FILLING IN THE GAPS

by Holly Horning

It’s hard to measure a team’s progress. 

Sure, we watch the games, learn the scores and keep track of the standings.  That is really the culmination of years of work.  A reflection of what has been happening at all the many levels beneath it.

And if we look at the Tigers right now, at least at the MLB level, we are horrified.

But what’s going on at all the other levels?  In the farm system?  On scouting trips? In the Front Office? (Well, as of today, we now know what’s been going on there! We’ll cover it starting tomorrow.) 

That we don’t know.  Unless someone spills the beans and gives us a report.

For years, we didn’t know just how much this organization struggled in their attempts to put out a worthy product.

But when you don’t see measurable progress at the major league level, you start to ask questions.  The track record starts to look suspicious and bad performance can no longer be tolerated.

Or ignored.

For approximately the last decade, questions started popping up.

Why haven’t the Tigers produced any great talent since Justin Verlander?

Why has there only been 1 positive WAR player developed?

Why isn’t the farm system turning out viable players?

Why is it taking so long for prospects to reach the majors?

We’ve had suspicions about the player development system for awhile now.  And they were confirmed when the Player Development department was significantly broomed at the end of the 2021 season.

We continue to learn about its failings a full year later.

There was a national article about Riley Greene and his continued education now that he’s reached the majors. And it revealed the gap in training that still exists to some extent in the minors.

A. J. Hinch asked him about his method for pre-pitch setup.  It’s a skill that is taught early on throughout all levels of baseball.  But Greene didn’t know.

It had never been properly taught in the minor league system.

Green is just one example.

But now the Tigers are trying to get their newest prospects up to speed when they hit Detroit.  Much of the work is being done by Bench Coach George Lombard.  He’s coaching them on the fundamentals they didn’t learn in the minors.

We knew proper training in the farm system was spotty.  Remember when Hinch was quoted after last year saying how surprised he and all his coaches were at the lack of preparation and progress seen when the young prospects came to Detroit?

It’s one of the reasons why so many of the managers and coaches in the minor league levels were fired.  AAA has almost an entire new cast.  (Remember that Gary Jones was supposed to be their manager until the sudden passing of Kimera Bartee forced the Tigers to bring him up to Detroit and scramble for someone – Lloyd McClendon – who knew AAA to come in at the last minute. But make no mistake, Lloyd’s new job was not due to merit but to convenience.)

But now you’ve got more pitching prospects being called up to Detroit.  And they are thanking Gabe Ribas (Dir. of Pitching), Stephanos Stroop (Pitching Coordinator) and Doug Bochtler (AAA Pitching Coach), among others for helping them.  These 3 weren’t working for the Tigers until this year.

You’ve also got players like Ryan Kreidler giving a shout out to A. J. Hinch.  Kreidler has been in the system under the old regime and now the new.  He sees the difference.

“Since A.J. has come in, we’ve developed a uniformity in the minors…That helps with the adjustment when you get up here,” he said.

And this is the key.  The Tigers are finally developing a Tigers Way where training is being standardized throughout the entire farm system.

But it’s a different process for those players signed before the new regime took over and those just brand new.  There is still a learning curve for the older players.  For some, it’s undoing certain approaches and teaching them updated skills – or simply fully educating them.

Take Spencer Torkelson for example.  His development was set back by the old system.  He struggled offensively when he came up to Detroit.  It was only after he returned to Toledo and was able to work with new coaches and new resources that he started to rebound.  

Those same coaches, btw, are now in Detroit for the rest of the year to work with the entire team, not just Tork.

Things are starting to go in the right direction but it’s going to take more than a year to see real tangible improvements.  Ryan Garko has only been in charge for less than a year.

Expect the system to be much better in a couple years.  It’s going to take time for principles and teaching to trickle down to all levels.

You can also expect more personnel changes.  Garko will have had a year in which to evaluate his department and see who has fully bought into the program and who remains ineffective. And now that a new President of Baseball Operations has been hired, expect him to be weighing in.

So how will we know that the new Player Development system is working?

We’ll start to see players moving more quickly through the ranks.

We’ll start to finally see a depth of talent in the minors, not just in the handful of top draft prospects.

And we’ll see players who come up struggle a little less as they adapt more readily to major league play.

And maybe we’ll also see fewer return trips to Toledo.

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