Tigers’ Alan Trammell Replaces Coach 1B and Assesses Leads

Detroit Tigers Manager Ron Gardenshire reshuffled his coaching staff for Thursday’s doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals, bringing Hall of Fame member Alan Trammell with him to help get his team back on track after Historic defeat on Wednesday (19: 0)…

The move was initiated by third base coach Ramon Santiago, who quietly slipped out of Comerica Park on Wednesday and headed to Miami, where he passed his US citizenship exam on Thursday morning.

First base coach Dave Clark moved to third base in Santiago’s absence, urging Al Avila’s special assistant general manager Trammell to return to form first.

“You are on a major league field that never gets old,” Trammel said Thursday. “Several years have passed, but I understand and know what to pay attention to. I watch a little movie and some of the pitchers, their movements and the like. (Kirk Gibson) will be proud to be “I’m going to the next level just to get a little more information.”

[ Alan Trammell was Detroit Tigers’ heartbeat for 20 years: Here’s how ]

Trammell played for the Tigers 1977-96, accumulating 2,365 hits, 185 home runs, and 1003 RBIs. He was a six-time All-Star and World Series champion in 1984. After his playing career, he ruled Detroit from 2003 to 2005, as well as three games as an interim for Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 and his number 3 jersey was discontinued by the Tigers on August 26, 2018.

“He’s the source of information for these guys and our infielders,” Gardenshire said. “We had a great talk this morning, just talked about baseball in general. It’s nice that he’s around. I’ve always respected this guy.

“More for being such a down-to-earth and such a good guy than anything he has done in baseball. He’s just a great player. “

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Thorkelson looks “very good”

When Trammell doesn’t fill short-term coaching vacancies, as he has done several times for the Tigers over the years, he coaches promising players at an alternate training site at Fifth Third Field in Toledo.

Now his project is the development of Spencer Torkelson.

[ Why Detroit Tigers’ Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson will benefit from unique training site ]

IN Pick number one from the 2020 draft makes a “very good” transition from first base to third, where Avila believes the slugger will eventually become a big league player… Without a minor league season, the challenge was finding ways to match the speed of professional play.

[ Why Tigers’ Alan Trammell is sold on Spencer Torkelson: ‘No ballpark’s gonna hold Tork’ ]

“You can’t create that,” Trammell said. “You can’t just write a script (with games inside the squad). You have to be ready, so when the ball was hit, it made the most of the game, to be honest with you. So this is what we are looking for. But he needs seasoning, he needs games. He needs a season in the minor league where he knows it, but he was very good. “

The 21-year-old has fallen at times since college in Arizona, where he defeated 54 homers, 130 RBIs and averaged .377.

“We’re even trying to do some of that with him and some other players,” Trammell said. “But for them this experience was invaluable, so I believe that for him and some of the other guys, it will help them grow a little faster.”

According to MLB Pipeline, Thorkelson is the # 1 tiger target, followed by right-handers Casey Mize and Matt Manning.

Green ‘not quite ready’

Another prospect Trammell has closely followed is outfielder Riley Greene. # 5 Overall Draft Ranking 2019… He did not speak directly on behalf of Avila, but said that the September call “will not take place” for the 19-year-old.

He is rated as the # 4 promising player in the team’s farming system.

“This is not part of the deal,” Trammell said. “He is fine. I will say that this child is, so to speak, ahead of everyone. Again, the experience he got this year is invaluable, but not quite ready yet. Let’s just leave it as it is. But he is a wonderful young man and he played very well in Toledo. “

[ Riley Greene giving Detroit Tigers a chance to dream about the future ]

In 57 games for three teams in 2019, Green has cut .271 / .347 / .403 with eight doubles, three triples, five home runs, and 28 RBIs. He stole five bases without getting caught. He played for the Gulf Coast League Tigers (nine games), Low-A Connecticut (24 games), and Single-A West Michigan (24 games).

He impressed in seven spring practice games with a .417 averaging, two homers and four RBIs. His success continued at summer camp at Comerica Park in July, but it didn’t make the MLB roster.

Wednesday tigers called 23-year-old outfielder Daz Cameron, prospectus No. 7 of the organization, for his debut.

[ Daz Cameron’s ‘life-changing’ COVID-19 battle concludes with Detroit Tigers debut ]

Evan Petzold is a sports reporting trainee at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him on epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold…