PHOENIX – Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has shuffled his batting order significantly.
Hinch has moved Colt Keith up to leadoff and rookie Kevin McGonigle to second for the second game of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, March 31.
“I’m not going to change my approach at all,” Keith said. “Just go up there. Have to try to have the same at-bats have been having. Just keep seeing the ball well.”
While most focus on the batting averages, Keith said he’s most pleased with the bad pitches he is taking.
“I like my takes,” Keith said. “I feel like I’m seeing it quick out of the hand. I’m able to make a decision really fast. That’s what’s able to me to be on time, pull the ball hard, and also be able to wait and shoot it the other way. I love my takes, and I love that I’m swinging at strikes and taking the balls.”
Keith vowed to not change his approach at the top of the order.
“In the past, when I’ve tried to think about a different approach leading off, it didn’t work,” Keith said. “So I’m really just gonna go out there and try to do the same thing. I’m not trying to walk more. I’m not trying to take more. I’m not trying to swing more. Just same thing. Swing at strikes, take the balls. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Keith is hitting .429 while McGonigle is hitting a crisp .357.
“It doesn’t really matter what spot I am in the lineup” McGonigle said. “I’m just gonna keep the same approach and, you know, battle my butt off up there”
Hinch wasn’t sure if McGonigle will stay at No. 2 or move around.
“I don’t think it matters where I hit Kevin,” Hinch said. “I wanted to get his feet on the ground before I moved him up a little bit. That may change or he may be up there the rest of his career. I have no idea.”
Gleyber Torres, who has drawn six walks through his first four games this season – trailing only Mike Trout (seven) for the most free passes in all of baseball – is batting third.
Riley Greene, who is hitting .176, will hit fourth.
Kerry Carpenter, who had been hitting leadoff, has struggled through a .063 stretch and has been dropped from leadoff to fifth.
“I wanted to ease off Kerry a little bit,” Hinch said. “He seems to be swinging more and more, which is out of his norm. I mean, he can be a little bit more disciplined. I’ll get him back at the top at some point.”
Spencer Torkelson, hitting .188, will hit sixth, followed by Zach McKinstry (.250), Parker Meadows (.222) and Jake Rogers (0-for-3).
Making this change was easier because the Diamondbacks don’t have any lefties in their bullpen.
“It will change when we when we get to the Cardinals,” Hinch said, of this weekend’s series in Detroit against St. Louis. “So lineups are always a little bit finicky at the beginning of the year, as you try to sort out who’s comfortable where, and who comes out of the gate hot a little bit. And you know, obviously we want to get into the game a little bit better than we have recently, but it’s also the fifth game of the year. So nothing is set in stone, yet, as far as the lineup goes.”
This story has been updated with quotes.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Colt Keith, Kevin McGonigle move up in Detroit Tigers batting order
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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