Detroit Tigers: 5 terrible decisions from the 2022 season

In order for the Detroit Tigers to be this bad, they have to make a lot of poor decisions

The Detroit Tigers have made a lot of bad decisions this year. Whether it be from individual players, A.J. Hinch, the front office, all the way up to ownership, no one has been immune to poor decision-making this year.

You don’t get to a 60-92 record at the end of September without some bad decisions. Everyone is responsible when your team is this bad.

For this list, everything is up for grabs. These decisions can be from anybody in the Detroit Tigers organization, at any time during the season. I thought about including this past offseason as well, but that’s not technically part of the season. But just so our comments don’t get flooded with this…yes, the Javier Baez signing was a poor decision—both at the time and in hindsight.

So without further ado, here’s five bad decisions made during the 2022 season.

Waiting until the All-Star break to option Spencer Torkelson to Triple-A

This one still boggles the mind. At no extended period in time during the first half of the season did Spencer Torkelson look like he was figuring things out at the plate. They gave him the entire first half—about 300 plate appearances worth—to iron out the kinks, when it was clear about halfway through that sample that he was riding the struggle bus.

I get it, the thought process at the time was that there wasn’t anything that he could learn in Triple-A that he couldn’t learn in the big leagues. But watching him struggle so much and seeing his confidence dip with every late swing couldn’t have been much better for his development.

He’s doing better now, and it’s clear that playing in Toledo for 5-6 weeks was good for him. He’s still got Toledo hitting coach Adam Melhuse with him to keep working on things, but it’s pretty clear that he should have went down sooner.

I mean, it’s not like the Tigers were going anywhere this year. Not having his bat in the lineup wasn’t going to hurt their chances at making the playoffs or anything. It would have been better for both Tork and the Tigers if they had sent him down before the All-Star break.

Eric Haase throwing to third base against Minnesota on April 26

You probably forgot about this, didn’t you? Well, allow me to jog your memory. I apologize in advance if I trigger anyone’s PTSD.

It’s the bottom of the ninth inning. There’s one out, and Gregory Soto is looking for a double play ball to end the game and pick up a save. Miguel Sano whacks a ball into the gap in right center field.

Robbie Grossman initially misplays it, but recovers nicely and delivers a strike into the infield. The Twins get themselves caught in a pickle, and Haase nonchalantly tosses the ball over Jeimer Candelario’s head and into the outfield. Two runs score, and the Twins win the game.

What on earth Haase was thinking there, I don’t know. The runner on third was staying put as Sano was running toward third base. Haase should have just kept the ball and tagged the runner on third, or threw it to second base. Poor Javier Baez, who had just hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning, was frantically waving his arms in an effort to get Haase’s attention, but to no avail.

Haase would go on to have a much better season following this disaster, but this was one of many lowlights for the Detroit Tigers this season.

A.J. Hinch leaving Derek Law in for an entire inning when was getting shelled on July 30

A.J. Hinch’s honeymoon period is long since over, but if there’s thing he’s still pretty darn good at, it’s managing the bullpen. He usually has a knack for putting the right guys in the right spots. Key word there is “usually.”

On July 30 against the Toronto Blue Jays, after the Tigers had just taken a 2-1 lead, Hinch decided to bring in a freshly called-up Derek Law on in the sixth inning after Drew Hutchison pitched five innings of one-run ball against a potent Blue Jays lineup.

Law, a 32-year-old journeyman, had decent numbers in Triple-A. He still had pretty good stuff too, featuring a fastball in the mid to upper 90s and a nice slider.

But he struggled pretty much right from the get-go. He gave up a leadoff single to Santiago Espinal, then got a groundout. Then he proceeded to plunk Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and commit an error on back-to-back batters. Hinch leaves him in.

Then he allows a sac fly from Bo Bichette that ties the game at 2 apiece. Hinch still leaves him in. Then he throws a wild pitch. Hinch still leaves him in. Five pitches later, Teoscar Hernandez deposits a 2-2 pitch into the seats in right-center for a three-run homer. Law would strike out the next batter, but the damage had already been done. The Jays would go on to win the game, 5-3.

I’m not sure what Hinch was expecting in this situation. The time to bring Law in would have been in a mop-up situation, not in high-leverage. He also had several opportunities to bring in somebody more qualified, like a Joe Jimenez or an Alex Lange, to come in and put out the fire, but he stuck with Law, and ultimately paid the price.

Keeping Scott Coolbaugh around all season

This is one you were probably all expecting. I’ve been beating the “fire Coolbaugh” drum pretty much all season long. This an offense that has been historically bad all year, with multiple hitters having career-worst seasons. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a systemic issue.

Look, I’ve said all that can be said about this. There’s 10 games left in the season, and I’d be shocked if they didn’t hire a new hitting coach this offseason. But this is one of the reasons why Hinch has fallen out of favor with some fans.

Keeping the hitting coach around when your team is horrible offensively just makes it look like you don’t actually care about the team. While I highly doubt Hinch actually feels that way, I can certainly see why some fans would jump to that conclusion.

The Detroit Tigers will likely start anew at the hitting coach position this offseason. Better late than never, I suppose.