the lineup card: Season 2; vol 4
After a divisional game between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers in 2007, three-year-old Tyler Inge waited in the tunnel outside the Tigers clubhouse with his mom, Shani. His dad, Brandon, was the starting third baseman for Detroit.
Tyler always carried a soft foam ball with him wherever he went, repeatedly throwing it against the wall and fielding it off the bounce. As Twins starting pitcher Johan Santana walked by, Tyler accidentally hit the reigning Cy Young Award winner with one of his throws.
“Son, you have a good arm,” Santana told Tyler.
By the time Brandon exited the clubhouse, he found his wife, Shani, dying of laughter. “You don’t even understand. Your son just played catch with Johan Santana for about 15 minutes,” she explained to him. Afterward, Santana signed a ball for Brandon to give to Tyler.
“This kid has no idea he played catch for 15 minutes with a Cy Young Award winner,” Brandon Inge said while laughing over the phone. “I thought that was one of the coolest things ever.”
For the final six seasons of his dad’s 13-year MLB career, Tyler would grow up making countless more memories at the stadium. Living just a 30-minute drive away from Comerica Park, he would go there most weekends and often after school to spend time with his dad and his teammates pregame. Star players such as Justin Verlander and Andrew McCutchen used to play around with him constantly in Detroit and later Pittsburgh. Two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera would autograph Tyler and his younger brother Chase’s foreheads with a permanent marker every time he saw them, which he knew would make Shani mad since it was so difficult for her to wipe it off. Cabrera, on the other hand, found it hilarious.
Out of all the experiences they shared together, the ones that stick with Tyler the most are going into the outfield grass where his dad would throw batting practice to him. At a younger age than most could ever dream of, Tyler got to experience the thrill of hitting the ball into the stands at a major league ballpark, which quickly ignited his love for the game. The things he remembers overhearing coaches and players say back then continue to impact his own game today. Still, it took years after his dad’s retirement before Tyler realized just how unique his childhood was.
“I had zero clue what that all meant. I would go into a locker room and ask my dad ‘Who’s this?’ and he’d tell me. Now, I look back and it’s a Hall of Famer and I’m like ‘holy crap, I met this guy,’” Tyler Inge detailed. “I wish people would understand that this was normal for me. I didn’t think anything of it. Now, it really is the coolest thing ever.”
Being in an MLB family comes with plenty of perks, but the harsh reality of the business also brings its share of challenges. After his dad was released by the Tigers in the spring of 2012, he spent his final two seasons playing with the Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates. The rest of the family stayed back home in Detroit.
“That was definitely the hardest time,” Tyler Inge said, explaining that both he and Chase did not want to leave their friends at school. “He would come home whenever he could. I never took a trip out to Oakland but we went to Pittsburgh a lot…my dad had a house there, so Pittsburgh wasn’t as bad as Oakland was.”
Following the family business
Tyler Inge, who recently turned 19, got his start playing baseball for a local travel team in the city of Saline, located on the doorstep of the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. Like any other kid in the area, Tyler grew up cheering on the Wolverines football team, dreaming that one day, he would also go to school there.
The Inge family moved to Brandon’s original hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia after his retirement in 2013, but their stay did not last long. Once Brandon was offered a job leading player development at the Legacy Center sports complex, they returned home to Michigan, reuniting both sons with their old friends. A late bloomer like his dad once was, Tyler ended up reclassifying after the move back to Michigan and repeated eighth grade to help catch up physically. After years of competing exclusively against local talent, Tyler was ready to see how he fared on a national scale.
“My second year of eighth grade, I realized baseball is what I wanted to do with my life,” Tyler Inge said. “I wanted to be like my dad.”
He tried out for the Canes Midwest travel organization in Mooresville, Indiana and made the team. From there, he began attending showcases with Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report to get his numbers and profile out into the world. For the first time ever, he was facing velocity in the high 90s, which was a massive adjustment.
Around the same time, Tyler began attending Detroit Country Day, a small private school with a strong academic reputation. He made the Varsity team as a freshman, a rare feat for that high school, starting at second base before moving to his natural shortstop position as a sophomore.
