'He's fit in perfectly': Sweeney taking full advantage amid playoff run

DETROIT -- Trey Sweeney is a quiet, calm kid. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that, but the 24-year-old possesses a steady heartbeat. He’s cool, calm and collected in any situation, just along for the ride.

But that’s part of what makes him so good.

“See if you guys can make him laugh or make him smile or make him nervous,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch joked with the media. “We have not been able to do that. So his steadiness really comes from his preparedness. He's very routine based. I love the way he goes about his pregame work.

“Now, he's pretty competitive. So it's not a lack of energy or competitiveness. But I think his calmness is just -- it's who he is. We ask these guys, ‘Just be who you are. If you're hyper, be hyper. If you're calm, be calm. But always be prepared.’ And he embodies that and has since the day that he got here.”

Selected by the Yankees in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft after coming off an electric collegiate career at Eastern Illinois University, Sweeney has been traded twice since then, first from the Yankees to the Dodgers in ‘23, and then again from the Dodgers to the Tigers at this year’s Trade Deadline.

Sweeney wasn’t the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles -- that would be Tigers’ No. 6 prospect Thayron Liranzo -- but in this moment, in this pennant race, he’s become the most important.

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In just 11 games for Triple-A Toledo after the trade, Sweeney slashed .381/.447/.667 with two home runs, nine RBIs and four stolen bases. He was called up on Aug. 16 -- along with Jace Jung, the Tigers’ No. 5 prospect -- to infuse some youth into a lineup that was on the verge of breaking out and streaking their way to the postseason.

Sweeney ultimately slashed .218/.269/.373 with an 81 OPS+ in 36 big league games, and has grown alongside infield coach Joey Cora since joining the big league club.

“I feel like since I've been up here, every game has kind of been important in the stretch of us even trying to get here,” Sweeney said. “Honestly, I didn't really know what to expect [after the trade]. It kind of all happened pretty fast for me. But I think I quickly realized after we got up here we had a good chance to get [to the playoffs] if we kept playing good baseball. So, yeah, the last month and a half has kind of felt surreal. So I'm still trying to take it all in.”

Looking back, Sweeney was called up because as a left-handed hitter, he does damage against right-handed pitching, and paired well at shortstop with Javier Báez with opposite splits. But on Aug. 26, just 10 days after Sweeney’s call-up, Báez went down with a season-ending hip injury, opening the door for Sweeney.

Though the Tigers have Báez under contract for three more years, the veteran infielder hit just .184/.221/.294 with six homers, 37 RBIs and a career-low 46 OPS+ in 80 games this season.

Finding a long-term answer at the position may be an emphasis this winter. But for now, Sweeney has the runway to figure things out in the midst of a postseason run.

The stage is set for him to take advantage of the opportunity.

“My biggest fear for him coming up to the big leagues was not whether he could handle the competition,” Hinch said. “It was whether or not he could get to know everybody's name fast enough and get comfortable in a clubhouse that was emerging as a young, driven clubhouse. And he's fit perfectly in, playing a premium position and handling the ups and downs of breaking into the big leagues in the middle of a pennant race.”