A new era of Detroit Tigers baseball officially begins tomorrow as they take on the division rival Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park for Opening Day 2021.
New manager A.J. Hinch and a new coaching staff takes over a rebuilding squad that has finished last in the American League three of the past four years, and features several new faces and a renewed optimism for the future.
Hinch is keeping things simple in terms of goals for the year:
“I think we’ve got every possibility to win the next game that we play,” Hinch said. “Our players have shown the right attention to detail, the right enthusiasm, the right focus. Obviously, we’ve got to go out and do it. But absolutely, I think our mindset is right where it needs be.”
Of course, Hinch knows all about winning, having led the Houston Astros to the 2017 World Series combined with playoff appearances in four of five years during his time there.
“Winning brings credibility,” Hinch said. “Ultimately, it brings belief and trust, even before you’re able to get in front of the team. That doesn’t minimize the importance of having to develop relationships and trust, but when you’ve done it before, it helps with the players believing that anything we do is focused on helping us win.”
The Tigers are building a foundation for long term success, and while this season won’t be a playoff year, the goal is improvement with each day and passing week/month.
“The attention to detail, the continual development, the harping on everything that we’ve done during the spring is going to continue into April, May, June and the rest of the season,” Hinch said. “I’m proud of our guys for the work, attention to detail and openness to this new staff.”
– – Quotes via Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press Link – –
