Detroit — Even on Monday, five days after he saw what Tigers president Scott Harris had said about him the night of the trade, the words still made him pause a beat to catch his breath.
“Those are some strong words,” Justyn-Henry Malloy said on a Zoom call with Detroit reporters.
Malloy, along with minor-league lefty Jake Higginbotham, was acquired by Harris and the Tigers in a trade with the Atlanta Braves for veteran reliever Joe Jimenez late last Wednesday. Ascending three minor-league levels in just his second professional season, Malloy slashed .289/.408/.454 with 17 homers, 81 RBIs and 97 walks in 591 plate appearances, most against Double-A pitching.
It was that well-beyond-his-years plate discipline that led Harris to say Malloy was the type of hitter that could “help us reshape our offensive identity.”
“I look at that and it brings a smile to my face,” said Malloy, who likely will start 2023 at Triple-A Toledo. “There was a lot of hard work that was put into molding the player that I am. That is such a big compliment, it’s very hard to put it into words.
“But at the end of the day, I’m just going to try to be me.”
That’s not always easy to do. Especially when his mother is a huge social media browser and scours everything that’s being said and written about her son – positive and negative. Like chatter about him needing, at 6-2 and 220 pounds, to hit for more power.
“No,” he told his mother and anyone else who comes at him with the same critique. “I just need to be the same guy everywhere I go. I think that will put myself in the best possible position to succeed. I truly believe that. I stand on it.
“If I’m the guy who controls the strike zone, can work a walk, can work deep counts and, at the top of all that, can hit and can run into one every now and then, can hit a homer and can play serviceable defense – that’s going to put me in the best position to get to the big leagues.”
You can bet Harris and manager AJ Hinch will give an “amen” to that. Controlling the strike zone from both sides of the ball — hitting and pitching — has been the No. 1 point of emphasis throughout the organization, top to bottom and all points in between.
“He embodies a lot of things we really value in a hitter,” Harris said. “He controls the strike zone, he has plus bat-to-ball skills and he does damage to all fields. Adding him to our collection of position players at the upper levels make me really excited about our future.”
Malloy chuckles when asked how he “developed” his plate discipline.
“I always felt I controlled the strike zone, even when I was a little kid,” he said. “But there was no recognition of thinking that it was a good thing or a bad thing. All I did was swing at balls I thought I could hit and not swing at balls I didn’t think I could hit.”
Easy game, right?
“But as I got older it started becoming a thing,” he said. “Like, ‘Man, you walk a lot.’ Or, ‘You get into good counts, deep counts.’ I started to realize this is something I’ve been unconsciously doing that is a really good thing.”
It developed from an innate skill to a point of pride.
“If you were to watch my batting practices, like, it’s not sexy,” he said. “I’m not hitting balls 450 feet. But to be able hit homers, I truly believe that you have to get yourself in leverage counts to where you are able to do damage. And I think I put myself in good position to do that.”
How many times last season did we all hear Hinch say, “You can’t chase homers.” Malloy already gets the nuance.
“It’s like playing the game inside the game,” he said. “Knowing I control the zone as well as I do, I’m able to not be one-dimensional. Most hitters are like, ‘I’m going to be on a fastball and I’m going to adjust to the offspeed.’ That’s 90% of hitters.
“But when I say the game inside the game, if I’m in a 2-1 count I can trust myself to sit on a slider. I can trust myself because I feel like I do have good eyes. I wouldn’t call myself a guess hitter, but if I guess right, I’m able to do damage on a 2-1 slider when most guys are looking for that 2-1 heater because they are in a plus count.”
He’s 22 years old with that wisdom, turning 23 on Feb. 19. But he’s packed a lot of high-level competition into his young career. He played two years at Vanderbilt — he was on the team that beat the University of Michigan (and pitching coach Chris Fetter) in the 2019 College World Series finale — and one year at Georgia Tech.
Last year he was fast-tracked by the Braves, reaching Triple A before dominating the pitching at the Arizona Fall League (.306/.438/.444). There is only one horizon left to trample.
“Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, the goal is just to get to the big leagues, right?” he said. “But I’ve really taken an approach where, if I’m looking at that then I’m not really focused at where my feet are. Wherever you start, whether I start in Double-A or Triple-A, it really doesn’t matter.
“I just really want to be where my feet are and to just play baseball … I just want to play. I want to go out there every day. I want to enjoy every second. And then you know, you get to the big leagues and it’s the best day ever.”
Malloy is a third baseman by trade. But after the Braves gave Austin Riley a long-term contract before last season, they moved Malloy to left field.
“I took the challenge head-on,” he said. “The first few days felt like a completely different world and after the first few weeks it still felt like a completely different world. Slowly but surely, I felt myself getting more and more comfortable.”
The Tigers certainly love the versatility but, with the third base position wide open in Detroit and Toledo, Malloy is going to have to oil up his infielder’s glove for spring training.
“Yeah it was interesting, they want me back in the dirt,” Malloy said. “I said OK. And today was my first day fielding ground balls in about six months and it felt like riding a bike. Didn’t feel like I skipped a beat.”
The glove isn’t the reason Harris insisted Malloy be in the deal for Jimenez and the glove isn’t what ultimately will write his ticket to Detroit. His bat is fueling his quick rise through the ranks.
“Like, with seeing my friends who have gotten traded, I experienced exactly what they told me,” Malloy said. “The initial reaction, like that bittersweet feeling. But then you start really looking at it, especially from the outside and not just with your emotions, and quickly I felt this was just a great opportunity.
“A new organization, new guys, new friends — it’s just a great opportunity to just go out and play some more baseball for a new organization. Right now I am so excited and stoked to be a Tiger.”
Not for nothing, he goes by J-Hen to his friends and teammates. That’s going to play well if he starts the year in Toledo — J-Hen the Mud Hen.
“That would be kind of sick,” he said, laughing.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky