WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – They're two games back – in the loss column, at least – for the American League's final wild-card spot with 50 games to play. Oh, and the youngsters are coming.
Actually, the youngsters are here, and partly the reason the Detroit Tigers are as close to a playoff slot as they’ve been since early in the season.
More youngsters could be on the way, too, after the Tigers traded Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend in California for three prospects.
For now, outfielder Zyhir Hope, the highest-rated of the three, begins his time with the Tigers organization with Double-A Erie. Right-hander River Ryan is headed to Triple-A Toledo, where
he will rehab a hamstring injury, and right-hander Brady Smith goes all the way from High-A Great Lakes to High-A West Michigan – a westward trip of 114 miles across the Mitten State.
Maybe one day they’ll join the youth brigade taking over the big-league clubhouse. Or maybe not. What’s becoming clear – especially from the voices in that clubhouse – is that the Tigers aim to keep making a push for the postseason and plan to keep running rookies out onto the field.
The Tigers' 11-0 annihilation of the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Sunday, Aug. 2, was the latest bit of proof. Five rookies started, scattered across the diamond: Max Clark in center field, Hao-Yu Lee at third base, Ben Malgeri in left field, Kevin McGonigle at shortstop and Eduardo Valencia at catcher.
All of them contributed – and a few of them have been contributing for a while, most notably McGonigle, the infielder who had a four-hit MLB debut in San Diego back in March and hasn’t really slowed since.
McGonigle hit a couple home runs this weekend against the A’s. And when he hit into a double play on Sunday, it was merely an outlier emphasizing how ridiculous his eye has been at the plate; the DP was just the third he's hit into this season.
Clark, meanwhile, nearly matched his fellow draft classmate in shock factor, as far as debuts go, on Friday night, going 3-for-4 with two doubles.
“He dominated Saturday night, too,” A.J. Hinch said.
Then a little news broke. Clark’s first home run – and plate discipline and promising defense – fell off the front page, so to speak, as Skubal was shipped to LA mid-game Saturday. Not that Clark knows what a front page is. Or should know.
McGonigle surely does. He’s an old soul that way, even though he doesn't turn 22 for a couple more weeks, and a tantalizing bookend to Clark’s high-wattage, social-media shine (with nearly 1 million social media followers across a few platforms even before he hit the majors).
The youth revolution
Then there was Valencia, the catcher promoted three weeks ago, sent down, then called up again last week after Kerry Carpenter went on the IL. The 26-year-old started behind the plate Sunday and delivered two doubles (part of five hits on the weekend against the Athletics) and four RBIs. This, after four hits last week in the series against Baltimore.
Add in Malgeri, who hit his first MLB home run Friday night, and Lee, who's hitting .288 since the start of July and had another hit Sunday and, well, you see where this is going.
McGonigle and Clark are the staples among the rookies, though Valencia looks like he could stick around to give Dingler a blow from catching from time to time, and Lee has become a valuable infield piece against lefties. Malgeri has produced in Toledo and is at least interesting.
Then there is Dingler, who obviously isn’t a rookie, but is still young. So is Colt Keith. Heck, so are Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, who has shown terrific plate coverage in the last six or seven games, and whose two-out, two-strike double gave the Tigers the lead in the first inning Sunday.
All four are 27 or younger. Torkelson, at 26, is probably who he is at this point. Then again, look at Greene’s improvement at only age 25 from a year ago. Keith has gotten a bit better and doesn't turn 25 for another couple weeks. Dingler, the old man at 27, has gotten a lot better at the plate and is simply one of the best catchers in baseball.
Where this is going is hard to say. The 0-fer's are coming. It’s baseball. The rookies still have much to learn, and plenty to endure.
The Tigers’ front office could trade Casey Mize and Gleyber Torres before the deadline, and their losses would hurt a playoff push. And yet ... who knows?
Baseball is unpredictable that way. Just one team in all of MLB (the Boston Red Sox, who ran off a ridiculous 15-game winning streak in July) has more wins than the Tigers' 32 since the start of June. They are playing respectable baseball and look better defensively.
The bullpen remains an issue, no doubt. And the clubhouse will have to find a way to fill the Skubal void.
Whatever happens before Monday's trade deadline and, for that matter, whatever happens after, you can bet it won’t be boring. That counts for something, right?
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers counting on the youngsters; could more be on the way?
