American League: A’s to get first-hand look at Tigers rookie sensation Baddoo,
Akil Baddoo came out of nowhere to become one of the biggest breakout stars in the opening days of the MLB season, and now he’s coming to the Bay Area.
The A’s open a four-game home series against Detroit on Thursday and will get a good look at the unlikely talk of baseball as they try to stay on a roll that has seen them win five of their past six games.
The 22-year-old rookie outfielder forced his way onto the Tigers roster with a huge spring, which would have been significant enough for a Rule 5 draftee. But not Baddoo. He belted a home run on the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer, hit a grand slam a day later, and had a walk-off 10th-inning single the next.
And Baddoo’s storybook start has shown no signs of slowing down.
“Akil’s in the middle of everything,” A.J. Hinch, the Tigers manager and former A’s catcher, told reporters recently. “I mean, his first few games have been about as active as you can get when you’re getting introduced to the big leagues.”
Through his first eight games, Baddoo posted a .391 batting average with four home runs and 10 RBI. He has gone just two games without recording at least one RBI. He also threw out the potential go-ahead run at home plate to set up his walk-off heroics a few minutes later.
There have been learning moments, too. Monday against the Astros, Baddoo, after blasting a homer over the center-field wall earlier in the game, crushed another ball toward the same spot. Assuming it also was going out of the park, he broke into a home run trot and slapped hands with Tigers first base coach Ramon Santiago before realizing the ball didn’t clear the wall. But the way Baddoo is going, it still worked out — he made it to second easily for a double.
Not surprisingly, Baddoo has become a fan favorite at Comerica Park. Fans chant “Ba-dooo!” during at-bats for the guy few had ever heard of until a few weeks ago.
Baddoo was swooped up in the Rule 5 draft from the Twins this winter — that means he had to remain on the Tigers roster all season or would be returned to Minnesota’s system. That figured to be a good bet two months ago.
The former second-round pick out of Salem High in Georgia had never played a game above High A until April 4. Baddoo hit .323 in rookie ball in 2017, then hit .243 with 11 home runs in Class A. Baddoo hit .214 in 29 games in 2019 before Tommy John elbow surgery and he didn’t play a game last year because the minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic.
But an excellent spring training (he went 13 for 40 with five home runs) was enough to earn Baddoo a spot on the Tigers’ roster, and he’s made the most of every opportunity.
Baddoo recently told reporters that he credits his mother for getting him ready for his moment.
“My mom, she’s my rock,” Baddoo said. “She talks to me every day. She’s that person I go to for advice, just asking, ‘How do I approach this? How do I approach that?’ She just tells me, ‘Hey, be ready for your moment. Have fun, be relaxed. You’ve been working so hard your whole life, and you’ve been doing it since you were a kid.’”
Baddoo is now a part of the first wave of the Tigers’ infusion of young talent into their roster that soon will include Petaluma native Spencer Torkelson, who the Tigers drafted first overall last spring.
That wave also includes starting pitchers and former top prospects Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, both of whom are scheduled to pitch at the Oakland Coliseum in the four-game set.
The first overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Auburn, Mize has been Detroit’s best pitcher in the young season with a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings.
Skubal, a Hayward native whose family moved out of state when he was in sixth grade, has been far less effective — he owns 7.71 ERA in two starts. But the 24-year-old southpaw was the Tigers’ No. 5 overall prospect last year, according to MLB.com, and is expected to grow into a prominent role in their rotation in the future.