After spending 30 games with the Toledo Mud Hens, Akil Baddoo has gotten himself right and he is now back with the Detroit Tigers and ready to roll.
While down in Toledo, Baddoo hit .300 with three home runs and 15 RBIs before getting the call back up to the Tigers. In his final 13 games for Toledo, he hit .438 (21-for-48) with six doubles, three home runs, and nine walks.
Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals, Baddoo spoke to the media and he said he is ready to play his game.
Akil Baddoo is ready to be a ‘spark plug’ for Detroit Tigers
“Just being that spark plug,” Baddoo said, “having fun, getting the guys going, just playing my game. That’s it.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch explained why it was time for Baddoo to rejoin the Big League team.
“He’s cleaned up his bat path,” Hinch said. “He’s hung in there against lefties. His bat-to-ball data is really good. The overall production has been good. His on-base has been really good. He’s running the bases fearlessly. He’s just being the Akil Baddoo that we fell in love with last year.”
Baddoo explained that while he was down with the Mud Hens, he was focused on having fun and playing his game.
“Mostly, I was just having fun and playing my game,” Baddoo said. “I’m not trying to be anybody else. I’m not trying to impress someone. Just have fun and play my game. That’s what I did down there, and it worked out pretty well.”
“I had time to decompress, work on some things and get my mental side right,” Baddoo said. “I want to give a lot of thanks to the Toledo coaching staff. They were really patient with me, and we did a lot of work. That’s what you saw. I finally played my game, relaxed and was having fun.”
Hinch made it clear that Baddoo is a big part of the Tigers’ future plans and that he can be a difference-maker for the team.
“I love everything about Akil,” Hinch said. “His overall vibe is a big difference maker for our team, and certainly when he’s playing well, it brings a ton of things to our team. He is a central part of what we were doing. It never changed because he got sent down. It was long overdue to get him back here, and he earned his way back here by the way he played.”
Nation, do you think Akil Baddoo can be the spark plug the Tigers need?
