ST. LOUIS — The morning after Detroit Tigers rookie Akil Baddoo crashed into fellow outfielder Derek Hill, he just had a minor headache. The feeling wasn’t pleasant, but considering how scary the Aug. 10 collision was, it seemed like the best-case scenario.
Still, the Tigers placed Baddoo on the concussion protocol injured list.
“That was really it,” Baddoo said Tuesday. “I went home, relaxed and rested. That’s all you really can do when it comes to a concussion. You can’t do nothing else but just relax and rest as much as possible to give my brain a break.”
Baddoo, 23, was reinstated from the injured list Monday after appearing in four games for Triple-A Toledo as part of a rehab assignment. Health-wise he was already ready, but the Tigers wanted him to focus on his routine and find his swing before coming back to the big leagues. (To make room for Baddoo, right-handed starter Drew Hutchison was designated for assignment.)
“It’s unfortunate that I wasn’t playing, just leaving the team and everything,” Baddoo said. “I wanted to be back up here and do as much as I can. It could have been a lot worse. I’m just glad I’m able to be back up here. I’m ready to do some damage.”
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Entering Tuesday’s series opener with the Cardinals, Baddoo is hitting .267 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs — along with 14 stolen bases, 18 doubles, 31 walks and 89 strikeouts — over 93 games to insert himself into the American League Rookie of the Year race.
He hit leadoff and started in left field Tuesday at Busch Stadium.
“He’s going to do that for the most part against right-handed pitchers, unless I change my mind,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Mentally, we’re getting into August and September. These are new experiences for him. I know he wants to finish the season on a positive note. He’s got 36 games to figure it out.”
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Regarding Baddoo’s collision with Hill, Hinch said repetition and communication will sort out those mistakes in the future. But he also called the crash a “freak play” between a pair of speedy and aggressive outfielders, indicating neither should feel guilty for what happened.
And both players are still learning at baseball’s highest level: Baddoo has 93 games of experience as a Rule 5 draft pick from December, while Hill has played just 45 games in the big leagues.
“It’s baseball, it kind of happens,” Baddoo said. “You don’t plan that particular play out, but when it happens, you just try to make sure you’re ready as much as you possibly can be and just make sure you’re on the same page.
“I know from now on we’re definitely going to be on the same page as far as who is guarding the gaps and what plays we should attack, just making sure we’re on point on things like that. But that’s an easy fix. We will be perfectly fine out there.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.