LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch will be the first to tell you: “I couldn’t hit in the big leagues.” Those were his words to an aging and unproven minor-league catcher, back in 2021.
Hinch, now 48, went from being a third-round pick in the 1996 MLB draft out of Stanford to a journeyman catcher in the big leagues, with a .220 batting average and 32 homers over 350 games.
His career included a stint with the 119-loss Tigers in 2003.
Fourteen years after that campaign in Detroit, and following an unsuccessful stint managing the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2009-10, Hinch reigned as the manager of the Houston Astros. His 2017 team led the majors in runs en route to the franchise’s first World Series title. In January 2020, Hinch was suspended for a season by MLB, then fired by the Astros.
Through it all, the ups and the downs, the firings and the hirings, Hinch has maintained a steady approach grounded in two things: Compassion for his players, and growing from failures.
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“I think you use your experiences,” he said. “I was a journeyman. For better or worse, I had the opportunity to play for a lot of different people and see how everybody does it a little bit differently or interacts a little bit differently. You try to find your own style, your own way, your own personality within the job. I’ve learned a lot over the years. The players, all they really want is for you to be yourself, and they adapt, too. But I love the players.”
Honesty counts
Take the way he dealt with Eric Haase, then a 28-year-old catcher searching for his first real opportunity in the majors, during spring training in 2021.
Haase, finally playing for a job with his hometown team after a brief stint in 2020, just wanted someone to be honest with him about his baseball career. When Haase started raking in camp, Hinch told him that wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster but would receive as many at-bats as possible before heading to Triple-A Toledo.
For the first time, Haase felt valued for his strengths.
A couple of injuries later, Haase emerged in the big leagues and enjoyed a breakthrough 2021 season. He still hasn’t returned to the minor leagues. Nowadays, Hinch and Haase share in-depth conversations about roster construction and in-game strategies.
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“He opens himself up to criticism, too, so we can dog on him a little bit,” Haase, now 30, said. “You respect him more because he’s willing to take little jabs, but then he’s also opening himself up, too. … He was a player. He’s been there, done that. He self-admittedly said, ‘I couldn’t hit in the big leagues.’ When he pokes fun at himself, it allows you to operate in an area where you don’t feel like you have to be perfect.”
That self-deprecation and openness has endeared him to many of his players, past and present. The recognition that sometimes we can find our greatest strengths after a failure or two perhaps provides a reason why Hinch has remained strong within the Tigers’ organization as it attempts to reinvent itself following a crash-and-burn 2022 season.
Turning around the Tigers
Leading up to the 2023 season, Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch and newly hired president of baseball operations Scott Harris set into motion plans to upgrade the player experience.
Many of those upgrades were based on the feedback Hinch received from players at the end of last season. The goal for the offseason was to revamp the Tigers into a first-class organization.
The progress off the field could lead to winning games on the field.
“I think we can win here, and I want to win,” said Hinch, beginning his third season as the Tigers’ manager. “We are going to do multiple things at the same time while we’re breaking in young talent, trying to win that day’s game, play as deep as you can and make a run at the playoffs. That hasn’t changed since the day I got here, but it’s been enhanced by Scott’s vision.”
The most visible change remains in a work-in-progress. The Tigers are lowering the Comerica Park outfield walls (to 7 feet across the board) and moving the center-field fence in from 422 feet to 412 feet (still the second-deepest center field in baseball). The new dimensions will be in place for the April 6 home opener against the Boston Red Sox and should boost the psyche of the Tigers’ hitters.
Renovations to the clubhouse will be completed for the home opener, too. New lights have been installed at the ballpark, but that’s more for the fans. Meals and snacks for the players are healthier than ever before, and in the minor leagues, there will be a nutritionist at every affiliate to order food and consult players on their individualized diets.
Ilitch has promised a new team plane.
“I’m also very excited to be responsive to further changes that they need to get the very best out of them,” Harris said. “We want Detroit to be a place that players want to come play and want to stay for a long time.”
Another big development: The Tigers strengthened their mental health strategy to support players in more ways than one.
“There’s more emphasis on mental performance rather than having some anxiety and needing to talk to somebody,” said Spencer Torkelson, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick. “It’s like, ‘I’m in a good spot, and I feel good, but I want to keep this good thing going.’ That’s the next level of mental performance.”
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The head and heart behind it all
Hired in October 2020, Hinch joined the Tigers and began setting the foundation for the player-centric advancements. He earned a psychology degree from Stanford, played 870 games in the majors and minors, worked in a couple of big-league front offices (in Arizona and San Diego) and then triumphed with the Astros.
Hinch believes the game is about the players, and what he does away from the manager’s chair seems just as influential as exploiting scouting reports and picking the best matchups in games.
His players — past and present — love him.
“He cares about his players as humans,” said Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer, who played for Hinch from 2015-19 in Houston. “He wants to know how you’re doing off the field. He finds a way to connect to you and knows that every player is not the same. It makes you feel like a human.”
When Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez stepped away from baseball for a personal reason last season, the Tigers placed him on the unpaid restricted list. He arrived in Miami to be with his children, and then the Tigers lost communication with him for about a month.
