A.J. Hinch landed the Detroit Tigers managerial job despite his suspension for his role (or non-role) in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal: “This was a man that had learned and grown from the experience, and that resonated with me,” said Christopher Ilitch, Detroit Tigers Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said. “We have high expectations for how […]
The Houston Chronicle reports that A.J. Hinch will receive a contract extension Thursday: The Astros are scheduled to announce a contract extension for manager A.J. Hinch on Thursday, a source confirmed to the Chronicle on Wednesday. General manager Jeff Luhnow did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hinch’s contract was set to expire […]
The Astros give A.J. Hinch his second chance at managing: Hinch managed Arizona from May 2009 until July 2010, when he was fired after a 31-48 start. He was the vice president of professional scouting for San Diego from 2010 until August. Porter was a first-time manager, and Luhnow said he wanted someone who had […]
A.J. Hinch explains his decision to remove Dan Haren after seven innings against the Yankees Tuesday night: “We can’t continue to ride him too heavy,” Hinch said of Haren. “It’s easy to want to do that. It’s easy to want to leave him in. We’ve taxed him pretty much every start. He hasn’t really had […]
Jeff Fletcher talks to A.J. Hinch about learning on the job. Dan Haren is one player who’s seen a change: “At first I was a little stubborn about the whole thing,” right-hander Dan Haren said. “I didn’t want to give [Hinch] a chance. After a day or two, I kind of came to it with […]
A.J. Hinch first week as manager of the Diamondbacks brought tons of criticism down on him, but here’s something positive from the nightcap win on Wednesday: A.J. Hinch may have justified his hiring with this one move: In the bottom of the 11th with the score tied, Tony Peña (in his second inning of work) […]
The hiring of A.J. Hinch by the Diamondbacks does not seem to be sitting well with the press and maybe the players. I too, was expecting this: You can convince me that this team needed a new voice, a new leader. Many fans in the Valley are extremely disgusted with this group and envisioned a […]
It looks like A.J. Hinch will take over as manager of the Diamondbacks. Director of Player Development A.J. Hinch is expected to be named as Melvin’s replacement Friday at 3 p.m. news conference. KTAR-AM was the first to report Hinch’s promotion. In addition, hitting coach Rick Schu was fired, and pitching coach Bryan Price resigned. […]
I have not seen Yankees Aaron Boone‘s explanation of the intentional walk (IBB) to Rafael Devers of the Red Sox. The two out pass led to three runs against Gerrit Cole in a game the Red Sox won 7-1. This tidbit I did find interesting: Cole’s intentional walk was the pitcher’s first since he was […]
The 2024 series on team offense continues with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers finished twenty eighth in the Majors and thirteenth in the American League in 2023 with 4.08 runs scored per game. This season I am using FanGraphs Roster Resource Depth Charts* as the source of default lineups. That A.J. Hinch batting order is […]
Dusty Baker stepped down from managing the Astros to retire: “Dusty Baker is a legend in this sport,” Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena said Monday night. “I’ve loved every single day that I’ve gotten to share with him on this ballclub. He’s been great for me. He’s shown so much confidence in me. He’s been a […]
The Diamondbacks defeat the Tigers 7-5 to extend Detroit’s losing streak to nine games. The loss likely hurt a bit more than the others. Detroit took a 5-2 lead in the fourth inning, and held an advantage until the ninth, going into that inning up 5-3. The Diamondbacks then score four runs off Jason Foley, […]
A.J. Hinch, manager of the Tigers, received praise from the president of the organization for his handling of the Javier Baez benching: “My takeaway from that whole benching incident was that A.J. did a great job of making a tough decision in a really high-pressure moment. But he did an even better job of messaging […]
Javier Baez of the Tigers got doubled off second base in the top of the second inning against the Blue Jays because thought there were two outs where there was one. When he came off the field, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called him into the tunnel to the locker room. When they came out, Baez […]
The 2023 series on team offense concludes with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers finished last in the majors in 2022 with 3.44 runs scored per game. This season I am using FanGraphs Roster Resource Depth Charts* as the source of default lineups. That A. J. Hinch batting order is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool […]
Scott Harris of the Giants front office appears to be the new GM of the Tigers. Brandon Day at Bless you Boys offers his take on the signing: The Tigers great need is in player evaluation and acquisition at all levels. They have their player development chief in place. What they need to do is […]
Wednesday resulted in a slight shuffling of the top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Paul Goldschmidt and the Cardinals did not play Wednesday, and he remains in first place. Bryce Harper of the Phillies did play, and his four for five with two doubles moved him into second place, ahead of Mookie Betts […]
The 2022 series on team offense continues with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers finished tied for twenty second in the majors and tied for eleventh in the American League in 2021 with 4.30 runs scored per game. This season I am using FanGraphs Roster Resource Depth Charts* as the source of default lineups. That AJ […]
A new face joins the top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Corey Seager of the Dodgers and Jose Ramriez of the Indians continue to battle for the top spot. With the Dodgers off on Monday, Ramirez slipped about three points behind Seager with an 0 for 4 night, including two strikeouts. The White […]
The 2021 series on team offense continues with the the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers finished twenty second in the majors and eleventh in the Amercian League in 2020 with 4.29 runs scored per game. I am using RotoChamp as a source of default lineups. That A.J. Hinch order is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool […]
David Laurila posts his weekly notes column, starting off with A.J. Hinch coming under a bit of criticism for his stance on aggressive base running. “Your WAR gets dinged whenever you get thrown out on the bases. It’s not valued. People are very aware… players are very aware of that. Winning baseball is good for […]
Jeff Luhnow filed a lawsuit against the Astros over the money he lost by being fired with cause: In an interview on Ben Reiter’s podcast “The Edge”, Luhnow said Crane fired him with cause, which cost the former general manager more than $20 million in guaranteed money. The lawsuit makes similar claims, saying he was fired […]
The Red Sox rehired Alex Cora to manage the team: Not that hard. I always disagreed with the people who thought steroid use should be treated like gambling, with immediate life-long suspensions. Cheating to win is very different from cheating to lose, and as the rehiring of both Cora and A.J. Hinch shows, is easily […]
David Laurila’s notes column at FanGraphs this week contains a lengthy dissertation by Charlie Morton on spin rates, which is well worth your read.
Reports indicate the Astros will hire Dusty Baker as the team’s new field manager: Baker’s hiring is a sign the AL champions want to bring an old-school mentality and stern presence to a franchise reeling from the dismissal of Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Baker has 22 years of managerial experience, starting in 1993 […]
MLB came down with harsh penalties for the Astros due to their sign stealing. The league made it clear that the people at the top of field and baseball operations will be held responsible: Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were fired by owner Jim Crane on Monday after Major League Baseball’s […]
The Brewers extended the contract of manager Craig Counsell through the 2023 season: Counsell already is the longest-tenured manager in the National League. Among all big league managers, he is fifth behind Oakland’s Bob Melvin, Cleveland’s Terry Francona, Houston’s AJ Hinch and Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash. “You know this job doesn’t have much security,” Counsel […]
The writers announce the Manager of the Year awards on Tuesday evening. My votes in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) went to (in order) Aaron Boone, Rocco Baldelli, and AJ Hinch in the AL. In the NL, the order was Mike Shildt, Brian Snitket, and Torey Lovullo. That puts me a bit […]
The World Series starts Tuesday night with the Nationals making their first appearance in the fall classic, including the franchise’s time in Montreal. The Astros play in the Series for the second time in three years; they won their first World Championship in 2017. Here is a comparison of the offenses. Note the league ranks […]
The 2019 series on team offense continues with the Houston Astros. The Astros finished sixth in the majors and fifth in the American League in 2018 with 4.92 runs scored per game. I am using RotoChamp as a source of default lineups. That A.J. Hinch order is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using […]