An early review of new Tigers voice Jason Benetti
Announcer is fun, fair and not too much of a homer
After Jason Benetti made his spring training debut as the Detroit Tigers’ play-by-play announcer in early March, he told me the Bally Sports Detroit broadcast would evolve and wouldn’t sound the same midway through the season.
It only took the first three games to confirm Benetti’s forecast. During the Tigers’ openingseries sweep of the Chicago White Sox, Benetti sounded like he was in midseason form with a fun, fair and informative presentation.
I watched and listened to all three games and my biggest and happiest surprise was that Benetti isn’t an obvious and blatant homer. That’s not only uncommon these days, but it’s especially unlikely when you consider Benetti is being paid directly by the Tigers and not Bally Sports Detroit, like his predecessor, Matt Shepard, who was let go after last season.
Ironically, the only criticism I had of Shepard was that he could be too much of a homer and overly emphatic on some Tigers plays. So it’s a bit jarring that he’s so refreshingly objective, especially because Benetti’s check comes directly from the guy who owns the team.
Two of the best examples came in Saturday’s 7-6 extra-innings win.
When reliever Alex Lange struggled with control in the seventh inning, walked the first two batters and got to a 3-0 count on Yoan Moncada, Benetti said: “If there’s going to be a recovery, it’s gotta be right now.” Lange struck out Moncada with a changeup and curve but didn’t make it out of the inning.
In the 10th inning, Javier Báez fell behind, 1-2, on four consecutive breaking balls from White Sox reliever Deivi Garcia, who then got him looking when he dotted a 94 mph fastball on the inside corner.
“And that’s a brilliant pitch,” Benetti said. “Really well done. … He just didn’t see it well after all those breaking balls.”
By the way, Báez gently protested the call. I hope he did it out of frustration because if he thought it wasn’t close, it signals that his batting vision is as bad for fastballs as it is for outside breaking balls and the end isn’t far away for him.
Back to Benetti.
I like the overall light-hearted rapport between him, color commentator Craig Monroe
and reporter Johnny Kane, even if there was a bit too much food discussion. Food talk ranged from a ubiquitous chocolate shake to promotional curly fries to a Beggars Pizza in the booth that honored Benetti’s return after eight seasons as the Sox’s announcer to the dumb and overwrought new Little Caesars pizza homerun celebration the Tigers have introduced.
Look, I get it. You have to fill time. The shake stuff was fine, especially since it prompted a fart joke when Kane visited the booth as Benetti was drinking it and considering taking a
Lactaid pill for the Sunday night trip for the series against the Mets.
Kane: “How long is that flight to New York?” Benetti: “It just got a lot longer, Johnny.” If you haven’t heard much of Benetti, he does a great job of blending his quick wit with professional polish and detail and he has a naturally inquisitive nature.
The last part can be good, but it can also lead to some quiet air when his partner isn’t ready. Benetti will need to work on knowing his analyst partners well enough to understand their depth of knowledge and what they’re comfortable discussing. I applaud the curiosity, but he caught Monroe flat-footed a couple of times with some questions.
Benetti did a good job setting up Monroe with questions about technique and thought process. And he didn’t let Monroe give an esoteric answer without pushing for more clarity.
When Monroe said Riley Greene was trying to work on having “too much effort” in his swing, Benetti said, “So what does that mean, practically, in the box?” Monroe explained Greene wanted to be more relaxed and allow his hands to get in the slot and be quicker.
The best exchange between the two came on a point of strategy Saturday when Parker Meadows flashed a bunt in the second inning with Zach McKinstry on first with one out. After Monroe enthusiastically said he liked the idea, Benetti asked why.
“It gives the opportunity to get McKinstry in scoring position,” Monroe said. “He runs so well that he’s going to put a lot of pressure on (third baseman) Yoan Moncada coming in on that ball to throw him out.”
Benetti: “Can I offer a counterpoint?” Monroe: “Yeah.”
Benetti: “He tripled in the first.”
It was a great point. But I’d like to offer my own counterpoint to Benetti. Second-guessing strategy is basically second-guessing manager A.J. Hinch, who doesn’t love to be secondguessed. I think it’s the right thing to do. But I also think the guy who preceded Benetti also did the right thing.