Candelario planning on offseason improvements

DETROIT -- Jeimer Candelario knows the numbers. He can see them every time he comes to the plate and looks up at the giant left-field scoreboard. He doesn’t need to be reminded of his hitting struggles. He just wants to think about what he can do to get out of them.

“I don't want to worry about numbers now, because it is what it is,” Detroit's corner infielder said Saturday. “I just want to be able to finish strong and go to my house and get a little break there, and then think about stuff that I can do to get better and go from there.”

Candelario entered Saturday batting .198 (63-for-318) this season with a .623 OPS. He’s one of seven Major League hitters with at least 300 plate appearances this season who is batting under .200, but the only one of the group who isn’t in double digits for home runs. His second-half numbers from last year aren’t much different, making this essentially a year-and-a-half-long skid.

The Tigers moved Candelario from third to first base for this final month to allow Dawel Lugo a chance to show what he can do at third. Candelario’s offensive struggles were already a concern for him at the hot corner. With the hitting standards higher at first base, Miguel Cabrera potentially looking to get back to first for some games next year if he can improve his balky right knee, and a veteran addition possible there to boost an anemic offense, a Candelario rebound becomes even more important.

Manager Ron Gardenhire said Saturday a player usually needs about 1,500 at-bats before a team can make a fair judgment on whether he’s going to be able to hit. Candelario is currently just shy of 1,000.

“I think winter ball would be a good thing for him,” Gardenhire said. “He has to find his swing. He hasn’t been driving the ball.”

That’s in Candelario’s plan. He is already trying to regain the power in his swing, working with hitting coach Lloyd McClendon on gathering momentum again before he fires at a ball. He wants to ingrain it into muscle memory by next season.

“I just want to be able to see the ball and hit it, not worry about too much,” he said.

That’s where winter ball comes in. Candelario didn’t play last winter to allow himself to heal up, and he seemed to miss the extra swings. He wants to get back there this winter, having played two years ago for Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League.

“Winter ball is very good for us,” Candelario said. “You see Fernando Tatis Jr., last year he played winter ball and you see what he did. For young guys, you want to play.”

Quick hits
• Cabrera was originally in Saturday’s lineup but was scratched with continued soreness in his balky right knee. He left Friday’s 10-1 loss to the White Sox due to the lopsided score, Gardenhire said, but tweaked the knee at some point and still felt it Saturday afternoon.

• Gardenhire said the Tigers will be emphasizing cutoff throws, relays and infield shifts again next Spring Training after seeing inconsistency on all of them down the stretch. “We have to keep making a statement to them,” Gardenhire said. “We’ve seen things this year that we don’t like.”