Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch joins Costa and Jansen to discuss Spring Training and preview the 2025 season.
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00:00Perfect time to check in with the Tiger manager, A.J. Hinch. A.J., good morning.
00:04Good morning. How are you guys doing? Good. Great to hear you. Yeah.
00:08Yeah, good to hear from you guys. We've, uh, it's been baseball
00:12season for a while now. I know you guys just said it's the sweet spot, but we've been going at it.
00:16Well, it's the sweet spot because the games will actually mean something.
00:20And I know when we ask you this, you always say, well, it's one of 162,
00:24but, yeah, we'll finally get a chance to see baseball here in Detroit because
00:28we actually do have good weather right now. Oh, really? Nice. We
00:32have, um, yeah, hopefully you can dial that up for the first
00:36homestand after the West Coast swing. Um, if you can guarantee that, that'd
00:40be awesome. So, Miggy's in town, and it always brings back that
00:44opening day where it snowed, and he went oppo and split into
00:48second. So, we don't need another snow day on opening day.
00:52I actually had a Miggy question. I'll just ask it here. It's a two-parter. Does he have a future
00:56in coaching, and can you confirm that he is in the best shape of his life for spring training?
01:00Well, I mean, Miggy can do whatever
01:04Miggy wants. He's, uh, it's fun to have him
01:08around. He spent a lot of time with his family. You know, he came in and
01:12if you think about the culture of our team and
01:16just the story around us the last 12 months,
01:20he's one of the few guys that saw Comerica packed and saw
01:24Comerica during playoff runs and World Series and things that
01:28this team aspires to be, and so, you know,
01:32he came in, and he was so proud of our group last year, and
01:36you know, it's a different team than when he retired. We have a few new players. There are
01:40obviously some guys that played with him, but, you know, having him around and
01:44lobbing a few coaching things and just his laugh and
01:48just the happiest he is in spring training. This is not the same version as a player when
01:52I just wanted to get to the season, but I love having him here to
01:56mentor our young kids in PD or our guys
02:00around the big leagues that recognize him as one of the
02:04all-time greats. Let's talk Spencer Torkelson. He had a home run yesterday,
02:08so he's top of mind. Spring this year, much different than last year.
02:12What's so different with him right now? Well, I think
02:16his confidence is growing, which is good. I think he realizes he's fighting to make this
02:20roster. That always brings out a lot of good things in players,
02:24and then some of the subtle adjustments.
02:28It does take sort of a trained eye to look at
02:32the stance, the athleticism, the approach, the way he's
02:36talking about hitting, the way that he's balancing
02:40his search to hit the ball hard, but also for power.
02:44All of that has been taken into the games, and so he's gone oppo.
02:48He's been at pull side. It's been a late count. He's come off a bat at bats
02:52and been a productive hitter. I kind of love the edge
02:56that he's playing with. In his own
03:00little methodical way, he's just focused on the things that he can
03:04control, and he's trying to make this team. I don't know if
03:08any or all of that is different. There's a maturation process for these hitters, but
03:12it's certainly been fun to watch him come in
03:16and push to be the best player he can be all the way
03:20in the spring and not just quote-unquote prepare for the season. He's got to try to make this team.
03:24Has he done enough to be able to trust the production?
03:28How do you measure what he's done in spring training
03:32versus what you've seen in previous years?
03:36It's actually a really good topic that I'll try to explain. I think it's all
03:40in the eye of the beholder. When you look at a player and a guy
03:44as a terrible spring, if you like the player, you're like,
03:48it's just the spring. He's going to be fine during the season. If you're critical of the player,
03:52all of us, it's like, oh, my God.
03:56The alarm bells go off. On the flip side, if somebody really
04:00goes off during the spring, if you're interested in that
04:04player being on your team, you can say he's turned the corner. If you don't,
04:08it's like, oh, it's just spring training. I think you've got to be careful with spring
04:12situation, but at the same time, what's a player to do other than go and do
04:16his best and perform and see where it goes? The real challenges
04:20are going to be during the season for all these guys, but I'd rather guys
04:24be doing well than being scuffling in the spring. That's what we're here for.
04:28You mentioned the difference in the roster when we asked about
04:32Miguel Cabrera, that it's a different roster now. How are the roster
04:36decisions different this year for you as you approach the end of spring
04:40training versus previous seasons that you've been here in Detroit?
