Detroit Tigers: Diving deeper into Scott Harris’s 3 fundamental concepts

Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris told of his three concepts to instill.

The Detroit Tigers have officially hired their new leader in the front office. The team announced Scott Harris was hired to be the team’s president of baseball operations and officially introduced him in a press conference on Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s press conference, Harris had a little bit to say and fielded questions throughout the rest of the time available. By the end, most Detroit Tigers fans likely were bought in with what Harris had to say.

Even if he came out the gates sputtering a bit, he settled in nicely after getting some nerves and jitters out early. My initial reaction is to be fired up about the fire and super pumped. It feels like Harris is going to bring a lot to the Tigers organization and help them get moving in the right direction.

But I would like to ground everyone, including myself, that the fire Avila train was full steam ahead. So just about anyone who came in and offered some different perspective would have likely been able to “win” the press conference.

The standards were not all that high to walk away on top of the presser. But, enough of that. Back to drinking the Scott Harris Kool-Aid. Harris spoke about his plans for the organization briefly before taking questions.

He mentioned three tenants, his big picture visions and plans summarized into three concepts.

Given these, there is a lot of expanding to do. There is a lot for the Tigers to see out of Harris and the company in the coming months, but these three concepts could do a lot for the organization.

Here is a deeper dive into Scott Harris’s three concepts for the Detroit Tigers.

Detroit Tigers need to create their own brand and own culture of development.

The second thing that the Detroit Tigers’ new president of baseball operations mentioned was developing a culture that fosters player development. This plays into exactly what I meant when I wrote about the Tigers copying the Baltimore Orioles’ rebuild and fostering an excellent place to develop.

But as Harris suggested, the Detroit Tigers want to do things differently. They do not want to copy others but rather find their own way. This feels like finding a way to reinvent the brand that is Tigers baseball.

The Tigers will come out in 2023 and look much different if Harris has anything to say about it, and he will. He’s going to make changes and start putting this Tigers team into a position to be an attractive destination.

For the Tigers, this means becoming a destination players want to come to in the offseasons. Harris noted that they want to bring in players who feel they can come to Detroit to get better.

On top of that, Harris noted during the presser that he wants prospects to not feel like they are only working towards a big-league call-up. He mentioned that he wants prospects to view the big leagues as the next step for them as they progress, with the big leagues being another place to keep developing.

The Tigers baseball brand will be changed greatly by Harris, and in turn, being able to create a culture of development and a new brand, he should be able to accomplish the second concept he mentioned.

The Detroit Tigers need to own the strike zone on both sides.

The last thing that the Detroit Tigers’ new president of baseball operations mentioned is owning the strike zone. Scott Harris gave a quick testament about why dominating the strike zone on both sides of the baseball is important.

For example, the Detroit Tigers need to find pitchers who can live in the zone and be efficient while employing hitters who can own the strike zone. It’s more than throwing strikes and hitting strikes.

For pitchers, being someone who goes out and shoves, dominating on the mound, the Tigers do not have to reach into their bullpen as often, which helps the durability. Guys who are in a battle on the mound, not with the hitter, but with themselves and the strike zone, are a problem.

Being able to work the zone as a pitcher and be effective influences the outcome of the game. On the flip side, the Tigers do not just need hitters who will go out and hit strikes. They need players who are able to have awareness of the zone and also stay committed to an approach.

Being able to hammer fastballs, hunting the heater, and adjusting to offspeed is one way to get it done. Instead of chasing at 56-foot-breaking balls in the left-handed batters’ box as Javier Báez likes to do, being able to hunt fastballs and punish breaking balls that pitchers leave over the plate is the best way.

It’s another one of those instances where owning the strike zone can attribute to more than just a few hits.

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The Tigers need to own the strike zone, and Harris is going to try and work with members of the organization to ensure this happens.