After Early Struggles, Tigers Breaking Out Versus Lefties
By: Will Burchfield
Both Cameron Maybin and James McCann sighed when asked about the Tigers' offensive turnaround against left-handed pitchers after Monday night's 11-0 win over Toronto.
Maybin seemed exasperated by a question he's heard too often. McCann, for his part, simply didn't have an explanation.
"Man, baseball's a funny game," said McCann, scratching his head as he searched for the right words. "If you would have asked me at the beginning of Spring Training how we were going to fare against lefties, I would have said teams wouldn't want to throw lefties against us with how many righties we have in our lineup. But for whatever reason, it just wasn't happening early and the last few games, I don't know, maybe it's evening out."
It certainly is.
Before Friday night's game against the White Sox, the Tigers were hitting .240 as a team against left-handed pitching, with 15 home runs and 30 extra base hits. They had beaten just three southpaw starters to date.
In the four games since, they have raked to the tune of a .336 average against lefties, tacking on five home runs and 13 extra base hits for good measure. What looked like a gauntlet for the Tigers, with four consecutive left-handed starters taking the mound Friday through Monday, became an unexpected stroll in Comerica Park.
First they knocked off second-year starter Carlos Rodon on Friday night, plating four runs on the strength of two long-balls. Then, on Saturday afternoon, they beat Chris Sale – who you may have heard of – by coming from behind late in the game. To validate that performance, the Tigers turned around and touched up Jose Quintana and his sterling 2.57 ERA for five runs in 4.2 innings in Sunday's matinee.
And if all that wasn't enough, they simply blasted J.A. Happ on Monday night, knocking out the soft-throwing lefty with six runs through five innings.
Suddenly, Detroit's struggles against left-handed pitching seem like a distant memory.
Manager Brad Ausmus, in his typically measured tone, pointed to a sense of familiarity with lefties as the reason for his lineup's turnaround.
"You're seeing the ball come out of the same side four days in a row, so it probably didn't hurt to see it back to back to back to back. The guys have looked much better, although I thought this team was going to hit lefties much better, anyway," Ausmus said.
Maybin, who went 2-4 on Monday night to raise his season average to .419, credited hitting coach Wally Joyner for keeping the Tigers in the right frame of mind at the dish.
"Wally keeps stressing get your pitch, so whatever your pitch is to each individual guy we've been doing a much better job of having discipline in that. When this team has disciplined at-bats and we have at-bats for the team and not for ourselves we seem to do really well. We've been swinging the bats well now for a few weeks, so we just have to keep it going and stick with that approach more than anything," Maybin said.
The early blow on Monday night was provided by McCann, who drilled a three-run homer in the bottom of the second to stake the Tigers to a 3-0 lead. Hardly a showy player, the Tigers' catcher dropped his bat and entered his homerun trot the moment the ball took off into left field. Sometimes, as hitters say, you just know.
Though pleased – if somewhat flummoxed – with the team's sudden 180 against left-handers, McCann was careful to note the game remains the same no matter who's throwing the ball.
"It's definitely something you build on, but it's not just about lefties. Whoever's on the mound, at the end of the day they still have to throw the ball over the plate and we still have to put good swings on it. We have to hit a round ball with a round bat – and we have to hit it squarely. So that's the name of the game; whether it's a lefty or a righty on the mound, consistent at bats is what we're looking for," said McCann.
On Tuesday night, the Tigers will face right-hander Aaron Sanchez. It will be a changeup of sorts for this hot-hitting lineup, but the "name of the game" won't change at all.