How Ibáñez has repaid Tigers' trust

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Tigers stuck with Andy Ibáñez through an 0-for-32 slump last month, trusting that the hitting ability they saw early in the season would come back around. They stuck with him early this month, too, despite a lack of opportunities as opponents lined up one right-handed starter after another against a Detroit lineup without Riley Greene. The club remembered his hot start, saw the approach, saw the work ethic and trusted things would turn.

“He’s putting in a lot of work,” manager A.J. Hinch said after Monday’s 6-5 walk-off win over the Braves. “Our hitting [coaches] are doing a great job with him. And Andy’s had a great attitude through it all. No one likes to look up at the scoreboard and see the numbers dwindling down. He’s been cold, he’s been hot, he was cold again.”

They even trusted him in the outfield, including after Matt Vierling’s return from the injured list, which added a full-time outfielder to the mix. Ibáñez started in left field on Monday, with Vierling in center, and he stuck in the position as the game went into extra innings.

Nobody might have seen his game-saving throw coming. An infielder playing outfield and nabbing Sam Hilliard at the plate with the potential go-ahead run in the top of the 10th seems pretty wild. But just like Ibáñez's efforts at the plate, hard work paid off in the field.

“By coincidence, today we were working on that in batting practice with [bench coach] George Lombard,” Ibáñez said of the throw, through Tigers bilingual media coordinator Carlos Guillen. “We were doing those throws to home plate, and it happened.

“It’s different, because as an outfielder, I was trying to throw to the cutoff man, who was [third baseman Jonathan] Schoop. He was giving me the sign just to throw it above him.”

Ibáñez caught Eddie Rosario’s ball flat-footed, having drifted towards the line for it, but he got rid of the ball as quickly as he could. He spotted Schoop between third and home and threw it right on the mark. The ball bounced in front of home plate and hit catcher Jake Rogers on the first-base side, giving Rogers just enough time to make a lunging tag.

“When you have an infielder playing outfield, they’re really good at getting rid of the ball,” Hinch said. “Generally, we talk about that when the ball’s on the ground. But when the ball’s in the air, that was as quick of a transfer as you’re going to see due to his time in the infield.”

It was his first career outfield assist, and it helped set up Detroit to end its nine-game losing streak. Offensively, Ibáñez fell a triple shy of the cycle with hits at 105.4, 104.5 and 101.2 mph off the bat. He also scored the winning run on Spencer Torkelson’s fly-ball single in the bottom of the 10th.

All around, Ibáñez showed why the Tigers have been patient with him through the losses, at a time when a team could easily be excused for a panic move.

“With a lot of guys, we believe in track records,” Hinch said, “and his track record has been really good in the Minor Leagues. It has not been tested thoroughly in the big leagues, and the only way it’s going to be tested is by playing. And that goes for a lot of guys -- Zack Short’s having a really good level of contribution here, Andy’s doing it.

“When guys get an opportunity, I wish you knew how badly they want to stick and the work that they do. My job is to try to figure out the best version of them. Our hitting guys are the ones that are really sticking with them.”

Said Ibáñez: “This is a privilege, to be here. I’m very grateful and thankful for the support that I’ve received from my teammates and my coaching staff.”