04:44I think the names have changed. There are some guys
04:48that have come to spring the last couple of years and known they've been on the team and now
04:52they're fighting for roster spots. I think the depth is
04:56really, really good. We're not going on a spring ERA
05:00ranking system or a batting average ranking system.
05:04We're going to need to put together the best team that we can take to LA
05:08and that might align with spring training performance. It might
05:12not. I think the names are different. I think
05:16the specific positions that we're trying to fill are a little bit
05:20different. The rotation guys are pitching awesome. Casey Mize has been great.
05:24Kenta has made some adjustments. Cater Monteiro has
05:28great stuff. When he locks it in the strike zone, he's shown some
05:32dominant things. Jackson Jobe has been...everything is advertised.
05:36That's four guys for two spots in the rotation.
05:40That in itself shows the strength of the depth of this team.
05:44Lastly, I think we're going to need to make some calls at the end of spring based
05:48on injury. We know Matt Vierling is going to miss some of the season.
05:52We're still holding out hope that this nerve wakes up with Parker Meadows and he's able
05:56to put together a good week, week and a half of spring training
06:00and get himself to LA. That's undetermined, which leaves
06:04a lot of decisions on the bench bats or who's
06:08playing the outfield or who's playing in center field. Things like that
06:12may not be resolved until we get to those exhibition games in San Francisco.
06:16You mentioned the rotation and there's only a couple spots for
06:20more than a couple guys. With Jackson Jobe, does he
06:24have to be a starter to make the team or would you take him even in a bullpen role
06:28like he was at the end of last season? Yeah, we see him
06:32as a starter. I think the best thing for him, when he came to the bullpen
06:36last year, that was a unique experience. It was the playoffs and we
06:40were trying to make the playoffs. When we talked about
06:44having the biggest impact that we could have, Jackson has some of the best stuff on our team.
06:48We put him in the pen and I told him then, this could be the one
06:52snippet in your career where you're in the bullpen. I hope it is.
06:56This spring, it's been entirely a conversation about the rotation and I don't see it changing
07:00for the beginning of the season. If he makes his team,
07:04it's going to be in the rotation and he'll pitch towards the
07:08back end of the rotation. If he doesn't, it's because
07:12we feel like the rotation is better a different way and he needs things to
07:16work on. It's been rotation only. When you look at
07:20the prospects of starting the season, as you mentioned, without Vierling and
07:24possibly without Parker Meadows, what are some of the combinations
07:28you may use in center field and just in terms of
07:32the lineup to make things, as you mentioned,
07:36productive? I think the first thing
07:40we'll wait for Parker and see where that's at. In the meantime,
07:44Wenzel Perez, who's had a little bit of back stiffness and because of
07:48Parker being out up to this date and Vierling being out
07:52to start the season, we're treating Wenzel with
07:56a ton of patience and being uber cautious.
08:00He's going to get some time in center field. Riley Green played center yesterday. He'll play
08:04center today. It's not a position that I'm going to want to just turn over to him.
08:08Either way, with Parker's playing, obviously
08:12he's playing center field. If Parker doesn't make the season,
08:16we'll have to make a determination how much center field that we're going to push Riley to do.
08:20Those two guys are going to get a ton of action. I've put Ryan Kreidler out
08:24there and Jermai Jones, two guys trying to make the team.
08:28Those guys could possibly fill in.
08:32A lot of it just centers around the Parker decision first on
08:36whether he can make the season or not. Then we'll adjust accordingly.
08:40Some combination of those other four players if Parker's unavailable.
08:44Talking to Tiger manager AJ Hinch this morning, two weeks out from their first game of the season.
08:48Javi Baez. Nobody gets a more visceral reaction on
08:52talk radio than Javi. What are you seeing with his hip? Is he slated to be
08:56the everyday shortstop at this point?
09:00Into the first part, what I'm seeing with his hip is that he's feeling better and better every day.
09:04Some of that is physically. I think some of it is mentally.
09:08He had a surgery that he had to rehab. Now we've got to get him away from
09:12rehab and into just playing with freedom and knowing that he
09:16slid and he dove after a ball.
09:20He's fully rotated at the plate. He's been cleared and has
09:24no limitations at all. We'll see where that
09:28takes him. As far as the second part, is he the everyday shortstop?
