It’s no secret that the 2024 Detroit Tigers were dead in the water, at least until a surprise late-season push propelled them to the second round of the playoffs. And, as with any sport, the players deserve the lion’s share of the credit-after all, they are the only ones who play the game. However, manager AJ Hinch deserves a lot of the credit too; it could be argued that his mixing and matching of the lineup is what pushed the Tigers over the hump.
Every player on the team can hit the ball, that is absolute, but batters generally see the ball better and hit the ball better when the pitcher throws from the opposite side of his body. That said, given the league-mandated limits on roster size, it is nearly impossible to stack a lineup in a way that can be all right-handed and then seamlessly switch over to all lefties. Nor is it effective; when a lineup is loaded with batters of the same handedness, opposing pitchers can throw to the same spots without having to change their line of sight or their release points. A few left-on-left or right-on-right matchups, however, force the pitcher to constantly adapt, working harder and tiring quicker.
Perhaps nobody quite epitomizes Hinch’s plug-and-play style like Andy Ibanez. Primarily a second baseman, the right-handed batter often played second in lieu of the lefty Colt Keith. Ibanez can and did play first, and occasionally stayed at DH, depending on who he was playing for. While Ibanez’s defensive versatility was a big piece of the flexibility he provided, his offense, particularly against left-handed pitchers, is the reason he was such a key player for the Tigers. More often than not, Ibanez would enter a game in the late innings to face a left-handed relief pitcher, and after visualizing his at-bat for most of the game, he was always ready. Arguably his biggest at-bat of the year came in the playoffs against the Astros Josh Hader. Down by three runs with the bases loaded, Ibanez hit a screamer of a game-tying triple in a game that the Tigers ultimately won.
The other side of Hinch’s lineup maneuvering coin is rookie shortstop Trey Sweeney. The lefty, acquired at the deadline in the Jack Flaherty deal, became the starting shortstop when Javier Baez was put on the shelf. Sweeney naturally started the majority of games opposite right-handed pitchers. Sweeney’s only backup without Baez, however, was fellow lefty Zach McKinstry. As the two shortstops hit from the same side of the plate, Hinch usually left Sweeney in the lineup against left-handed pitchers. And Sweeney, despite acting as a “token lefty” against southpaw pitchers, came up with some key left-on-left hits late in games, paying off Hinch’s decision to leave him in the game.
AJ’s constant lineup maneuvering of course wasn’t only applied to these few players, but up and down the lineup card. Many Tigers hitters were soon feared league-wide for the damage they could do against pitchers of one hand or the other, and Hinch and the Tigers frequently took advantage of this hesitation, and, in part, rode it all the way to the playoffs.
