DETROIT -- When the Detroit Tigers re-signed Jonathan Schoop two months ago, the veteran made a point of emphasizing his versatility during a chat with media.
At the time, it seemed like an odd thing to bring up.
The Tigers signed him because they needed a second baseman, and Schoop was (and is) a very solid one defensively.
But he was aware that flexibility was the name of the game in the A.J. Hinch regime, and he wanted to make it clear that he was willing to do his part.
It didn’t take long for Hinch to call in the first favor.
Schoop played his first game as a big-league first baseman on Saturday at Comerica Park in the Tigers’ 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. As it often the case, the ball will find you quickly. When it did, Schoop looked like a pro.
It shouldn’t be a surprise. Schoop is good athlete and he’s tall enough that he doesn’t look out of place at first.
“I’ve played second, I’ve played short, I’ve played third,” he said. “The view is different, but I’m ready for it as soon as they hit it.”
Hinch said middle infielders who can play at the corners make his job as manager easier. He praised Schoop for not only enthusiastically embracing different positions, but also working in spring training to make sure he was ready for them.
“Here it is Game 2 and he’s already been a difference-maker at that position,” Hinch said. “I applaud him for his mindset and how he’s approached it, but also for the work that he’s put in.”
So now that we’ve praised Schoop for playing a slick-fielding first base, let’s move onto the question we might have asked first: Why was he there in the first place?
That leads off our post-game takeaways.
1. First base and second base and how they fit.
We don’t know how much Miguel Cabrera will play first base, but once or twice a week remains a good guess. Yes, it’s possible that he’ll surprise us (as his performance on Opening Day suggested) but it’s also good to remember that he’s almost 38 years old (as his full-body cramping on Saturday demonstrated).
So who will play first when Cabrera is at designated hitter?
Originally it looked like it might be some combination of Harold Castro and Niko Goodrum.
That’s not a terribly inspiring offensive duo at a position that normally generates a ton of offense.
But put Castro/Goodrum at second and the more offensively gifted Schoop at first and suddenly the arrangement seems more palatable, even though nothing has really changed.
Although it’s dangerous to read too much into a lineup card, it’s clear that Hinch feels more confident in Schoop’s defensive ability at first. It will be interesting to see if he uses the same arrangement when Harold Castro is starting.
2. Speaking of Goodrum, this can’t go on much longer.
Goodrum went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Saturday, which normally wouldn’t provoke concern by itself. But this has gone on all last year and all spring. Goodrum is still striking out at a totally unsustainable pace, and he’s doing it largely against right-handed pitching.
That was why it was somewhat surprising to see Goodrum in the lineup on Saturday. Given how much he struggled this spring, it was thought that he might play exclusively or nearly exclusively against lefties. But the reality is that could mean long stretches on the bench, and Hinch has expressed a desire to get everyone into a game during the first series of the season, if at all possible.
Since 2019, Goodrum has struck out in 35 percent of plate appearances against right-handed pitchers. That’s 179 Ks in 511 trips to the plate. This is not a small sample size; this is a trend.
During that same stretch, he’s hit really well against lefties, suggesting a platoon role is his best fit for now.
But will Hinch have the patience to keep a utility man who can’t be trusted at all against righties, leaving him languishing on the bench for days at a time?
We might soon find out.
3. RoBBie the Robot.
We’ve got another hundred games before we have to declare a verdict on the Robbie Grossman signing, but very rarely has a new player demonstrated so quickly and vividly the reasons for his acquisition.
Grossman has walked an incredible six times in nine plate appearances over two games for the Tigers. On any team, that’s impressive. On the Tigers of recent years, it’s all but unheard of.
He’s done so primarily against two starters -- Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac -- who don’t walk a lot of batters.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last MLB player who drew six walks from the lead-off spot in the first two games of the season was Vic Davalillo for the Cleveland Indians in 1977. The last Tiger to do so was Jo-Jo White in the championship season of 1935.
The clearest reason for Grossman’s success: He simply doesn’t chase bad pitches. Or even borderline pitches in bad counts.
“He’s demonstrated a command of the strike zone really for the majority of his career and specifically in the last couple of years, which is one of the reasons we signed him,” Hinch said. “It’s the reason I put him at the top of the order: He knows a strike from a ball.”
4. How Hinch runs the pen.
It’s kind of fun watching the bullpen when you have no idea what to expect.
Hinch has a clean slate with this staff, with no preconceived notions of how things have to be done.
In the opener, lefty Gregory Soto got the save. In Game 2, under different circumstances, Bryan Garcia was given the ball.
We’ve already seen pitchers who might be typecast as long relievers on other clubs -- Daniel Norris, Derek Holland and Michael Fulmer -- pitch in shorter, high-leverage roles.
The way Hinch used Fulmer on Saturday represented a big vote of confidence from the manager.
Making the first relief appearance of his career, Fulmer entered in the seventh inning of what was then a 2-1 game and quickly retired the side 1-2-3.
“Obviously it’s a new environment for him to be able to come into a leverage-type role where he didn’t know he was going to pitch until the inning before,” Hinch said. “We’re kind of ripping the Band-Aid off some of these guys and just letting them know I’m going to use them whenever.”
5. Who will play on Sunday?
It’s a good bet we’ll see rookie Akil Baddoo make his debut on Sunday. He’ll probably even start.
Grayson Greiner is also likely to catch the game for rookie starter Tarik Skubal, whose pitches have a lot of movement. (Starter Wilson Ramos sometimes struggled to handle them in spring training).
The only reliever who has yet to pitch is right-hander Buck Farmer. If he’s healthy, he’ll almost certainly be on the docket.
The Link LonkApril 04, 2021 at 08:45AM
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Jonathan Schoop’s work pays off: 5 takeaways from Tigers’ 2-0 start to 2021 - MLive.com
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