'Thrilled that we're here': 5 takeaways from Hinch's first presser

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tigers manager A.J. Hinch stated the obvious with his first public words of Spring Training.

“I’m thrilled that we’re here,” he said Sunday morning.

With Major League camp underway, Hinch has his team together. Now comes the challenge of getting it ready while general manager Al Avila tries to supplement it with additions, all with the goal of the Tigers taking the next step toward contention.

Here are five takeaways from Hinch’s first official media session of 2022:

1. Expectations are raised
Hinch was saying this at the end of last season, and he could’ve said this all offseason. He isn’t shying away from the notion that this team can -- and maybe should -- be contending.

“We need to set the bar high,” Hinch said. “We come into this camp, we got the little feel of winning a little bit, not a lot, and I think we need to continue the same message.”

One issue Hinch said the Tigers need to address is why they struggled so much within the division. Detroit went 30-46 against the AL Central last year and 47-39 against everybody else.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Hinch said, “but I think you show up in the spring wanting and expecting to make the playoffs. Am I declaring this a playoff team? I have no idea. We don’t know how the health is going to go. We don’t know how the wins are going to come. But when we show up to Spring Training, I’ve always told every team I’ve ever managed [that] we need to win our division and we need to make the playoffs. I don’t know why this would be any different.”

2. Players aren’t that far behind
Neither Hinch nor the Tigers' front office were allowed to talk with players on the 40-man roster until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was put in place Thursday, but Hinch tried to keep up with players as they updated their offseason work on social media. Though Spring Training has been condensed to just less than four weeks, Hinch believes his players will get the time they need.

“Generally speaking, Spring Training has been too long for the most part -- maybe not to managers and coaches, but to a lot of players,” Hinch said. “So this will be a challenge just to mentally get past the calendar date where you’re used to being at a certain point at the end of March and realize we have some more time in April. Getting on the field [Monday], we’ll operate like a normal Spring Training. I think you’ll see the more established players faster into games than maybe we’ve done in the past.”

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With an 18-game schedule, Hinch expects his main starters to get about four starts to ramp up, one or two fewer than normal. Most have already thrown live sessions against hitters.

“We probably can push them a little faster than we have been comfortable with,” Hinch continued, “so you may see a three-inning outing out of somebody right away. You won’t see back-to-backs and stuff like that. It’s going to be individualized because we have to. And it doesn’t matter if they’re behind. What matters is the team we break with.”

3. Tigers planning with the roster they have
Hinch was at the Tigertown complex when a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was finalized and ratified, and he saw Avila and the front office ramping up for the end of the transactions freeze. In many ways, he spent the last few days getting ready for Spring Training while dealing with the business level usually reserved for the Winter Meetings.

Still, he isn’t taking any moves for granted.

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“It’s been busy, but at the same time, my job is going to be to now shield all of that Winter Meetings feel to this clubhouse,” Hinch said. “We have a lot of guys that we need to get through and get up and running and ready for a season. And the front office will probably, round the clock, try to figure out if there’s any sort of transaction ahead. So we as a coaching staff, me as a manager, we’re going to operate with the group that we have. And if there’s an addition, great.”

The Tigers’ most pressing need is in their rotation, where they have four set starters but could use a fifth, as well as some depth. If they didn’t make a move, Hinch said, they could fill out a rotation with swingman Tyler Alexander at the back end.

“He did a good job last year when we asked him to step in,” Hinch said. “He can also be a very valuable Swiss Army knife in the bullpen. If we were going to break [camp] today, I think Tyler is the leading candidate to be in the rotation. With that, you never know. What is our depth going to look like? Who else is available? It’s a little unknown right now.

“I am interested in Joey Wentz, to see him bounce back after coming back from his injury. I’m interested in seeing [Alex] Faedo. They’re not candidates necessarily to break camp with us. Faedo’s barely even thrown a couple bullpens. But our young depth -- Rony García, [Ricardo] Pinto, Logan Shore, Beau Brieske’s in camp -- they will not get long looks because we don’t have a lot of time. But there’s some names that are going to pop up that we’re not expecting, and then we’ll see if we have a chance to add to the depth.”

4. Torkelson and Greene have a real shot to make the team
While Sunday marked the first day of camp for many players, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene -- the Tigers' No. 1 and No. 2 prospects -- have been here for three weeks, having been part of Minor League minicamp. Hinch saw them for part of that stretch while he was around, and he isn’t downplaying their chances to make the club.

“Tork and Greene are going to have a chance to get a good look,” Hinch said. “On the one hand, it’s a great opportunity to make a team. On the other hand, it’s not the end-all, be-all whether they break with us or not. We’ll make decisions at the end of camp that we think [are] best for us. The fact that they’re more ready for games, if you’re a young guy and you’re trying to make an impression, is probably a good thing.

“Physically and emotionally, they’re in a good place. I thought they handled both the entry into minicamp, the disappointment of no big league camp starting, and even the extra attention that [the media] have already given them pretty well. I think they’re tremendous prospects. Again, they’re going to have an opportunity to showcase what they can do and how they fit. And there’s reason to love them so much: They’re really good players, and they’ve got sort of the ‘it’ factor when it comes to how they fit on the club, how they interact with people. They can handle this pressure.”

5. Three catchers is a real possibility
With Tucker Barnhart getting settled in, Eric Haase in a catcher/outfield role and Dustin Garneau back, Hinch has three catchers under contract, none of whom has Minor League options remaining. Hinch has to decide whether they can all stick on the Opening Day roster, though an expanded roster for early in the season might help.

“Eric Haase had a tremendous breakthrough season last year,” Hinch said. “We see him probably for the first time in his career coming into camp pretty established in a job, whether that’s solely as a backup catcher or whether I’m going to move him around a little bit. And that’s where Dustin Garneau comes in. …

“There’s value to having a third catcher if one of those guys can be a multipositional guy. If not, then that means that we’re going to carry an extra outfielder or an extra infielder. So it’s all intertwined with how the infield and outfield play out. I don’t really want to consider five outfield-only guys. So we’re looking at that utility role to be an extra infielder or an extra catcher.”