[Petzold] Tigers manager A.J. Hinch pulled Chris Paddack after 62 pitches in five innings of one-run ball. Here's Paddack on Hinch's decision:

[u/DET_Baseball]

[u/Silly_Elevator_3111]

Refreshing take

[u/Bartolos_Cologne]

That's remarkable perspective. Water coolers can rest easy around him.

[u/An_Average_Andy]

This is a pretty cool statement for just showing how much trust and the relationship the team has, that they know the manager has the players' backs and that they can trust their teammates to win the game when it's out of their hands.

[u/chillguy44 → u/An_Average_Andy]

Especially from a guy who was just traded there weeks ago. Absolutely love this reaction from Paddock who obviously seems to be buying into the culture

[u/Barnyard_Rich → u/chillguy44]

Yup, I know us fans pretend we have too much say over these things, but this feels like the moment he really became a Tiger.

[u/Husker_black → u/An_Average_Andy]

Always wondered that when like a starting QB is obviously injured and they're proving their toughness and being out there

I see someone who does not trust their backup in the slightest to get the job done

[u/An_Average_Andy → u/Husker_black]

I think everyone is wired differently but to be a professional athlete in a team sport I think you have to be able to hold two clashing ideas at once, like "I'm the most important player ever that determines if we win" and then "I trust my teammates totally to carry this team too."

I think squaring that circle is a major job of the coach and determines which ones are really successful.

[u/Husker_black → u/An_Average_Andy]

Yeeep

[u/DET_Baseball → u/An_Average_Andy]

that they know the manager has the players' backs

1 of 3 people that got "punished" from MLB for the sign stealing scandal. Holding none of the actual players accountable.

[u/xixbia → u/DET_Baseball]

I feel that was at least partially on purpose from Hinch.

He knew if he threw his players under the bus that was the end of his career.

This way he just had to sit out his suspension and he could resume his career.

[u/Zeke688 → u/xixbia]

Yeah, and all of his future players have seen what he did and respect him for it. He absolutely played this situation the best he could, now reaping the benefits.

[u/yeyeman9 → u/xixbia]

Exactly. Showing that he has his players backs even in the most intense of situations. Still hate the guy for it but you can respect him taking the bullet for sure

[u/xixbia → u/yeyeman9]

You can 100% blame him for how he acted while it was going on. But it's hard to fault how he's handled it since it came out.

(Unless you wish he wasn't in the game anymore of course, which is a fair take)

[u/An_Average_Andy → u/DET_Baseball]

You can get pretty far in life being a good fall guy, fortunately or unfortunately. But hey, it was all over a piece of metal that holds no special meaning, so it's all good now.

[u/DET_Baseball → u/An_Average_Andy]

Going to be real funny if the Tigers win the World Series and AJ Hinch is up on that stage with Rob Manfred.

[u/An_Average_Andy → u/DET_Baseball]

They could invite Oscar the Grouch up too, make a reunion for the ages. Just have to hammer the dents out from his trash can first.

[u/Jammer_Kenneth → u/An_Average_Andy]

Paws the Tiger will bring the trashcan.

[u/Bob_Bobert → u/DET_Baseball]

Trying to suspend players probably wouldve ended up like bountygate. A year of appeals which ends with almost everyone (if not everyone) having tveir punishment overthrned.

[u/penguinopph → u/DET_Baseball]

The people that did get punished did so because itf the players testimony. If they didn't give the players immunity for testifying, then no one gets punished and we're even more angry and resentful.

[u/DET_Baseball → u/penguinopph]

Sure, but why are we giving players that actively cheated immunity and punishing a guy who at worst was a willing participant and at best was just a bad manager that couldn't control his team/clubhouse.

[u/penguinopph → u/DET_Baseball]

My comment directly answers that question:

If they didn't give the players immunity for testifying, then no one gets punished and we're even more angry and resentful.

[u/DET_Baseball → u/penguinopph]

So what you're saying is you agree with how MLB handled the investigation? lol

There was no reason to give immunity to all players.

[u/penguinopph → u/DET_Baseball]

I do not agree, but I understand their reasoning.

[u/96919 → u/An_Average_Andy]

What else is he supposed to say though?

[u/badger2793]

This is actually quite a measured, mature reaction from a pitcher. Pretty good to see.

[u/Golden_Starman → u/badger2793]

One of the most underrated aspects of Hinch is his empathy and understanding for players.

Him having a psych degree from Stanford was always a huge part of what makes him an amazing manager.

[u/Haysen18 → u/Golden_Starman]

Thankfully we took Tony La Russa over him…

[u/CaptainSolo96 → u/Haysen18]

The TLA announcement post having AJ Hinch's signature still in the image was chefs kiss

[u/darkeyejunco → u/Golden_Starman]

I'd even extend that further, because I've seen a similar dynamic play out in different ways with journalists, umps, fans, etc. AJ's empathy and understanding for humans, period, makes him an elite manager.

