Cameron Maybin is in his third go-around with the Detroit Tigers, and while the real baseball has yet to begin, things haven’t started off the way that both sides would have preferred.
The 32 year old outfielder has only collected one hit in 11 at-bats so far this Spring Training, and reportedly asked skipper Ron Gardenhire to be held out for a bit in order to work on his swing.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to come in here and just be tearing it up,” he said Monday morning. “But I’ve seen a lot of guys make the team out of camp and then get released in a month. I’d like to start off great, but I always say, when that red dot comes on March 26, I’m ready to go.”
Of course, March 26 is opening day, the earliest ever.
Last year with the New York Yankees, Maybin hit 11 home runs and posted a career-best .494 slugging percentage in 82 games.
“I was so anxious to get here, get in the cage and see the ball flying all over the place again,” he said. “But that’s not how it works. I needed to slow down and just iron some stuff out mechanically first. Gotta crawl before you walk, right?”
He’s been absent the last four games while he works on his mechanics, and he appreciates that Gardenhire granted the time off.
“I appreciate Gardy,” Maybin said. “He gets it. You expect guys like him, who have been around like that to understand, but you’d be surprised. I was with Dan Uggla (with the Marlins) and I saw him literally get one hit in the spring then go out and hit 30 home runs.
“I’m going to be OK.”
– – Quotes via Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News Link – –
