AJ Hinch Responds to Josh Naylor Sign Stealing, Detroit Tigers vs. Mariners Game 5 ALDS Matchup

AJ Hinch Responds to Josh Naylor Sign Stealing, Detroit Tigers vs. Mariners Game 5 ALDS Matchup

Uh, all right. We’ll start it with AJ. Who wants to lead off? Eden. Hey, AJ. Uh, I’m just from a travel standpoint, like in the regular season, a lot of times after a game, you guys would hop on a flight immediately afterwards. For both of the games in this series, you guys have uh have elected to stay the night. Was there any kind of science behind that or just comfort of the players? What went into that? Um it was really about just the last couple of weeks. You know, we went on a um a pretty long run of intense games and some travel. Um we ended with a 14, I think 15-day road trip, um counting the playoffs in the first round and then coming out here to Seattle. And so time zone change, um families being everywhere, you know, not wanting to kind of split the group up. Um, we chose to do some work at home today and then get on the plane and get get out here rather than um fly through the night. So, not a ton of science necessarily. I mean, I think I feel better, you know, and now we’re coaches and we’re old, but the the players are can adapt to whatever, but I um it’s just the accumulation of what goes on in these series where if we were a closer place, we would, you know, we would uh we may change our plans, but the three-hour time J change and the what was it? 4 and a half hour flight, um hard to make up that time. Go on the left, second row. AJ, uh you’ve been at a couple of these winner take all games now the last couple years. I know anything can happen in baseball, but I mean, does it give you a comfort level? I mean, does it help to have been in these situations for the players and for you guys? Um, you know, I think it’s, you know, experience always helps because you, you know, you can reflect back on the things you’ve done well, maybe some things that you wish you hadn’t done or or the nerves that come with it. But I actually think it’s good to be nervous. It’s good to be, you know, excited. And, um, I guess there’s a there’s a a small consolation prize of knowing the stress that’s coming. Um, you know, but sometimes it’s kind of nice to be naive and not know and just kind of, you know, not be able to to breathe during the moment and and have to deal with it in real time. So, I don’t know that it helps you win as much as it helps you keep things in perspective that the 27 outs are going to be played. the the the game is going to come and um there’s going to be a lot of peaks and a few valleys for both teams and things like that that you know are going to happen. But um everybody on both sides are going to is going to leave it on the field and that whether you’ve played in these or not um every single player, coach, manager knows what’s at stake and and what um tomorrow night can bring both positively and and the downside. And then uh lastly, I was just curious if you saw the interaction between Naylor on second yesterday and Mai’s on the mound and what you made of that. I didn’t see the interaction. Did they talk? Oh, just the motioning. Yeah, that’s that is uh pretty standard nowadays. You know, I know there’s been a lot of debates about what’s real, what’s not real, the the gamesmanship that comes with the um the motions and things like that. different teams are are doing more outlandish things as as the um as they get, you know, and the paranoia is real, too. So, I I think no, I didn’t I don’t have much take on it other than we don’t pay a ton of attention to it because it it it’s a distraction either way, whether it’s something that you’re doing, then obviously got to clean up your tipping. If it’s um if it’s not, then it’s wasteful energy to to to worry about it. Go back to Evan. Just wondering are you have you been operating under the assumption that that George Kirby is going to go tomorrow or just given the the nature of a game five where it could be anybody and everybody? Yeah, we’re operating more that it’s going to be, you know, all hands on deck for both sides. I think u we’re waiting to to get the announcement and see, you know, who’s going to be first for them and that that guy, you know, I’ve been in these games where, you know, that guy’s lasted six, seven, eight innings. I’ve been in games where that guy’s pulled in the first. So, I there’s no assumption past the first guy that they list on what their plan is going to be. Um, but we’ll we’ll find out at some point, hopefully tonight, that you know who it’s going to be. And, um, we won’t really be surprised, I don’t think, given that that we’ve played these guys for four games and we know they have a couple of options or they could open, they could do a bullpen game, they can they could start Munoz. Who knows what they’re going to do, but I they’ll let us know and we’ll we’ll set our order accordingly. Go to Ryan. Do you do you subscribe to the idea that, you know, seeing a couple of those guys like Bazardo inspire as much as you’ve seen them has helped you guys pick up some stuff? Um, sometimes I think it feels better, you know, to see him and know, you know, it doesn’t make it easier to hit, you know, really any of these guys. I mean, it’s it’s funny. I hear that a lot um from people the third time through is one obviously is something that statistically I think everybody it’s hard to deny. Everybody believes that in a reliever standpoint, um, sometimes I guess it helps you a little bit to see where the breaking ball is or where the fast ball has to has to start, the maybe a unique delivery and things like that, but then you get in the box and it doesn’t seem easier. It just seems more familiar. And more familiarity can also bring um some negative things, too. So, sometimes it works. I think it makes you feel better to say it does when you’re a reliever or when you’re a hitter. Um, but I don’t know that that you can pin it on one thing for every hitter and every pitcher, you know, other than than there are no secrets. It’s, you know, it’s 96 with cut or it’s, you know, a power breaking ball or it’s a big sweepy slider and um, these guys are just really good to come out of the bullpen nowadays and they’re, you know, it it the more you see them, it has to be better, but it doesn’t make it more comfortable. Go to Tim. AJ, I think it was a couple years ago the Rangers, they played the last week of the season on the road, then had to go cross country for a wild card series, then had to start the DS on the road. So, they were obviously away from home for quite a while. You guys have gone through a similar thing this year. I’m just wondering what do you see as the value of kind of being away and and being on the road in these kind in that kind of situation that you learn or that your team gathers from? Yeah, I think you have to deal with your reality. you know, I I see it u maybe not as something to aspire to because home games are way better and and you know, days off are way better. Like I know, you know, playing and you can you can build some some energy and you can build some momentum and and feels like you keep playing, but that you pay the price at some point with all of this, whether it’s your sleep, whether it’s your nutrition, whether it’s the the comforts of home and and things like that. But I, you know, I think that it can galvanize a team. I think that’s something that I’ve seen with our group where, you know, I we kind of took on the us against everybody, you know, mentality in September when everybody thought we were, you know, fading away and were we going to win the division or were we even going to make the playoffs and did we have much left left when we went back to Cleveland and and you know, we’re going to come out and face a team that had the second best record in in the American League and and look at us now. We’re in game five with Terrick Scooble on the mound. So, a lot can happen throughout those days, but that, you know, you can galvanize yourself together with, you know, being around your teammates and being on the road. But, um, trust me, I don’t think anybody wants to sign up for 15 days on the road in a row facing these guys in these environments. But, you have to endure it if that’s your reality. And that that’s what I think our team has been pretty good at, you know, these last few series. Go back to the second row again. AJ, obviously you had the home runs yesterday, but Torqulson’s at bats and and really this series, you know, early on in the series, he had a couple going the other way. What have you seen in his approach? Have you seen something different from him? I think something that that Torque doesn’t get enough credit for is he swings at the right pitches. You know, he’s he’s disciplined enough to to, you know, work counts, draw a few walks, but he swings at the right pitches. Now, he can he gets in these ruts where maybe he’s a little bit too much airborne or he gets a little bit uphill or maybe he doesn’t barrel everything. Um, but he has 30 plus homers and and he’s he’s got a lot of doubles. He’s driven driven runs in because he swings at the right pitches a lot and and that’s what I’ve seen this series. like these are really really hard matchups for a right-handed hitter and it’s hard for lefties too, but when you look at the the wipeout type stuff coming out of their pen that’s in their rotation, um it never stops and it never eases off and and so the discipline to be in in the strike zone or staying with your plan is very very important and and Torque has done a nice job this series at at taking what you know the game gives. He hasn’t he hasn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, but he has hit a couple balls down the the opposite field line. He has pulled the ball. He’s he’s worked a walk or two that that get a little bit unnoticed whenever the guy behind him does something positive. So, um he’s pretty consistent in his approach and in his in his u his methods and and I think that as a consistent personality that helps him deal with the the stress of hitting in the middle of the order. Cool. Ryan AJ, you mentioned the the flight thing and and flying differently. Did you pick any of that up when you’re with Houston having to come in here so much? I mean, and how much better is the AL Central travel compared to the AL? AL Central travel is the best. I’m sure the NL Central would would argue with me, too. But the um it is a a big difference, you know? I mean, I having been in the West before, uh we felt it in in South Texas, especially coming out here when we used to come out three times a year. um just the the the how far these these places are and um there’s no way to speed through it like you can’t get the plane to go any faster and you you can’t you can’t you know change the time zones and so um we didn’t really pick anything up. We never had um these type of overnight trips back and forth. Um but I but I think I learned along the way that that sleep matters, nutrition matters, that um consistency in your work matters. And so we have the luxury to be able to work out at either place. I we don’t need to practice in Seattle at this stadium and we were just here 3 days ago. So, um it’s not a new series for us. We’ve been here before and and all my players have played here before. So, we could take the advantage of being at Kame this morning. Um do a little few optional things that the guys needed to do and then get on a plane rather than drag a full team here after a, you know, big long day. Anything else for AJ? All right, AJ. Appreciate you coming in. [Music]

Watch as AJ Hinch Responds to Josh Naylor Sign Stealing, Detroit Tigers vs. Mariners Game 5 ALDS Matchup

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