- 2 months ago
AJ Hinch gave his message to Tiger fans for the final 30 games.
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00:00Fresh off a win, Tiger manager A.J. Hinch joining us this morning.
00:03A.J., good morning.
00:05Good morning. How are you doing?
00:07Good. Was it a bit of a relief last night?
00:11A little bit of an exhale just because this has been such a brutal week.
00:15You know, I know the frustration coming out of Pittsburgh
00:20when the game flipped on us and then Kansas City,
00:24you know, obviously getting swept and coming home.
00:26I mean, you know, you come home and you look at the daunting task
00:28of facing the Rays and the Dodgers, and I know how bleak it can look.
00:33It's nice to put together a game and a chance to win a series.
00:37We've won four out of five games against these Rays,
00:39and I think I have to remind my team sometimes that, you know,
00:43this is not an impossible task, but it's certainly an uphill battle
00:47for us right now, and the win was nice.
00:49Along those lines, you mentioned it's an uphill battle.
00:53Do you guys talk about a number of, like, what it would actually take
00:57to make it into the postseason?
01:00And as a follow-up, do you think this is a year where we've never seen a team
01:04in a 162-game season get in with a sub-500 record?
01:08Whether it's you guys or someone else, do you think that happens this year?
01:11Yeah.
01:12So the first question is we don't really openly talk about a win total,
01:16with the exception that I've been very consistent with saying,
01:19hey, we need to get to 500, we need to get to 500,
01:22we need to get to 500, we came really close,
01:24we had the White Sox series, that wasn't a great series,
01:27and so we kind of fell behind.
01:28So we click climb, climb, climb, and then fall down.
01:30And so that part of it, I think, before you can really talk about
01:35sort of bigger things, that 500 mark was, like,
01:39was what we were searching for for the better, I mean, for three months,
01:44I mean, however long it's been.
01:45And so I think that's been the one topic.
01:48As far as the overall record goes,
01:51it's a win total exercise against your opponents.
01:53So I don't know, and I still don't really think that the sub-500 team makes it,
02:01but I don't think it matters either.
02:02I think everybody goes to zero and zero.
02:05So whatever it takes to get in, I think the broader question of historical things
02:10and, oh, my gosh, somebody's around 500 or below,
02:13it's not as if it's, like, going to be praised to be at 500
02:17and make the playoffs.
02:18Like, the playoff part is the record we seem to always throw shade at,
02:22but it's part of how this year has gone
02:26and one of the most ridiculous years, I'm sure,
02:28for you guys to cover and us to go through in the league.
02:32When the dust settles and the playoff teams are established,
02:36I still believe, like, the American League,
02:39the teams even around 500, they're pretty hard to beat.
02:42Seattle's pretty hard to beat.
02:43They're five games under 500.
02:45You know, whether it's the Astros or whether it's the White Sox,
02:50whether it's us, like, you're going to see some things in October,
02:53regardless of who it is, surprise people based on seasonal records
02:58because those won't matter when you get into a short series.
03:01John's patting himself on the back because he's been saying 500,
03:03so get the 500, get the 500.
03:05You mentioned that this latest stretch, you guys have faded.
03:09What has happened in the back half of this month in your eyes?
03:14Probably a combination of things.
03:15You know, I know, you know, I talk a lot about the aspects of the game.
03:18I was talking about this yesterday with the media.
03:20You know, you have these different areas of baseball,
03:22which is a unique sport.
03:24It's a marathon.
03:25We play every day.
03:26You know, and you guys talk every day about this team,
03:29and there's sometimes you talk about the offense,
03:31sometimes it's the defense, sometimes it's pitching,
03:33sometimes it's the bullpen, sometimes it's the rotation.
03:35Like, you've got to get all that synchronized up to playing really well.
03:39And for stretches during the season, you know,
03:41I think every part of our game has been at its peak,
03:46and every part of that game has been sort of bottom barrel,
03:50and we have not been great.
03:51So when you have a couple of those areas, you know, fade or struggle
03:56or you can't get to the finish line and a game flips
03:59or, you know, you lose a big presence in Riley Green
04:02and the middle of the order,
04:04albeit some young guys coming up and contributing,
04:06just doesn't create the same stress on the other manager
04:09to make decisions.
04:11Like, that is all culminated in, you know, not enough winning plays,
04:15and you find yourself losing close enough games to be super frustrated about it
04:21because it's not as if you're getting blown out
04:23or you're getting embarrassed or you're getting, you know,
04:25you're throwing games away.
04:27You're just not doing enough to win.
04:28And that, at this time of year, feels like it costs you times two.
04:33It's not just a loss like we talk about in April or May or June.
04:37These August and end of September games, you know,
04:41although they only count as one, you know,
04:43emotionally make you feel, you know, as if they're multiplied.
04:47Max Clark had a home run yesterday,
04:49and I'm curious how you,
04:51we've talked about Kevin McGonigal a lot,
04:53and I do have a question about him,
04:55but Max Clark, how have you seen him since he's been up
05:00make adjustments and maybe learn from a guy like Kevin McGonigal
05:04or some of the other young guys that are there?
05:05How are you seeing him make those adjustments?
05:08Yeah, no, but let's please not compare every young player
05:11to Kevin McGonigal.
05:12It's not fair.
05:13I mean, whoa, Kevin McGonigal has been
05:16some kind of special for, at this level, at his age
05:20and experience level, and you're right,
05:23Max can learn a lot from Kevin,
05:24and a lot of it can be, you know,
05:26sort of maintaining that edge
05:28without sort of losing his mind when things don't go his way.
05:33Like, Max is an emotional player.
05:35He has learned a lot.
05:36I think he got off to a great start in Sacramento,
05:38and he just found it, like, it's a tough level.
05:42Some of the balls he's hit that haven't been hits
05:44have tamped down his numbers.
05:46I think his defense, albeit yesterday he had the one little mistake,
05:51it has been very, very impressive, getting off the ball,
05:54getting the balls quickly, running balls down.
05:56And you see what's to love about Max Clark.
05:59And then last night, the homer was very important for us to flip the game
06:04and get back our momentum a little bit to separate from them
06:07and win yesterday's game.
06:09So Max Clark can bring a skill set every single day to the ballpark
06:14to help you win, and it doesn't always have to be one area of his game.
06:17And those subtle adjustments, he needs his first 100 backs.
06:21I want to wake up on the other side of these first 100 backs,
06:23and we're going to see a player emerging and growing
06:26like we have a lot of young players.
06:27You mentioned Kevin McGonigal is some kind of special.
06:31Can you describe or put it into words how unique it is
06:35what Kevin McGonigal is doing as a rookie?
06:39Oh, man.
06:40I mean, the numbers on the scoreboard don't really do him justice,
06:43and the numbers on the scoreboard are probably going to get him
06:46an award on the mantle.
06:47You know?
06:47I mean, he's obviously holding his own performance-wise.
06:52There's the numbers, the back quality, the walking strikeouts, the homers,
06:56the doubles, but the quality of this kid's play,
07:00I'm moving him around between short and third.
07:02It doesn't really faze him.
07:04He's hit first, he's hit third, he's hit second.
07:07It doesn't really faze him.
07:09He's as prepared a hitter as any hitter I can remember at this age
07:14in my career for sure, but even calling games.
07:17He goes up to the plate with a purpose, and even his outs feel like he's in
07:24control of his at-bats.
07:25And I know it's hard to describe, it's probably hard to talk about every day
07:29because this game, it's four more at-bats and four more at-bats
07:32and four more at-bats, but the quality of his preparedness
07:36and then execution of a plan has been very elite.
07:41And we're scratching the surface, I think, on his want-to
07:46and how badly he wants to win and how badly he wants to anchor this team,
07:51and he's doing it at 21, not 22.
07:54We're talking to Tiger manager A.J. Hinch.
07:56You worked with Valdez in Houston, so I'm just curious if you can explain
08:02what's gone wrong.
08:03We're looking at the highest ERA for him in a full season as a starter,
08:07whip, strikeouts per nine, the lowest for him.
08:09The other day, the stat, I didn't even believe, he didn't get a whiff
08:11in his last start.
08:13So where we said it feels like a disappointing signing, why has it gone this way?
08:19Well, he hasn't performed, obviously, and it's been maddening.
08:22I mean, the first inning for a lot of this year has just been really puzzling,
08:27like whether his sight line is up and it's mid-side instead of the bottom of the zone,
08:31the usage, we're looking into all sorts of different things.
08:36He's got some batted ball luck, but it's not luck.
08:39You know, it's been pure execution for him because this stuff is still really,
08:44really good, and I still feel very good when he goes out on the mound,
08:48and then there's an implosion.
08:49Even like Pittsburgh, like this last road trip, you know, it's hard in baseball
08:53because the end line usually indicates how you did that night, right?
08:59And he was really good, and then all of a sudden the sixth inning goes,
09:02our bullpen was a little bit depleted.
09:04He's going to go a little bit further, and it's not just like a run or two.
09:08It was like an implosion inning, and I've got to go get him.
09:10So he has not controlled damage on the ground near as well as he has,
09:16and I don't think it's a stuff issue.
09:18It's not a work issue.
09:20He's working.
09:20He cares.
09:21I think even though he's a little bit reserved maybe with the media
09:26or even with the fans, he is grinding trying to figure it out,
09:30and we need him back.
09:31I mean, he's obviously coming back next year to prove something.
09:34I don't want to concede the rest of his starts because, you know,
09:38he looks up and he's got the Dodgers on Sunday,
09:39and that inning he had the other day where he pitched his way out of a jam
09:44isn't always going to be executed that way against every team,
09:49and obviously we're trying to figure it out.
09:53Friday's not just another game, right?
09:57No.
09:58It doesn't feel like it, does it?
09:59What are the emotions like?
10:00I thought you were done with these questions, didn't you?
10:03You know, this is the first Google question I've gotten this week,
10:07so congrats.
10:08That's good.
10:08Well, we'll be the first.
10:09I'm sure you'll get more, but what is that going to be like?
10:12Like, he was your guy.
10:13He was there for so many big games, and now he's pitching against you.
10:17So we've got to separate two things.
10:19I mean, obviously there's going to be sort of the awkward weirdness
10:23of having him go to the other bullpen.
10:26I'm sure, you know, the fans and the organization will hat-tip him in some way,
10:31and then you've got to separate that with the player out there going, you know,
10:35pellets to the plate, and we know how he's going to pitch,
10:37and we know when he's good, we know what he struggles with,
10:40and so you separate the player and the person.
10:44But, you know, I think, you know, I shouldn't probably even say this,
10:47but if he was going to get traded, I was kind of rooting for off the schedule
10:50and not deal with this until next year or whatever happens with his career
10:55because I do think there's this pit in your stomach that comes with seeing your
11:00old players.
11:00Like, we haven't done that the last couple of years.
11:02You know, and if it has been, it's been a DFA or it's been, you know,
11:06somebody that has been replaced, not a trade like this.
11:11So, like, Casey being in, you know, obviously we saw Jake,
11:14which was weird enough as it is, but Derek's tough to face
11:18and tougher to face him in the same year in which he wore a uniform.
11:22How will you remember the Scooble era as we look back on it
11:25now that he's turning the page?
11:27Well, can I wait to see how he pitches against us on Friday?
11:32Yeah, we'll lead with that one next time.
11:34That's more than fair.
11:36I mean, first off, I love this guy and I am close to this guy
11:41and in time, the sting of losing him and sort of all we went through
11:47around the deadline will ease, but, you know, I will always have crazy respect
11:53for Derek and how he helped build where we're at now,
11:57where expectations are high, standards are super high.
12:01You know, we expect some of the most important games that I've managed
12:04for the Tigers over the last few years have involved Derek,
12:06and so I, nothing but respect for him.
12:09Who's pitching opposite?
12:10Because I heard or read that Montero's now Saturday.
12:13Who's Friday's starter?
12:14Drew Anderson will start on, and then Andrew Sears will pitch, you know,
12:19one of those two games as well.
12:21I'll end up using both guys.
12:24Cater will pitch on Saturday.
12:25He fills the bullpen today, and he's doing really well.
12:28So I don't, Sears will be in the pen for the Dodgers series.
12:31And if I could get you for one more question, because I know we're running late here,
12:35but you mentioned talking about this team every day and kind of the ups and downs.
12:39What's your message?
12:40We talked to fans.
12:41For the final 30 games of the season, like we're going, hey,
12:44there's a couple of young players to watch.
12:45I don't know if they're going to get back in this or not.
12:46What would your message be to fans about the final 30 games?
12:50Yeah, I mean, listen, we're not really built to concede anything yet.
12:57We need to go on an incredibly good run to make this interesting that we've done it before.
13:02And I think our fans, you know, I know we've taken them on a crazy ride this season,
13:08and there's been some highs, there's been some lows.
13:11And we just want our fans to hang in there with us.
13:14We are grinding and working to be better.
13:16You know, obviously, there are some things to accomplish either way.
13:19It's either you're accomplishing it on your weights and making it interesting and making a run,
13:23or you're accomplishing something, trying to gain some experience with some young guys.
13:27You're going to see the return of Riley Green, and, you know, hopefully other guys get healthy.
13:32But, you know, I don't want, you know, our fans to check out
13:37because of the daunting look at what this season can be.
13:41I understand the frustration that, you know, has centered around our team for the majority of this season
13:47based on the hot, cold nature of this club.
13:49But we're trying to represent this city well.
13:52We're trying to continue to take steps forward towards success and hang in there with us
13:58because I know it's been sort of mentally and physically exhausting.
14:02Maybe you get us a Verlander start before the end of the year, too?
14:05Also, I mean, he's working his tail.
14:07I can throw up the mound the last couple of days.
14:09That obviously would be something to look forward to for him
14:12and an incredible career that I think is, you know,
14:17probably hasn't been talked about a ton this year because he hasn't been active.
14:20But we're obviously going to treat him right on the way into retirement.
14:25And I don't know when or where or what.
14:27I mean, obviously, home would be the goal.
14:31We're not going to drop a start on the road.
14:33It's his last start.
14:34Okay.
14:35Tiger manager A.J. Hinch.
14:36Thanks, A.J.
14:37You got it.
14:38Take care.
14:38It's 97-1.