‘There’s a lot of things that have to happen on the field’
Tigers stir roster pot by adding veteran infielder Gio Urshela
Understandably, AJ Hinch wasn’t making any declarations about roles or playing time on Feb. 23. But the Tigers signing 32-year-old, veteran infielder Gio Urshela on Thursday has stirred the roster pot considerably.
“We don’t have to decide today how it’s going to work out and we won’t,” Hinch said. “Because there’s a lot of things that have to happen on the field.”
Urshela took defensive drills at third base on Friday. Hinch said he wanted him to focus on third and first for the time being. But his presence could ultimately have impact around the diamond.
Matt Vierling, who spent the offseason preparing to play a larger role at third base, will now presumably reassume his Swiss Army knife role, playing more in the outfield and possibly less at third base. Vierling could also get more reps in center field as a back-up and safety net for rookie and projected starter Parker Meadows.
Utility infielder Andy Ibanez could be impacted. Ibanez is a righthanded hitter who has better splits against left-handed pitchers, just like Urshela.
Utility player Zach McKinstry may now find himself in a battle with outfielder Akil Baddoo for the final left-handed bench bat on the roster.
Justyn-Henry Malloy and Ryan Kreidler may now face even longer odds of breaking camp with the bigleague club.
“It impacts our team because (Urshela) does a lot of things well,” Hinch said. “He’s a nice player, man. He can do things on defense, he can handle the bat really well…I feel like it’s always good to add good players and we added a really good one yesterday. Now we have the next five weeks to see how it impacts the rest of our roster.”
President Scott Harris will leave the roles and playing time puzzle to Hinch. His job is to continue looking for ways to upgrade the talent