09:32I think the answer is to be determined. I can tell you today he's playing
09:36third base, which is going to be new for everybody, but not new
09:40to Javi. Javi did that a few years back when he was one of the best
09:44almost original players moving around the field playing at an all-star caliber
09:48level. We're going to introduce a few positions.
09:52We're going to introduce a few positions to him. It's going to start today when the lineup comes out.
09:56He's playing third, so he's playing short. There is room on the roster for
10:00both. I'm going to play the best guy. I think that's
10:04been something I've been very consistent about at the shortstop position. Obviously, Javi was
10:08hurt last year. Trent came up and did a really nice job.
10:12It's to be determined how it's all
10:16going to speak, but it's going to be determined by quality of play.
10:20I think it's been a good chance for Javi
10:24and nice to see him happy and healthy
10:28and doing better performance out of him
10:32and others to make these decisions moving forward. The thing that I
10:36caution against for everybody, and I know in baseball there's this
10:40who's the everyday this, who's the everyday that. I think this team
10:44the way we've shown the last year plus is we're
10:48willing to put any combination out there to help us win that day's game, and that
10:52mentality is not going to change. First base with Cole Keith. How
10:56has he made the transition? What are you seeing from him, and how confident are you that he
11:00is going to be able to be that everyday first baseman?
11:04He's been really good. The glove is big.
11:08The adjustments are there. I tried to caution everybody that there was going to be
11:12a learning curve and that it was okay for him to make a few mistakes
11:16down here. He actually hasn't made as many mistakes as I think
11:20I would have expected, just dropping a guy at first base for the first time
11:24in his career. He's naturally done some really good things, and then
11:28there's been a couple of reads and some depth issues, things that even
11:32in a box score you're not going to see that were continuing.
11:36It's the timing on crashing on a pick play from Jake Rogers. It's
11:40coming off the bag at a certain angle to give yourself the right hop when a runner
11:44is on first. Not everything is dictated to the
11:48ball hit to him. There's a lot for him to learn. Positioning himself when a ball
11:52is coming from Jace at third versus Sweeney at short
11:56versus Glaber at second. Those are all new things, and I know it sounds
12:00sort of coach speak, and it sounds like I'm focused on
12:04small things, but that's really what's going to make him comfortable. He's been
12:08great. He's put in a ton of work. He and Miggie, I think, are going to work a little bit today,
12:12which is one of the reasons Miggie's in town, and Joey's been
12:16pretty relentless at his routine. I have a ton of confidence
12:20in Colt in general, but he will figure out this position as we go,
12:24and then depending on how the roster is built for the rest
12:28of the balance of the roster, like is Jahan factoring in? Where is
12:32Torque on this roster? Who else? Has Andy played first yesterday on the back end
12:36because in-game moves, as we've shown, sometimes guys
12:40end up in different positions. It's actually the last thing I wanted to ask you about. It's kind of a
12:44roster projection question. As Torkelson hits, as Jahan hits,
12:48they're both right-handed bats. They can both DH first base. Jahan's
12:52played the outfield. Can they both make the team, or do you have to take one or the other?
12:56No, I think so. I think the combination...
13:00First off, the opening day is the first deadline. It's the
13:04first time where you have to declare these are our 26.
13:08Depending on our health, depending on who we're facing, I'm guessing we're going to get
13:12Blake Snell in that first series. I'm guessing we're going to get
13:16Martin Perez, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon in the first
13:20homestand. I don't know what we're going to do yet.
13:24Not knowing if Parker's coming back soon, if he doesn't make the roster
13:28and comes back soon, does he start the roster, but we need to
13:32protect them. Those are going to determine the balance
13:36of the roster. To answer your question, yes, I think there's a roster that can be made with
13:40both those guys. While imperfect on the
13:44defensive front, it might help us offensively to combat some of
13:48the left-handed pitching that we're going to face. Then we can correct it along the way
13:52if it needs to change. We have depth, and we
13:56don't have to commit to a team on the first day of the season
14:00and a team for the rest of the season. We're going to take into account
14:04how we can go series by series and put together the best team.
14:08AJ, we'll talk to you again when the games are for real. We can't wait. Thank you.
14:12You got it. I appreciate you guys. See you.