The Detroit Tigers had a busy offseason and acquired some key pieces prior to the MLB lockout.
The Tigers picked up catcher Tucker Barnhart and outfielder Austin Meadows via trade and signed pitchers Michael Pineda and Eduardo Rodriguez, along with shortstop Javier Baez.
On paper, this looks to be a good team, but it hasn’t shaped up to be that way for the Tigers, who are off to a 6-12 start and sit at the bottom of the American League Central division.
However, manager A.J. Hinch doesn’t plan on pressing the panic button, especially this early in the season.
“We’re going to play the 140-plus games we have left, so I don’t want to rush any judgements,” said Hinch. “It is what it is. We’ve earned the situation that we’re in, the whole that we’re in. We’ve got to play better.”
#Tigers manager A.J. Hinch: "We're going to play the 140-plus games we have left, so I don't want to rush to too many judgements. It is what it is. We've earned the situation that we're in, the hole that we're in. We've got to play better."
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) April 28, 2022
Hinch Still Confident In Tigers
Hinch, an experienced manager who is no stranger to winning, clearly isn’t too worried, and he shouldn’t be this early in the season.
He understands that the team needs to be better if they’re going to improve and turn things around, but he’s right not to be panicking.
Detroit still has a ton of young talent that will lead the way for the organization in the coming years.
This team is struggling, but clearly looks like it can be a contender if they can turn things around.
It is still early in the season, so there’s no reason to panic unless the struggles continue, and the team is out of contention by June.
But the future appears bright in Detroit and there’s plenty of time for them to fix things.
