Robbie Grossman only played one season with AJ Hinch in Houston in 2015, but the campaign camper has a lot of respect for the former Astros manager. So when the new Tigers boss talked to him about his arrival in Detroit, Grossman overheard him. “I talked to him a few times. Left
“I talked to him a few times. Let me know the direction you are taking, “Grossman said in a video conference Wednesday afternoon with reporters.” I have the utmost respect for him, for what he has done and for his way of working and being a tiger. “
Hinch’s involvement was a reflection of what Grossman called an “aggressive” recruitment of the free agent, which culminated on Tuesday with a two-year, $ 10 million contract. It’s the first multi-year deal the Tigers have finalized with a free agent since the Justin Upton deal in January 2016. Hinch, Grossman said, was a “huge reason” he decided to sign.
“We’ve caught up and talked a little bit about the team and our needs and in the future,” Grossman said. “And I’m all on board. I’m ready to start and ready to go down to Lakeland. “
It’s not just familiarity. In many ways, Grossman fits into the plan of how Hinch wants to improve a Tigers lineup that has led the league in attacks over the past two years as he struggled to tie. He carries the kind of bat tenacious that Hinch has referred to several times since he hired on October 30th.
Grossman’s .252 career-high batting average doesn’t stand out, and last year’s .241 average certainly doesn’t. But his 21 runs in 51 games increased his base percentage to 0.344, while his eight homers and 12 doubles in the short season resulted in a 130 OPS +.
“My ultimate goal is to have a quality at bat, whether it’s getting hit, walking, hitting for tone, or hitting home,” he said. “There are quality bats in baseball and there are bad bats and the more quality you have, the better you will be winning a game every night.”
He’s a different hitter than many might remember from his three years in Minnesota from 2016-18. His rise to power was the reflex of throwing the ball more often, which he attributes to A coach Darren Bush and former Astros teammate Jed Lowrie, who has helped to achieve this.
“He came to me,” Grossman said of Bush, “and he said,‘ Hey, we’ve seen how much you spend on it. We know the kind of player you want to be. That’s what you have to do to become who you want to be. “
“It simply came to our notice then. I had to use my legs more. I had to stay more balanced on the plate. I had to make my hands linear in the middle of the field. And I ended up running with that. I want to be the best Major Leaguer I can be, and I keep growing and I keep staying and learning all I can, absorbing everything I can to become that. ”
Although the Tigers reached their priority in this free agent market, signing José Ureña last month, they quietly entered the foreign market. Grossman was one of the offside players at the top of his roster, a 31-year-old changer with a historic career but also one of the best seasons of his career.
Last year he didn’t face the Tigers, but he has a lot of hits against him. He is eighty-twenty-27, with two homers and six RBIs from new teammate Matthew Boyd, who contacted him with a text message Tuesday night to welcome him to Detroit. .
Grossman has also played enough at Comerica Park to know what atmosphere can be when the team is doing well.
“My family has been to Detroit many times. I know what the team means to this city, ”he said.
Put it all together and Grossman was sold.
“They were very aggressive in letting me know he was a guy they really wanted,” Grossman said, “and that meant a lot to me …. It’s a privilege to be a free agent for over six years and that the “Tigers had so much confidence in me, and they proved it. Now it’s my job to get out there and win it every day.”
Jason Beck has been covering the MLB.com Tigers since 2002. Read Beck’s blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason.