DETROIT \u2014 Friday evening, A.J. Hinch found Javier B\u00e1ez soft-tossing balls to his two children. Hinch wanted to communicate the upcoming plan for his most complex player.<\/p>\n
B\u00e1ez at age 33 is still a fascinating baseball character \u2014 prone to scorching hot stretches and frigid slumps, an exuberant competitor who remains reserved behind the scenes. He is a decorated athlete who has started All-Star Games at three positions, and he is now the type of player who gets frequent check-ins regarding when and where he will be playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think A.J. came up to me with a good plan,\u201d B\u00e1ez said. \u201cHe\u2019s being smart with my health and my body. I\u2019ve been feeling really good, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
B\u00e1ez\u2019s versatility and selflessness are part of what allows the Tigers\u2019 ever-evolving roster puzzle to work. But it\u2019s also worth noting the Tigers have not truly relegated B\u00e1ez to a utility role this season. Even with 21-year-old wunderkind Kevin McGonigle on the roster, B\u00e1ez has started six of the team\u2019s nine games at shortstop.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing I think Javy doesn\u2019t get enough credit for is how he commands the infield when he\u2019s at shortstop,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cHe is one of the best baseball minds on this team. There\u2019s a presence to him at the shortstop position, especially with Kevin being a first-timer in this league. He\u2019s going to be really grateful to have Javy next to him for a lot of games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of Hinch\u2019s lineup construction so far has been a testament to B\u00e1ez and what he can still bring. But like everything in Hinch\u2019s purview, this is also a complicated, multifaceted riddle. B\u00e1ez at shortstop and McGonigle at third hints at a renewed focus on infield defense, particularly with the groundball maestro that is Framber Valdez now on the staff. Friday in the home opener, Gleyber Torres started at DH with Zach McKinstry, the better defender, playing second \u2014 even if it meant pushing the hot bat of Colt Keith to the bench. B\u00e1ez was at shortstop and McGonigle was at third.<\/p>\n
The quiet part here could also be a means of protecting McGonigle from overexposure on defense. Since the first day of spring training, McGonigle has impressed on the field as much as he has at the plate. His footwork has improved. His hands are soft. His quick exchange and baseball instincts have always been plus.<\/p>\n
Notice, though, the Tigers have not anointed McGonigle as the everyday shortstop, even if that could open up more time for Keith or others at third. Their alignment with Valdez on the mound shows they clearly still view B\u00e1ez as the superior defender, though even B\u00e1ez is impressed with the way McGonigle plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not afraid of whoever is pitching or whatever,\u201d B\u00e1ez said. \u201cHe just brings his talent out there and just lets it talk. He\u2019s been pretty close with me, and I\u2019ve been helping him with positioning and stuff. \u2026 It\u2019s a good communication between him and I. All around, everybody loves him here. Everybody loves each other here. He\u2019s been really good for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talented as he is, McGonigle is still learning some of the finer nuances of shortstop. He has proven capable of making plays in any and all directions, but his arm is the closest thing he has to a weakness, something that could show up more if he\u2019s asked to field balls deep in the hole every day.<\/p>\n
Interestingly enough, we\u2019ve also already seen an in-game move with McGonigle at shortstop and B\u00e1ez playing second, which seems counterintuitive.<\/p>\n
The Tigers, though, want to keep McGonigle on the left side of the infield to ease the mental load. He has so far started six games at third base and three at shortstop.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now,\u201d Hinch said, \u201cI\u2019ll have him focused on breaking into the big leagues at two different positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
How long the lineup will stay this way, though, is high on the list of interesting questions to watch as the season unfolds.<\/p>\n
Whether the infield configuration changes could depend on a variety of factors, none more interesting than what B\u00e1ez does at the plate. He started the All-Star Game in center field last season after a resurgent first half but had only a .548 OPS in the second half. \u00a0He is 4-for-20 with six strikeouts in 2026. If his bat again goes ice cold, it\u2019s entirely possible McGonigle ends up playing far more at shortstop. It\u2019s also possible McKinstry \u2014 who was worth four defensive runs saved at short last season \u2014 finally gets more run at the position.<\/p>\n
Also related: Parker Meadows is playing well after a slow spring. But if Meadows\u2019 bat falls off, maybe B\u00e1ez could start playing more in center field, with the infield changing as a result.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne decision leads to another, whether that\u2019s at shortstop or DH or the outfield configuration,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cThey\u2019re all synced up together.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, we\u2019ve seen more of the moving parts that made last year\u2019s Tigers unpredictable and often dangerous. They had 41 more pinch hit plate appearances than any other team. With that come decisions that can sometimes seem curious to outsiders, whether it\u2019s the starting lineup or in-game moves. Keith has been arguably the team\u2019s hottest hitter to start the year, but he has been lifted for a pinch hitter in back-to-back games. Kerry Carpenter has hit home runs in two straight games but was lifted for Matt Vierling against a left-handed pitcher Sunday.<\/p>\n
The players know the drill. Saturday, Hinch hit Vierling for Keith against a lefty in an important spot. Vierling hit a sacrifice fly to left field, and Keith was atop the dugout, the first to greet Vierling after a job well done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll do it again, so it shouldn\u2019t surprise anybody,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of building this whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n
For anyone just now watching the Tigers, it might seem strange when hitters such as Carpenter and Keith get hit for. But understand there is almost always a logical explanation, often requiring little more than a glance at platoon splits. The way the Tigers deploy their 13 position players can make them a difficult team to manage against.<\/p>\n
But it gets more complicated with the day-to-day lineup. How often can you afford to have Keith on the bench and B\u00e1ez starting? How do you weigh the value of offense versus defense?<\/p>\n
As this team gets better, and with a young infielder such as McGonigle now in the mix, the decisions are getting harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t roll with the lineup emotionally,\u201d Hinch said over the weekend, talking about hitting Spencer Torkelson eighth. \u201cIt\u2019s strategically to try to give the other side something to have to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here in a new season, B\u00e1ez is again at the center of the Tigers\u2019 lineup, even if it\u2019s in a much different sense than on the day he signed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes everybody to understand what we\u2019re trying to do to build the best team we can,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cJavy is a great example of that, and given his success in this league and quite honestly his success last season \u2026 I have a lot of respect for how he handles the unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 Friday evening, A.J. Hinch found Javier B\u00e1ez soft-tossing balls to his two children. Hinch wanted to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2386],"tags":[5,147,53,2583,4,594],"class_list":{"0":"post-666163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-tigers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-tigers","11":"tag-detroittigers","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-tigers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116357097896835881","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}