Early on, opposing players would chirp at Tyler for “only making the team because of his dad,” who helped the Varsity team as an assistant coach. Brandon loved it, knowing that his son would feed off the trash talk and use it for motivation, similar to how he used to during his own playing career. However, the pressure of living up to other’s expectations slowly began taking a toll on the gifted shortstop.
“The summer after my sophomore year, I had a terrible summer,” Tyler Inge said. He recalled striking out three times in crucial spots during the WWBA World Championship and making uncharacteristic errors that cost his team runs. “That whole summer I was thinking of failure instead of finding an approach.”
Brandon managed to get Tyler connected with Dr. Spencer Wood, the current Tigers mental skills coach. Although Dr. Wood was not with the organization when Brandon was playing, the former All-Star third baseman used to work closely with the mental staff. Unlike today, some people used to view seeking that type of help as a weakness, but Brandon always valued it like any other tool in his toolbox.
Tyler met with Dr. Wood weekly during the winter and biweekly once the season began, talking over his struggles and working through exercises to simplify his approach at the plate. The one that made the biggest impact on him? The B.I.G. routine, a three-step process that begins on the top step of the dugout before reaching the on-deck circle:
B = Breathe (three seconds in, three seconds out. Repeat until reaching a seven count.)
I = Imagery (Imagine the pitcher throwing the ball, envision hitting it on the sweet spot.)
G = Go-to words (Tyler’s vary on the day, but his main one is “play loose”)
This simple process clears Tyler’s mind before stepping up to the plate, allowing him to slow things down in a game that moves lightning fast. After this switch in mindset, his offensive production skyrocketed – batting over .500 during the first 10 games of his junior season. Tyler’s defensive abilities had always gotten him looks, but now he was beginning to develop into a more complete player. At one point, Tyler felt that his hyperfocus on offense was negatively impacting his defense. Those concerns were eased after a quick phone call with Dr. Wood. He was told to make his release as soon as he heard the ball hit his glove, instead of overrelying on his natural quick hands to rush the process.
Becoming a Michigan Wolverine
On January 29, 2021, Brandon Inge was named volunteer assistant coach for the Michigan Wolverines baseball team. Tyler had mixed emotions. He was happy for his dad because he knew how much he was looking forward to coaching at the college level. On the other hand, Tyler was concerned about what people might think if he ended up receiving an offer from his dream school.
A few months later, Tyler got a call from Michigan head coach Erik Bakich.
Tyler immediately asked his dad if he had anything to do with it. If he did, he would refuse to go to school there. Brandon assured him that the topic had never been discussed between the coaches. Bakich gave him 24 hours to make a decision, and after talking it over with his family and advisor, he committed an hour later.
Brandon coached at Michigan for one more year before Bakich left for the head coaching job at Clemson University last June. He was asked to join Bakich’s staff down in South Carolina, but the former Detroit Tiger had no interest in leaving his home in Michigan again, especially with having two kids still in high school. Brandon said that even if the coaching staff had stayed, he planned to step down from the role before his son arrived on campus.
“I don’t want him ever feeling like I had anything to do with him getting there. He needs to experience college on his own,” Brandon Inge said. He is excited to take a step back and cheer on his son from the crowd instead of putting a microscope on him in the dugout. “You have to walk that fine line of making sure you’re praising your kid, but at the same time we can’t set them on a pedestal over other kids either. Now, being able to sit in the stands is great. I can just watch the game, enjoy the game, and cheer on everyone.”
All eyes on Inge
A year removed from skipping amateur baseball’s top event in Jupiter due to addressing mental struggles, Tyler Inge returned to the WWBA World Championship with a vengeance earlier this month. The 6-foot tall shortstop, now ranked as the No. 6 player in Michigan by PBR, had just wrapped up his final summer with the Canes and was asked to join the recently-assembled Chicago Cubs scout team, led by head coach Jerry Cowan.
Held at Roger Dean Complex, the spring training home of the Cardinals and Marlins, over 700 MLB scouts and college coaches gathered to watch the top prospects in the country compete. Tyler recalled seeing “a million” golf carts as soon as he arrived at the complex, all ridden by scouts watching their every move. He was admittedly intimidated but then reminded himself what Dr. Wood would say.
“I’m just competing against myself out here, nobody else. Have fun and play loose.”
Tyler and the Cubs scout team shined, making it to the Sweet 16 in the biggest tournament of the year despite it being only their first fall as a team. Cowan estimates that Inge hit around .400 and made 70 putouts this fall without ever coming close to making an error.
