LAKELAND, Fla. — A big blue concrete wall has appeared on the backfields at TigerTown.
It looks so strange and out of place. It doesn’t go around anything. Doesn’t hold up anything. It’s just, well, right there beyond the right-field fence of one of the fields.
And it made you wonder: What the heck is that for?
Yes, the mind starts to wander. Is this part of the owner’s lockout? Were they trying to build a wall around one of the fields, keeping out the players and then just gave up?
No. Probably not.
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Is it some artistic rendering of the lament of Detroit sports fans, who keep banging their head against a wall in frustration, wanting a winner?
Maybe. It feels like a heck of a long time since we’ve seen a winner, in any sport, in Detroit.
But on Wednesday morning, before the Detroit Tigers threw bullpens, an answer began to emerge, which is just as intriguing and interesting.
Tigers pitchers used the wall to warm up before throwing a bullpen. They threw weighted colored balls into the wall from a couple of different positions, working different muscles. The black balls weighed 4 pounds, the green ones are just 2 and the blue ones about a half pound.
At first, the Tigers threw into the wall without moving their feet. Then, they took a knee and kind of threw the ball behind them, like a point guard throwing a no-look pass to somebody cutting behind them.
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Which brings us to the nets and another mystery.
After throwing into the wall, the pitchers threw objects into a net.
And it looked like they were throwing beer bottles — OK, so we all have our point of reference.
Or maybe, it looked like somebody throwing an axe.
Yes, the Tigers will leave no bottle unthrown and no wall unbanged to try to get an edge and improve.
Wind power
Tigers catchers took batting practice into the wind on Thursday.
So we didn’t spot any home runs.
But several of the catchers showed some pop in their bats.
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One of them a small guy and the other a seriously big dude.
Jon Rosoff, listed at 5 feet 9 and 175 pounds, was cranking balls off the right-field fence. He has hit just one home run in 131 minor league games, including 10 at Triple-A Toledo.
Then, there was the big dude.
Mike Rothenberg is a mountain of a catcher, 6-3 and 215 pounds. Drafted in the 12th round in 2021 out of Duke, he had 23 home runs in college.
And he showed some easy raw power on Thursday.
A peek of what’s to come?
Don’t forget about Dillon Dingler.
He took batting practice, too, sending the baseball to straightaway center field and the opposite way (right field) numerous times. He is lined up for a return to Double-A Erie, where the organization needs him to improve on last season’s results, a .202 batting average in 50 games.
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That takes us to another noteworthy development.
The Tigers’ top pitching prospects — Jackson Jobe and Ty Madden — tossed their first bullpens. Jobe worked exclusively with Eliezer Alfonzo, seemingly set to start 2022 in High-A West Michigan, while Madden threw to Dingler.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Jobe is headed to West Michigan straight out of the gate, nor does it mean Madden is destined for Erie after spring training.
But could those affiliates be where each pitcher is expected to spend a bulk of his 2022 season?
Possibly.