Teams continue to take extra bases against Tigers
St. Petersburg, Fla. – The memo seems to have gone out across the American League. There are extra bases available for the taking against the Tigers’ outfielders – and not just at spacious Comerica Park.
The Rays stretched a couple of singles into doubles Thursday night, the most egregious of which was an eighth-inning double by catcher Hank Conger. The Indians had 16 extra-base hits in the three game sweep at Comerica last weekend, including six triples.
“I think it’s been good placement (by the hitters),” outfield coach Dave Clark said. “I think our guys have been pretty much aggressive out there, not letting singles turn into doubles or doubles into triples, for the most part.
“I wish I could put the guys in the right spot every time.”
There is little to be done about the triples at Comerica Park, especially the ones hit to cutout in right field.
“That place drives me nuts,” Clark said. “It happens in San Francisco, too. They have to deal with that same thing. We tried to make adjustments according to the field, as opposed to making the adjustments according to the hitter, and it just doesn’t work.”
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The bigger issue is runners making doubles out of singles, and going first to third on balls hit up the middle and to left field.
“It’s so big in Comerica, even if you cut the ball off, if you go hard out of the box and you are an average runner, it can very easily be a double because it’s such a far throw,” said Tigers defensive coordinator Matt Martin. “The outfielder has to make a perfect throw.”
But, as evidenced here at the much smaller Tropicana Field, it’s not just happening at Comerica Park.
Part of the problem is the absence of J.D. Martinez in right field. He won a Silver Slugger Award last year and was a Gold Glove finalist. Steven Moya is still developing as an outfielder and Mike Aviles is a converted infielder. It's been a huge drop-off defensively.
The other part of the problem is Cameron Maybin’s right shoulder. He first injured it in the offseason, then again at the end of his first rehab assignment at Triple-A Toledo. You don’t have to scout the Tigers for long before you notice he still isn’t throwing the ball as well as he can.
“I was hoping that wasn’t the case,” Clark said. “I was hoping word hadn’t got around, but I’m sure it has. He’s not throwing as well as he used to. And on balls that are hit to him, guys are being very aggressive.”
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Martin said Maybin has compensated as best he can for his arm by getting to balls quickly. But the problem is compounded by the fact that left fielder Justin Upton’s arm is regarded as below average.
“It has more to do with opposing teams, with guys going out of the box hard,” Martin said. “You see a guy like Brandon Guyer or even (Oswaldo) Arcia, they are hitting ground balls in the infield and they’re going hard out of the box, giving it a hard 90.
“A lot of times, you get a line-drive hit and you are satisfied with a single. We have been playing teams lately that haven’t done that. It’s just been kind of a matchup, with guys who can run and they are turning singles into doubles, and doubles into triples.”
Martin, though, isn’t going to overreact to this particular stretch.
“We are always looking to better ourselves at positioning players,” he said. “There hasn’t really been a correlation (between positioning and teams taking extra bases). You get a short sample size and it can tell you anything. The longer sample size will give a truer indication.”
Given the personnel, it appears to be a problem that’s not going away any time soon.
Twitter @cmccosky