[u/Worldd → u/Golden_Starman]

Isn’t a psych bachelors a very typical fuck-off athletic degree for these guys? It’s either that, criminology, or business.

[u/SoManyFlamingos]

Damn, Paddack. You’re gonna make me like you with these kind of mature, rational takes. 

[u/Gabelbram]

gerrit cole SEETHING at this take

[u/OwnLeighFans → u/Gabelbram]

Somewhere, Max Scherzer just punched a baby

[u/OldOrder → u/OwnLeighFans]

Bumgarner actively planning to burn down the largest building he can find

[u/Ballsinson_Crusoe → u/OldOrder]

Miles Mikolas gave up a double and then ate a lizard.

[u/cst-rdt → u/Ballsinson_Crusoe]

I hadn't heard that Mikolas lore, thanks for bringing it into my life.

[u/4r4r4real → u/OldOrder]

Millenium Tower? Honestly it'd be best for everyone. 

[u/socialistbcrumb → u/4r4r4real]

[u/alibaba618 → u/OwnLeighFans]

Yeah but that’s unrelated to this quote

[u/gamers542 → u/OwnLeighFans]

Also somewhere all the 50+ year old people calling Paddack soft or weak for not wanting to go at least 7 IP because that's what pitchers did back in their day.

[u/HeisenSwag → u/OwnLeighFans]

Trevor Bauer launched a full bucket of balls into the outfield bleachers

[u/Kaldricus → u/HeisenSwag]

Specifically the section honoring the "children who survived a burning orphanage, and were in an orphanage because their parents died on 9/11"

[u/illegal_deagle → u/Gabelbram]

Tbf pulling Greinke cost us a title, end of story. That was the biggest mistake of all, and handing the ball to Will Harris was the second biggest mistake. I do not miss those decisions.

[u/MF_D00MSDAY → u/illegal_deagle]

His decision making is what helped us get to that game, I miss him everyday. If we kept him I know we win more titles rather than pick up Dusty.

[u/illegal_deagle → u/MF_D00MSDAY]

Our team made it that far despite Hinch, not because of him.

[u/CharacterAbalone7031 → u/illegal_deagle]

Out of curiosity do you think that Cole should have been put in or that grinke being pulled would have always spelled disaster?

[u/illegal_deagle → u/CharacterAbalone7031]

I’m not one of those that says it HAD to be Cole. It just very clearly didn’t need to be anybody besides Greinke, he was at like 60 something pitches and dealing. The whole room screamed at the TV “noooooo” and then louder when we saw it was Harris. We knew it was over at that moment. Everybody besides Hinch did.

[u/Dr_Beef_ → u/illegal_deagle]

lol Will Harris had a 1.50 era, it was the right decision just didn’t pan out

[u/illegal_deagle → u/Dr_Beef_]

Tell me about Will Harris’ appearance just 24 hours prior.

[u/2nd2last → u/illegal_deagle]

Some people here having wild revisionist history towards Hinch and is managing mistakes. Now it looks like him being a very smart person has learned, but 100 he was getting called out locally here.

[u/AdoringCHIN → u/illegal_deagle]

Harris threw a pretty good pitch on the lower outside corner of the zone. Howie Kendrick just somehow managed to nail that ball perfectly.

[u/Scary-Seesaw-1594]

The royals had the teeth of their lineup coming up in witt jr., pasquantino, and Garcia. As a royals fan i was hoping he got left in because they were making solid contact the last trip through the lineup. Honestly brilliant move by Hinch. Witt still got his HR but they shut us down after that

[u/altuve_akbar]

Huh. I thought the proper reaction to something like this was to go into the locker room after the game and give interviews complaining while wearing a hat with your agent’s logo on it.

[u/Most-Upstairs6109]

Hey he called us a really good team. That’s pretty nice

[u/Dhkansas → u/Most-Upstairs6109]

That was my take away too

[u/PattyIceNY]

Aaron Boone would have left him in for two more innings minimum to protect his feelings.

[u/FreeTheHomeless → u/PattyIceNY]

Dave Roberts would have left him in the rest of the game for Dave Roberts reasons.

[u/IAMSPARTACUSSSSS → u/FreeTheHomeless]

Bob Melvin would still have him out there as I type this.

[u/Zeke688 → u/FreeTheHomeless]

Melvin would have left him in until he lost the lead or his arm fell off, whichever came first.

[u/nypr13 → u/FreeTheHomeless]

Never Dave Roberts reasons. He is like a dead body enacting Friedman’s demands, sorta like the Men In Black guy

[u/CosmicLars → u/FreeTheHomeless]

Dusty Baker would have pulled him with the bases loaded in the 9th after 3 straight walks and a pitch count of 160 then tell him he's being moved to the bullpen & to get ready 😏

[u/Call555JackChop → u/FreeTheHomeless]

Grady Little would be proud

[u/schw4161 → u/PattyIceNY]

Nah Boone would pull him after the first and put in JA Happ

[u/avengeds12345]

I still miss rookie-year Paddack....

[u/Monteflash → u/avengeds12345]

Man I don’t miss him at all. Seems like he’s matured a lot which is great. But when he was with us, his 2 pitches got figured out. Then he refused to work with the coaching staff in the offseason, which while certainly within his rights, it was in lieu of being coached by his brother. And we know how that worked out.

[u/avengeds12345 → u/Monteflash]

I know, still, his rookie year was electric. So much so that the team named him the opening day starter the next season

[u/penguinopph → u/Monteflash]

Specifically his rookie year was really strong, though. 3.33 ERA, 3.38 xERA, 3.95 FIP, 79 ERA-, 90 FIP-.

[u/seth861]

Just this quote alone will keep Paddack in the league for a while

[u/WendysChili]

Meanwhile Rob Thomson is still receiving threatening voicemails from someone who sounds like Nick Castellanos

[u/bluebomber726]

Wow he’s really matured since he got traded from us. Good for him.

[u/AlekRivard]

I imagine part of it is Paddack's inconsistency. 5 innings of great baseball can be a refershing appearance to help him find his groove

[u/Zeke688]

The hardest thing for a manager to get right is when to go to the bullpen and who to throw. Hinch seems to get it right more often than not, that’s how you earn the trust seen in this statement. (Yes, I realize Paddock is new to the clubhouse, but rotation guys talk).

[u/Midnitemass]

that's my sherriff

[u/LeftJoinOn]

The inverse Cora

[u/OurSaladDays]

Nice to see this from him.

[u/Master_Hospital_8631]

Sending him a virtual pat on the ass.

Nice job. That's winning baseball.

[u/Redbubble89]

Paddock is a 4.50 ERA arm. He had a good outing but I don't think anyone is really complaining that he didn't get to see the order a 3rd time. 1 SO, 1 BB, and 1 whiff. He's eating innings in the bullpen but this isn't pulling Blake Snell in a World Series. The contact just turned into outs and he wasn't fooling anyone. How bad an outing is isn't always in the pitching line.

[u/andre3snacks]

Poor Twins.

[u/Aurion7]

Paddack isn't that good, so they got away with a good outing from him while they could still leave the table ahead.

No guarantee he'd manage to get the middle of the order out again. Good managers are aware of the conversation about pitch count, but they aren't slaves to the pitch count.

[u/dotcaIm]

Great quote

[u/mental_reincarnation]

Reasonability revs my engine

[u/Ok_Card9080]

That's an impressive culture that is being built in Detroit

[u/hopemade]

He trashed the Twins after getting traded by us and now is all "culture" on the Tigers. And no doubt the Twins are a mess and the Tigers have a good thing going. But most of this comes down to wins and losses. It's easy to buy in when the win column is much higher than the loss column. Go back to 2023 with essentially the same clubhouses and the feelings on each team would almost exactly opposite.

[u/Kolahnut1 → u/hopemade]

Former Tigers players have been saying good things about them for awhile now, even when the team was scuttling 2 years ago. Lorenzen was a big fan of how the pitching development helped him reinvent himself and Urshela was happy with the team, so much that he put in a good word about the Tigers to Gleyber.

[u/CZM6626]

Hinch is going to embarrass Boone again in the playoffs

[u/mostlygroovy → u/CZM6626]

By cheating again?

[u/damien_maymdien]

This is not Hinch being a unique genius, this is just how it works when you're a #4/#5 starter on a contending team.

In your good starts, the team is trying to secure the win, and you get pulled early. This happens because a good team's bullpen is more trustworthy than a 70-pitches-in below-average starter.

In your bad starts, the team is likely out of the game, and so they let you pitch as long as you can in order to save the bullpen for winnable games.

On contending teams, it's only the best starting pitchers who can expect to have their good outings be longer than their bad ones. They're good enough in their good outings to be the best available pitcher even after they're 80 pitches in, and their bad outings are less bad, meaning the team is maybe still in the game and can win it by switching to their good bullpen arms before it's too late.

[u/ThatDudeNamedJake]

Never forget

[u/CHKN_SANDO]

And then Hinch was like "ok Chris you're on trashcan duty in the 9th get ready"

[u/Jerrythepooh97]

Winning cures everything.

[u/meetmeinthepocket]

Yea but he has fungus on his shower shoes.