Mikie Mahtook, Andrew Romine and Tyler Collins will all get time playing centerfield for the Tigers in the foreseeable future
Mikie Mahtook is starting in centerfield tonight for the Detroit Tigers against the Baltimore Orioles and left-hander Wade Miley.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus acknowledged that Mahtook will probably get the bulk of the starts in center against left-handers for the foreseeable future.
Asked what determines who gets time in center, Ausmus joked: “Pull names out of a hat every day, and we’ ll see who’s out there.”
No, that can’ t be the case.
“I am serious. What makes you think I’ m not serious?” Ausmus, who wasn’ t serious.
“We’ re just going to mix and match. Mahtook’s probably going to get the bulk against (lefties) .”
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Ausmus said Andrew Romine and Tyler Collins would share time against right-handed pitchers.
Romine came into Tuesday’s game batting .230 in 28 games. Collins, who went 0-for-19 on the road trip, is batting.226 with two home runs and eight RBIs over 28 games this season.
“Collins has actually been struggling a little bit with the bat lately, ” Ausmus said. “We’ ll mix and match. We’ ll see who’s swinging the bat well, who’s defending well, and it will be day-to-day.”
Ausmus said there’s not much of a gap defensively among the three players.
JaCoby Jones, currently with Triple-A Toledo, is considered the team’s best defensive centerfielder.
“But I think Romine is a very good defender as well, ” Ausmus said. “I think of the guys we have right now, Romine’s probably the best defender, but it’s not a huge gap between the best of the three and the worst of the three.”
Asked if he’s keeping tabs on Jones’ performance with the Mud Hens, Ausmus said: “Yeah. But he needs to get some at-bats.”
Jones is batting .250 with four doubles, one home run and six RBIs in 16 games for the Mud Hens.
Adduci update: Outfielder Jim Adduci, who is on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle, said he’s not yet swinging the bat. Adduci was standing at his locker with a bat but joked he was just holding it. “I’ m not going to let it affect me, ” Adduci said of the DL stint. “Dealt with a lot of challenges, so this is just another one.”
Adduci, who played the past two seasons in Korea, was hitting .318 with seven RBIs in 13 games for the Tigers before the injury.
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