Mud Hens manager Doug Mientkiewicz understands why baseball scouts might focus on Christin Stewart’s defense.
Mientkiewicz just does not think it is right.
“When you have a player whose one skill is extraordinary, you pick on the side that’s not,” Mientkiewicz explained. “Because Christin’s offensive numbers have been eye-popping, the industry picks on the numbers that are not.
“The guys who are on the same level offensively and defensively are the [Mike] Trouts and the [Bryce] Harpers of the world.”
Mientkiewicz is not saying Stewart should be compared offensively with two of the top outfielders in baseball today. He is saying Stewart’s defense as a corner outfielder has improved — so much so that the Toledo manager does not see it as an impediment to the 24-year-old Atlanta native playing in the majors.
Gene Roof, Detroit’s minor-league outfield coordinator, agrees.
“He’s never going to be a Gold Glove defender, but he will make all the routine plays,” Roof said of Stewart. “Every year he gets better, and he’s way better than when we first got him.
“He listens, and he takes the lessons he learns into the games. He has the work ethic and desire to be good.”
Soon after Stewart was selected by the Tigers with the 34th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Roof started working with the University of Tennessee product on his throwing.
“When we first got him, his throws came straight over the top, and he struggled to get the ball to the cutoff man,” Roof said. “So he did the work on making throws from a better arm slot, and he’s better. You can’t just run on him anymore.”
Last year Roof began working with Stewart on his jumps — the time it took for him to react once a ball was hit.
“The best defensive outfielders in the big leagues have a reaction time of 0.58 [seconds] to the ball off the bat,” Roof said. “I showed Christin that — and at the time Christin was 0.92 — and we drilled on getting quicker reads off the bat.
“Over time, we got Christin down to 0.62, and that was pretty cool.”
The results of that hard work have been on display in Toledo this season. Stewart has played in 74 games in the outfield this season, with 66 coming in left and eight in right, and has three assists; what’s more, on at least two occasions Stewart has made a strong throw to the plate that would have resulted in an out if the catcher had caught the ball cleanly or applied the tag properly.
“Right now I’m really proud of the throws I’ve been making,” Stewart said. “I think they have been strong and on-target, even if I’m not getting outs.
“I think I’m doing better at getting to the ball quickly and getting it to the cutoff man as fast as I can.”
Roof, a former Mud Hens manager, praised Stewart’s willingness to work on all phases of the game, noting that some players instead focus on the things they do well instead of trying to improve weaknesses.
“You have to have a routine each day to get you completely ready to play that day,” Stewart said. “If you are feeling good that day, maybe you will do a little bit more. But you have to work on everything.
“You’ll always make time for things you have a passion in, and baseball is my passion. So I always try to make time for every part of my game.”
Meanwhile Stewart has been one of the International League’s top hitters all season, standing second with 16 home runs and ranking sixth with 53 RBIs going into Monday’s games. What’s more, the 6-0, 205-pounder has cut down his strikeouts from 138 in 136 games with Double-A Erie last season to 71 in 83 games with the Mud Hens this year.
But for Mientkiewicz, the left-handed hitter’s strong offensive performance goes beyond his numbers.
“The thing that sticks out for me is that he rarely chases, and he rarely swings and misses inside the zone,” Mientkiewicz said. “Those are the two main cogs of being a big-league hitter, but he also doesn’t give away at-bats, either.
“He’s been nothing short of a big-league pro.”
Contact John Wagner at jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.
First Published July 24, 2018, 6:00 p.m.