“Tyler Inge could play shortstop in the big leagues right now and you would not think he looks out of place. That’s how good of a defender he is,” Cowan said, claiming that he did not see a finer defensive shortstop down in Jupiter. “He gets the ball smoothly, transitions well, has great arm strength…he plays the game quiet and that’s a big league thing. That comes from his dad. He taught him how to play fast, but not in a hurry.”
Due to their affiliation with the Cubs organization, Cowan noticed that the added credibility attracted more eyes than past teams he had brought down to Jupiter. MLB scouts had a close-up look at Tyler’s advanced maturity and improvement offensively. His hit tool still has room to grow, but once he adds more strength to his bigger frame, Tyler Inge projects as someone who can drive the ball into the gap consistently and sometimes hit it out of the yard. Once that happens, Cowan believes that the Michigan recruit can become a high draft pick.
For longtime baseball fans, hearing Tyler’s last name will almost always raise eyebrows because of what his dad accomplished in the big leagues. Even in Jupiter, Tyler was approached by a Blue Jays scout who remembered scouting Brandon back in college.
Since impressing at the East Coast Pro showcase and WWBA tournament, Tyler has been asked to create an MLB Prospect Link account and complete multiple questionnaires for teams, a process he likens to filling out the Common App for colleges. Every time a team wants to view his profile, the shortstop gets a text message asking him if he wants to accept the request.
The MLB Draft is still nine months away, with Michigan move-in day arriving not long after that. There will come a time when Tyler will have to think about a his longterm future but for now, Tyler is focused on the present at Detroit Country Day. He hopes to be named team captain for the second consecutive spring, leading by example while playing alongside his sophomore brother, Chase, in the middle infield. The two are best friends and they do everything together.
Within the past 10 days, the Inge family spent the weekend in Ann Arbor for Tyler’s official visit to the University of Michigan. The future Wolverine watched the team practice, met all the recruits, bonded with the guys, and put on the uniform for the very first time for a photo-op. Since posting the pictures on Instagram, he cannot stop looking at them.
“It didn’t really hit me until I posted,” Tyler Inge said, laughing at himself for being obsessed with the photos. “That’s me next year. That’s the uniform I’m gonna be wearing for the next however many years I’m there. I’m super excited for it, I literally cannot wait.”
While on the visit, second-year head coach Tracy Smith gave the incoming recruits a wake-up call, warning them about the importance of being a student-athlete. If their grades are not good, they will not play. Tyler was a bit worried but knew he had to focus on school. He plans on majoring in either kinesiology or sports management since he never wants to leave the game of baseball, even after his playing days are over. Before graduating from Detroit Country Day, he will complete a senior project internship at 2SP Sports Performance, gaining valuable experience in sports training.
The heckling from opposing high school teams has quieted since Tyler became ranked as one of the top players in the state. As he moves forward with his career and starts playing in front of more rowdy collegiate or pro crowds, those taunts are bound to resurface in some capacity. But Brandon knows that his son can handle it. After all, Tyler has dealt with the limelight since he was born.
“Honestly, I don’t think I could be more proud. He’s an amazing kid,” Brandon Inge said. The 2009 All-Star is amazed by the commitment it takes to attend one of the hardest academic schools around until 3:30 every day, then work out for three hours, drive 45 minutes home, and complete up to two hours of homework a night. “Everyone’s like, ‘well, you gotta have a Plan B,’ and his thought is, if you have to have a Plan B, your Plan A isn’t good enough. I think that’s hysterical, but that’s true dedication.”
Brandon believes that it is a blessing for kids like Tyler to learn how to handle crazy amounts of external pressure early since most do not experience it until it is too late. This could explain why so many sons of former big leaguers, like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bobby Witt Jr., Jackson Holliday, and Druw Jones, are thriving as top prospects today.
“It’s cool to see these kids that are carving their own paths, and it’s something that I really want to do too,” Tyler Inge said. As he moves up the ranks, he prefers sticking in the middle infield as opposed to playing third base like his dad. “I want to make a name for myself. Obviously, I love my dad but I don’t want to get trapped in his shadow. My mom and dad are both very on board with that and they support us with whatever we want to do in life.”