Detroit clears lockers as coaching changes signal a shift in philosophy, following dismal baserunning stats and bullpen inconsistency despite the roster’s emerging young, athletic core.
The Detroit Tigers have begun making changes to A.J. Hinch’s coaching staff, with first-base coach Anthony Sanders and assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves not returning for the 2027 season.
The moves were first reported Tuesday by The Athletic and come two days after Detroit completed a 76-86 season.
Sanders’ departure is perhaps the more interesting of the two because of how recently he arrived and the positive reputation he appeared to have among Tigers players. Detroit hired Sanders last offseason after he spent six seasons as the Baltimore Orioles’ first-base coach. He also brought previous experience working with outfielders and baserunners in the Colorado Rockies organization.
Whatever Sanders brought to the clubhouse, however, the results on the bases were difficult to ignore.
Detroit finished the season with only 58 stolen bases, the second-lowest total in baseball, ahead of only Houston. Tigers runners were also caught stealing 23 times. Eighteen of Detroit’s 58 steals came in September, when the roster had already changed considerably with the arrival of several younger players.
That does not necessarily mean Sanders was dismissed because the Tigers did not steal enough bases. A first-base coach’s responsibilities extend beyond stolen-base totals, and much of a team’s baserunning success is dependent upon personnel, decision-making and organizational philosophy. From the outside, it is difficult to assign responsibility for those numbers to one coach.
Still, Sanders was hired with an extensive background in baserunning and outfield instruction, making Detroit’s lack of production in that area a relevant part of the discussion.
The decision also stands out because Sanders lasted only one season and he was signed to a two-year deal. The Tigers brought him over from Baltimore as part of a series of changes to Hinch’s staff following the 2025 season. Now Detroit will again be searching for a first-base coach as a younger and considerably more athletic group begins to take shape around players such as Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle.
Nieves’ departure represents a different type of change. He had been part of Detroit’s major-league pitching staff since 2021, working alongside pitching coach Chris Fetter. His tenure covered much of the organization’s transformation in pitching development, but the Tigers also dealt with significant bullpen instability during the 2026 season.
The decision to move on from Juan Nieves may be the more difficult coaching change to evaluate.
Nieves had been part of A.J. Hinch's staff from the beginning, joining the major-league club as assistant pitching coach in 2021 after spending two seasons as Toledo's pitching coach. His role went beyond simply assisting Chris Fetter. Detroit constructed its pitching staff around coaches with different backgrounds, with Fetter, Nieves and later Robin Lund offering different perspectives in mechanics, preparation, analytics and communication.
Nieves also brought something that should not be overlooked as Detroit's pitching staff became increasingly international: the ability to communicate directly with Spanish-speaking pitchers.
For pitchers such as Keider Montero, and more recently Framber Valdez, having another experienced pitching coach capable of discussing adjustments without everything having to travel through an interpreter carries value that does not show up in an ERA column. Nieves was regularly seen working with both pitchers, including alongside Fetter during spring training.
That makes his departure interesting because Detroit's pitching operation, as a whole, continued to produce results. The Tigers finished sixth in the majors with a 3.67 ERA and fifth with a 1.22 WHIP despite dealing with injuries and instability throughout the season. Montero developed into one of the club's more reliable pitchers, posting a 3.48 ERA over 155 innings.
The bullpen unquestionably became a problem, and Detroit had individual pitchers who did not perform to expectations. But assigning those shortcomings to Nieves would oversimplify what his job appeared to be and what the Tigers' pitching group accomplished during his six seasons on Hinch's staff.
His departure therefore feels less like an obvious performance-based move and more like a change in how Detroit wants to structure its pitching operation going forward. The next hire should provide a better indication of what the Tigers believed was missing.
For Detroit, the next hire could be especially telling. With Clark, McGonigle and other younger athletes becoming larger parts of the roster, the Tigers have more speed available than they have had in recent seasons. How they intend to use it may tell us more about Sanders’ departure than the dismissal itself. I am rather miffed by both moves, but time will tell the reasons why behind this.