It was a bizarre development in a relation cemented by a five-year, $77 million contract in November 2021.
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General manager Al Avila, who would be fired in August, was angry with his highest-paid pitcher for leaving the team, which didn’t help the situation. But Hinch took a compassionate approach, eventually broke the ice and helped Rodriguez reintegrate himself into the clubhouse.
“He’s the manager, so I got to trust him no matter what, but overall, he’s great,” Rodriguez said. “Everything that I went through last year, he was there with me all the time. He was calling me, texting me, everything. He’s a great manager, a great person and a great friend. He is the best person to have the job here.”
When Javier Báez, who signed a six-year, $140 million contract in December 2021, felt unhappy coming off his first season with the Tigers, Hinch realized the organization needed to better support its second highest-paid position player, so he booked an offseason trip to Puerto Rico.
They visited Báez’s restaurant and mountaintop farm, among other places close to his heart, while the former All-Star shortstop revealed the good and bad experiences — both on the field and behind the scenes — from the 2022 season. Understanding Báez opened the door to supporting Báez.
“They’re all different,” Hinch said. “There’s not a one-size-fits-all toolkit that’s going to make an impact with guys, so if you can find ways, whether it be subtle or more specific, to bring out the best in the player, then we all win.”
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Giving Miggy to the world
When Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers’ highest-paid player, learned he wasn’t insured for the World Baseball Classic because of his injury history, Hinch spearheaded the conversation within the organization about waiving the insurance requirement, taking the financial risk and allowing the future Hall of Famer to play for Team Venezuela one final time.
Cabrera is a baseball icon in his home country, as Venezuela manager Omar López pointed out: “Not having Miguel Cabrera on the Venezuelan team would be like having nobody, even though we have (Jose) Altuve and Salvador Perez.”
Ilitch and Harris were on board the entire time. Both the owner and team president wanted to see Cabrera represent his country in his final international tournament. It was an approach that differed from other organizations dealing with aging veterans. The Los Angeles Dodgers, for example, didn’t do the same for future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Team USA.
The way Hinch has treated Cabrera over the past two seasons, and the respect he has earned from him in the process, is a testament to his strengths as a communicator and collaborator. There have been week-by-week plans for Cabrera since Hinch’s first season.
In spring training, Cabrera was asked how often he planned to play first base during the final season of his historic career. In years past, Cabrera has been outspoken about wanting to be on the field for defense.
This time, he deferred to the man with the plan.
“Manager!” Cabrera yelled.
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From stars to scrubs
The interpersonal skills extend beyond the big-name players.
Zack Short, a 27-year-old infielder, rode the proverbial bus between Toledo and Detroit last season, only to play six games — for a grand total of 13 plate appearances — with the Tigers. Joining the Tigers’ taxi squad for road series and knowing he probably wouldn’t play was frustrating at times.
But Hinch always communicated.
“I was joking with him a few weeks ago,” said Short, who enjoys talking to Hinch about golf. “I was like, ‘Oh man, that’s one of the scariest guys that I’ve ever met… behind you in 2021, my rookie year.’ I would walk away from him. Now if I see him, I’m like, ‘What’s he going to joke about?'”
It’s an approach grounded in Hinch’s experience going from Stanford star to Oakland Athletics bust in his first few seasons as a player. He rarely discusses his playing days in media sessions, outside of short one-liners.
“I’ve also been non-tendered,” Hinch said. “I’ve also made Opening Day rosters. I’ve been sent down as the last cut. I’ve been promised playing time and not given playing time. I’ve been given playing time and not performed. I’ve seen ‘A-Z’ when it comes to a player getting drafted all the way through the minors and up to the big leagues. It’s given me a healthy perspective and an appreciation for what these guys go through.
“I’ve always prided myself on being able to separate decisions that I have to make on the field with relationships that I can develop as a person. They both can coexist, even when it’s difficult, but the relatability is the No. 1 characteristic that I would tell any manager that would be one of the most impactful things.”
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Keeping in touch
It’s no surprise then, that Hinch also maintains relationships with his former players even after they’ve gone their separate ways.
Springer, a star for Hinch’s Astros, became a free agent in the same offseason Hinch became the Tigers’ manager. They talked about teaming up in Detroit, but that wasn’t the reason for Hinch’s phone call. He wanted to let his former player know he would be there for him throughout free agency.
They’re close friends to this day.
“He talked to me as a friend, and it was really cool,” Springer said. “It’s definitely a conversation that I’ll keep between him and me, but it was definitely a conversation that I’ll never forget. I have a lot of respect for him. To talk to him for the first time in a much different way was awesome.”
In 2023, the Tigers are finally unveiling significant changes within the organization for the players. Those changes have been driven by new leadership in the front office. But don’t forget, Hinch has been prioritizing his players from the beginning of his tenure.
New dimensions. New clubhouse. New plane.
Same manager.
“I look at the entire game being about the players,” Hinch said. “The majority of my job is to put them in the best position imaginable and do things that brings out the best versions of themselves. If that turns you into a players’ manager, all the better because the game is about the players.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.