to take one game where we fell behind and put it on that, it's an accumulation issue of losing as many games as we have that we feel like we could be better."
Hinch reminded it wasn't long ago the Tigers won four of five from the division-leading Minnesota Twins and won seven of nine overall. He also pointed to the sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, saying those stretches were fun, but guaranteed nothing moving forward.
"I get it, I really do, this isn't living up to any of our standards, but I don't think the current emotion can define a full season," he said. "If we win 10-1 today is everything fixed? I don't know.
"I mean it could be, but it doesn't mean it will be, that's why we're about winning today's game."
Mize on the mend
Former Tigers No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize has undergone Tommy John surgery. Hinch said the two have exchanged messages and Mize is doing well, but joked he wasn't aware until he got a notification.
"That's the beauty of social media, he can let everybody know what day he had the surgery by posting the picture," Hinch said. "He's doing as well as can be expected obviously, the surgery was a success, a long rehab begins.
"But I found out the way you guys did, that it was all over, with that social media post."
The expected timetable for a full recovery is 12-18 months, which makes it more likely than not his return will come at the start of the 2024 season.
Miize made his MLB debut in August 2020, before leading the team with 30 starts and 150⅓ innings in 2021, posting a 3.71 ERA.
Mize made two starts this season and had a 5.40 ERA, giving up six runs with two walks and four strikeouts in 10 innings, landing on the IL after his April 15 outing.
Barnhart gets pitchers T-shirt
Hinch said having three position players pitching in a single game is, "as embarrassing as it gets" as a manager.
The players were frustrated as well, but still, Barnhart said he tried to enjoy it as much as he could in the moment. Reliever Andrew Chafin gave him a gift as he joined the ranks of those who've taken the mound.
"I get a failed starter shirt because I did enter into the game as a pitcher yesterday," the catcher joked. "Although, I've got talk to A.J. about it next time if I'm ever in there again, I don't think we need to shift because I think that cost me a run."
Barnhart said he was more nervous pitching Wednesday night than when he made his major league debut in 2014 because he felt "so out of place."
"It was fun, I mean considering the outcome of the game," he said. "I'd always wanted to do it, never been in a position where I've been allowed to do it."
Utilityman Harold Castro has unfortunately gotten somewhat used to it. This was his second pitching appearance this year, after making three a season ago. It wasn't clear if he has received a shirt from Chafin, but it was clear Kody Clemens has not.
"I would come in from shortstop to close games in high school, I was like 88-90 (mph) but flat as an arrow, but that worked in high school," he said. "But I don't know where (my T-shirt) is. I've got to find out."
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on twitter at @realtonygarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Detroit Tigers are paddling away the blues during dark season
