Andy Ibáñez was a key figure in Detroit’s sweep of the Houston Astros in the first round. The utilityman from the Isle of Youth stroked a key bases clearing double in the Top of the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s Tigers 5-2 win over the team from Space City.
Ibáñez had this to say about his team’s resolve in the postseason ,” we have been united as one, from the staff to the players and we are believing that winning is the most important thing. Today we beat a great team like Houston, my respect for them.” In a limited amount of trips to the plate during the two game set Ibáñez hit .667 with those three key runs batted in and also posted an astronomical 2.000 OPS against Astros’ pitching.
The experienced hitter also added this about his key at-bat in the eighth inning,“I know September wasn’t the most productive month for me, but I just have a lot of trust in my skills. I am grateful first of all to God., secondly, to my coaches and teammates who supported me at all times, especially today when I came through.”
Preparation has been key according to Ibáñez when he has been , “My coaching staff deserves enormous credit, because they are sending me videos all the time vía the iPad we use for training purposes. As soon as they notice something, they immediately come to me and show me, hey, this is what this person is doing. They have been a great help and their support has been very helpful in everything we have done, I am very grateful for their assistance.”
The Cuban saw action in 99 games during the regular season with the Detroit Tigers. During that span he drove in 32 runs and swatted 15 extra-base hits. Defensively, he was a stalwart during the series making many key plays during the campaign he made only three errors in 473 ⅔ innings. Expect Ibáñez to play a key for the felines in their playoff run.