Henning: Change in hitting coaches won’t fix Tigers’ problems at the plate

Bring in Tom Matchick, pronto! Dude hit .484 during the ‘67 spring training!

After a season when Tigers hitters on too many days had a strained relationship with the scoreboard, shouldn’t the Tigers consider a change in batting coaches? Why not fire or reassign Lloyd McClendon and give someone else with a fresh eye and perspective a chance to figure out, for example, Curtis Granderson’s problems against left-handers?

“That’s a legitimate question because we changed Chuck Hernandez,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said during a Tuesday morning phone conversation. “But Lloyd McClendon was the same guy when Placido Polanco got 200 hits, and when Magglio Ordonez led the league in hitting and Miguel Cabrera led the league in home runs, and when Curtis Granderson hit .300.

“And I think you’ve got to be careful with that. You start putting blame on people and making all kinds of changes, and I think it’s unstable for the team. It’s easy to say, ‘Someone isn’t doing good,’ but it’s not that simple.’

“Fans are upset. And with fans being upset, I don’t disagree,” Leyland added. “That’s the normal reaction from people. They think that (firing a coach) is a cure-all. But if I thought Lloyd McClendon was the problem, I’d change hitting coaches.”

...McClendon isn’t being retained because of friendship, or because he’s a good golf partner. He sticks as the Tigers hitting coach for other reasons. Beginning with the fact nothing is likely to change if you bring on a different tutor.

“Friendship has nothing to do with it,” Leyland said Tuesday. “Chuck Hernandez and I are friends. The only thing friendship means is that it’s a little more fun. But we’re in business. That’s the way you have to look at it. You do what you feel gives your team the best shot.

“I think our hitting will be fine next season. Guys have up-and-down years. I don’t think this is time to get involved with diversionary tactics.”