TIGERS ADD OUTFIELDER
Switch-hitting on-base percentage monster Grossman a big fan of new manager Hinch
Credit new Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch for the help to secure the club's first major freeagent signing this year.
Outfielder Robbie Grossman agreed to a two-year deal with the Tigers for a reported US$10 million.
“I have the utmost respect for him,” Grossman said Tuesday of Hinch. “Looking forward to working with him again. He was a huge reason that I made the decision I made.
“(The Tigers) were very aggressive and let me know I was a guy they wanted and that meant a lot to me.”
The 31-year-old Grossman carries just a .252 career batting average in eight major league seasons, but it's his ability to consistently get on base and provide solid defence that made him intriguing to the Tigers.
“Robbie is a proven major league hitter and will bring consistent, competitive at-bats to our lineup,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said.
“His name quickly came up when our front office began planning potential off-season additions and all of us are looking forward to having his veteran presence both on the field and in the clubhouse.”
The switch-hitting Grossman has not made an error in the field since June 2018 and boasts a career on-base percentage of .350, which is coveted by a team that led Major League Baseball in strikeouts in 2019.
“My ultimate goal is to have a quality at-bat,” the six-foot, 216-pound Grossman said. “Whether that's getting a hit, a walk, getting hit by a pitch, hitting a home run. There's quality at-bats in baseball and there's bad at-bats and the more quality at-bats you have, the better off you are every night of winning a game. I just want to continue to get better and improve.”
Grossman spent his first three seasons in the majors with Hinch in Houston before moving on to play three seasons in Minnesota and the past two seasons with Oakland. With the Tigers, he hopes to help provide guidance for a young team looking to move up in the standings.
“On the baseball side, I'm just going to be myself,” Grossman said. “Continue to get better, put up quality at-bats. More so on the clubhouse side, I've been around a lot of young guys, I've been around a lot of young teams, I've been on a couple of rebuilding teams. I've been around winning cultures and I know what it's like to come to the field every day and expect to win. Once we get to the point where we expect to win every single day when we come to the field, that's all you can ask for.”