Tarik Skubal continued his comeback from elbow surgery by throwing in the outfield in Baltimore.
Tarik Skubal continued his comeback from elbow surgery by throwing in the outfield in Baltimore.
Baltimore — It’s convenient to point to Tarik Skubal’s injury as the trigger point of the 2-15 skid the Tigers took into the doubleheader Sunday against the Orioles.
But a truer trigger, given how badly the offense has struggled through this stretch, was the loss of second baseman Gleyber Torres, who hasn’t played since May 2 and was put on the injured list on May 4, the day the skid started.
“Just the presence and the on-base skills,” manager AJ Hinch said of missing Torres. “If you just take one skill of the many that he has, the on-base, the consistent at-bat, the longer at-bat — there’s always a hit in there. Even on his bad days, he’s going to find a way to get on base or get a hit. That’s a very stable thing to have at the top of our order.”
The Tigers have averaged 2.4 runs per game since Torres went out. They are hitting collectively under .200, rank second to last in strikeouts and last in home runs during the skid. Before Sunday they had produced seven hits or less in nine games. There’s only been one such streak in club history and that was in the championship season of 1968.
Also since May 4, they are 15 for 115 with runners in scoring position. There have been eight games where they went hitless with runners in scoring position, including four games in a row in one stretch.
Torres’ absence impacts that.
“(Dillon) Dingler has had to move up toward the top of the order,” Hinch said. “All of a sudden, that changes the RBI opportunities in the No. 5 hole where Ding was flourishing. We had to get Colt (Keith) up there and he’s had his good moments and he’s also had his struggles. That changes the middle of the order, the No. 6 hole.
“Everything changes when you lose someone with Gleyber’s presence,” Hinch said. “And we have to overcome that. We need somebody to get hot. We need somebody to get on base more often to start creating more good things.”
You should know, it’s tearing Torres up not being able to help.
“It’s been awful,” he said. “Being here is not fun. I thought (the absence) was going to be short and now it’s taking more time. It feels frustrating. I feel like I can’t do anything for the team. It’s more worrying, too. Like when I was in Florida (rehabbing in Lakeland), I saw the games, but I wasn’t around the boys.
“Now I’m here and I feel what they feel and it’s awful.”
Torres, who is out with a left oblique strain, continues to be able to everything on a baseball field except swing a bat. He tried to take swings in the cage Saturday but felt the same discomfort.
He will rest Sunday and Monday and try again Tuesday.
“I’m trying to be ready, hopefully next week we can start playing in some (rehab) games,” Torres said. “But it kills me because in the past I was able to play with pain. I know how it is. Now, this really got me. Whatever I do is painful. It’s just frustrating. It’s not fully healed. It’s tough to be here and not be able to do anything when your team is failing. Really tough.
“We’ve got a special group right here but things aren’t going our way right now. We have to start playing the way that we can. Just win one and everything will start to get better.”
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