New tasks will be 'great experience' for Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard

The Detroit Tigers lost some of their coaching firepower Tuesday when third base coach Chip Hale packed his bags for the University of Arizona, where he will be introduced Wednesday as the baseball team's head coach. 

Colleges have picked apart manager AJ Hinch's coaching staff. Rice University hired assistant hitting coach Jose Cruz Jr. as its head coach in June. When Cruz departed, Triple-A Toledo hitting coach Mike Hessman joined the big leagues as the interim assistant hitting coach for the remainder of the season.

This time, there might not be an addition to fill the void. At least until the All-Star break — and possibly for the rest of the year — bench coach George Lombard will continue his normal duties while also serving as the third base coach.

"Maybe, maybe not," Hinch said. "We've got a good staff and a good group. Al (Avila, general manager) and I are going to talk about what might be needed."

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Lombard seems to be the key to what happens next.

"I think George going to third base is a huge advantage to us, in terms of being able to seamlessly transition some of the base running, some of the in-game stuff," Hinch said. "His experience and communication skills will pay dividends there. I want to look at this situation first before we make any firm commitments on what we're going to do."

Before becoming Hinch's bench coach in November, Lombard was the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2016-20, winning one of three World Series appearances. With the Tigers, Lombard is Hinch's right-hand man, outfield instructor and base running coordinator. 

And Lombard wants to be a manager someday.

"It's also one of the things I need on my resume to help me become a major league manager," Lombard said Jan. 17 about joining the Tigers. "Super, super excited about the opportunity. ... I definitely want to manage at some point."

Hinch believes coaching third base will boost his resume.

"I don't think it hurts," Hinch said. "I only think it helps."

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In the new role, Lombard gets to manage runners on the bases, relay signs from Hinch and convey the offensive approach to players in the batter's box. He remains responsible for all his bench coach duties, which includes game planning and preparing the outfield positioning for each opponent. 

"The third base coach is the only other coach on a staff that makes a decision," Hinch said. "If you think about the coaches around my staff, they all are advising things and doing different things. (Pitching coach Chris Fetter) obviously has a lot of jurisdictions over the pitching, but in-game decision making, it's the manager and the third base coach. Those are the two guys that make decisions. It'll be a great experience for him developmentally. It'll be good for our team."

Daz Cameron injury update

After being scratched from Monday's starting lineup, outfielder Daz Cameron could end up on the injured list with a sprained big toe on his right foot. He sustained the injury running into the center field wall during warmups.

"I don't know if he's better quite yet," Hinch said. "He didn't look great moving around today. I saw him at the hotel, and then I saw him again at the field. It's essentially turf toe. We've given it a little bit of a soft deadline of try to get him through again today and see how he is tomorrow. I don't want to play him here on the turf."

But if Cameron "can't play in the next couple days," Hinch said the Tigers will consider sending him to the 10-day injured list. If that happens, outfielders Derek Hill and Victor Reyes — both in Triple-A Toledo for rehab assignments — should be frontrunners to get called up to the big leagues.

"We'll be careful with him," Hinch said. "We're going to pay attention to what's going on in Triple A. We've got a lot of our rehab guys there playing tonight in Omaha. We'll know in the next day or so what our total plan is for the rest of the week."

Gage Workman moves up

After 51 games for Low-A Lakeland, shortstop Gage Workman has been promoted to High-A West Michigan. The 21-year-old was selected in the fourth round (No. 102 overall) of the 2020 draft from Arizona State.

For the Flying Tigers, Workman hit .256 with 16 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 19 RBIs, 30 walks and 60 strikeouts. He also stole 22 bases, only getting caught three times. He made nine errors in 160 chances and had a .944 fielding percentage.

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Because Workman moved up to West Michigan, the Tigers demoted shortstop Trei Cruz to Lakeland. Through 26 games, Cruz posted a .159 batting average, 22 walks and 35 strikeouts for the Whitecaps. He had a .926 fielding percentage at shortstop.

The Tigers drafted Cruz in the third round (No. 73 overall) of the 2020 draft from Rice. Workman is the organization's No. 11 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, while Cruz is ranked No. 14.

Welcome, Roberto Campos

In his first professional at-bat Monday, Tigers outfield prospect Roberto Campos — ranked No. 10 in the team's farm system — crushed a home run in Lakeland, Florida. He did so on the first pitch he saw from Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Tom Sutera in the first inning. 

Sutera, 24, is playing in the Florida Complex League as part of a rehab assignment. It's his fourth year in the minors. At the beginning of the season, Sutera was placed on High-A Jersey Shore's injured list. This means Campos homered against a pitcher above his experience level.

Campos, 18, finished 1-for-3 with one strikeout as the leadoff hitter. As a member of the FCL Tigers West, he ended 1-for-4 with three strikeouts in Tuesday's matchup with the FCL Tigers East. (He singled in the sixth inning.)

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The Tigers signed Campos for a $2.85 million signing bonus in July 2019. At the time, the right-handed hitter was just 16 years old. When Campos was 13, he defected from Cuba and went to the Dominican Republic.

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In January 2021, the Tigers set a new international signing record by giving shortstop Cristian Santana a $2.95 million signing bonus. The 17-year-old is from the Dominican Republic.

Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.