Ibáñez's willingness, prep work build his value with Tigers

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The early days of workouts this Spring Training seem like eons ago, rather than just a few weeks. But the image of Andy Ibáñez standing in at the plate while pitchers threw their bullpen sessions is impossible to forget.

Some pitchers want to work with a plastic cutout of a hitter while they throw their bullpens, because it provides a frame of reference for working the corners of the strike zone. Ibáñez was essentially the real-life version for some pitchers, standing in the box and watching pitches go by. It was more than a gesture of a good teammate; it was a work in study for the Tigers infielder.

“That's something that's been very important to me,” Ibáñez said last week through translation from Tigers manager of Spanish communications and broadcasting Carlos Guillen. “We spend four months in the offseason without seeing live pitching, so it helps me a lot. That's one of the key parts that has gotten me ready. …

“Mostly the reason why I'm there is for timing, of course, but mainly watching the breaking balls. It's not the same when you're hitting off the machine because it's always the same angle, the same spot, the same rotation. Just seeing live pitchers, you see different angles, different breaking points, different movement on the ball, so that helps me a lot.”

Ibáñez wants to see as much live pitching as possible. It’s why he’ll stand at the top of the dugout with a bat in hand and watch the opposing starter work during regular-season games. As he heads into the final week of Spring Training, all that prep work has paid off.

Even with a mid-camp skid, Ibáñez leads the team with four home runs. His seven RBIs rank third on the team behind prospect Eddys Leonard and non-roster invite Keston Hiura. What was thought to be a potential roster battle for Ibáñez’s role has become no contest, because Ibáñez has made it that way.

Ibáñez knows where he fits on manager A.J. Hinch’s roster, and he does everything he can to prepare for it.

“We gave him an opportunity, and he’s taken it,” Hinch said. “When you put together a team, [a player has] to offer something to the team in order to fit as a piece on a ballclub. And it’s our job to find out what that is for each of these guys. When he gets that opportunity and takes off like he did last year, he’s going to get more and more opportunity, and I think that’s a great example for all players: Bring something to the table to help us win.”

In the case of Ibáñez, that value is hitting lefties. He batted .261 (29-for-111) with an .819 OPS in 118 plate appearances off southpaws last year. More than half of his hits went for extra bases (nine doubles, six homers and a triple). He also hit breaking balls hard last year, including four homers off them. His Grapefruit League damage this year includes a homer off a sweeper from Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes on March 3 and a drive off a slider from Yankees righty Luis Gil on Feb. 24.

Just as important as the homers, Ibáñez’s work this spring includes a pinch-hit single against Red Sox lefty Joe Jacques in a game on March 4. He wasn’t scheduled to play until the last minute, Hinch said later, but he prepared for it like a game situation.

“When I'm pinch-hitting, it's mostly against a left-handed pitcher,” Ibáñez said, “so before the game, I just go to the coaches room with [hitting coach] Michael [Brdar] and ask for the pitching report for every lefty they have on the roster, to evaluate and study pitches, if they sink, what kind of movement they've got, all the data. So I can be ready and prepared for whoever I'm going to be facing, ready for hitting.”

Even in Spring Training, he’ll study pitchers to prepare for the process. It pays off.

“He gets sort of a focused job and goes from there,” Hinch said.

That’s where all that work early in Spring Training pays off. And that’s where Ibáñez fits the Tigers.