Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch knows that his team has to be better when it comes to player development.
By now, you have probably seen the report from The Athletic in which they quote former Tigers OF Robbie Grossman as he talks about how the Atlanta Braves changed his hitting approach the day he was traded to them.
“The first day when I got here, they kind of set me down and it was like, ‘Here's the difference we saw in your swings from this year and the previous two years. This is what we think you should do,'” Grossman said. “And we just got to work, hit the ground running with it, and I feel a lot more normal now.
“What I'd been searching for all year, to re-create what I've done the last couple of years — I've been able to do in these last (two weeks). So, I'm excited. I just feel lucky that I'm over here and they're given me an opportunity and showed me somethings that are helping me out.”
After that report surfaced, Hinch said that not being able to unlock Grossman's potential this year has been a “frustration for all of us.”
“Watching Robbie, it looks like he’s exhaled a little bit,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “Some of that is going to come with going into an environment where there’s an expectation of winning. But the subtle adjustments that are made that can unlock the player we knew we had with Robbie.
“Us not being able to unlock that this year was a frustration for all of us.”
AJ Hinch says Detroit Tigers upper management also needs to step up
AJ Hinch noted that the regression of the Detroit Tigers' hitting as a whole is a big issue and it is going to be something that the new general manager is going to have to focus on.
“I think we need to take a look at how we can expand our resources for players,” Hinch said. “The people, the influences from above (front office) and in the clubhouse.”
Hinch added that making the players have all of the resources they need to be their best is something that everybody needs to be a part of, including upper management.
“As we look at the unknowns moving forward, that’s a big one — making sure we have resources for the players that can bring the most out of them, downstairs and, quite honestly, upstairs,” he said.
Hinch made it clear that though the Tigers do have a lot of things in place already that they have to “get a lot better.”
“But we can get a lot better,” he said. “We can address it at the end of the season when we get new leadership. The vision of the new GM will include some of these things that we can enhance.
“It’s not as if we’re devoid of things. But I think we can all look ourselves in the mirror and know we’ve got to get better.”
