A day after the Tigers unveiled their new front-office chief, Scott Harris, the brunt of their on-field baseball staff was to check in Wednesday for a one-week Tigers Fall Instructional Camp at the TigerTown complex in Lakeland, Florida.
About 45 players from the Tigers farm will gather with roughly 40 Tigers staffers for drills and tutoring that will run from Thursday through Sept. 30.
“We’ll do everything we can do to review the past season, focus on strengths and weaknesses, and set them on the right path for 2023,” said Ryan Garko, who is the Tigers’ vice-president for player development.
“We’ve got the sports-science group there, the analytics group, all the coaches — we’ll try to surround them with support.”
Two of the Tigers’ minor-league clubs are yet finishing their 2022 schedules: Double-A Erie is in the Eastern League playoffs, while Triple-A Toledo has games scheduled through Sept. 28.
Garko said instruction will be broken into specific areas of focus, depending upon position or pitching concentrations.
“Players are going to get exposed to a lot,” he said. “All the work the front office does will be presented. How they (players) are being evaluated. How their bodies move.
“I’m really excited.”
Garko took control of Tigers development last September and has spent the past year revising a process that, among other objectives, sought to turn science and performance data into on-the-field conversions in instruction and training.
Progress was made, particularly in improved hitting across the Tigers’ farmlands, and in building starting pitchers who became indispensable, as injuries and disruptions made a hash of the Tigers’ rotation in Detroit, and, accordingly, affected teams at all the minor-league stops.
Players who were to check in Wednesday (or after their 2022 schedule wraps up) at Lakeland include:
PITCHERS: Joe Adametz, Max Alba, Garrett Apker, Colin Fields, Wilmer Flores, Quinn Gudaitis, Connor Holden, Blake Holub, Brant Hurter, Jackson Jobe, Ty Madden, Jack Masloff, Tyler Mattison, Dylan McCall, Troy Melton, Trevin Michael, Jake Miller, Joe Miller, Keider Montero, Albert Oliva, Cole Patten, Patrick Pridgen, Gabriel Reyes, Dylan Smith, Chris Williams.
CATCHERS: Eliezer Alfonzo, Josh Crouch, Dillon Dingler.
INFIELDERS: Abel Bastidas, Raudy De Los Santos, Peyton Graham, Luis Garcia, Andy Jenkins, Tyler Johnson, Jace Jung, Colt Keith, Izaac Pacheco, Adinso Reyes, Cristian Santana, Manuel Sequera, Danny Serretti, Gage Workman.
OUTFIELDERS: Roberto Campos, Jose De La Cruz, Dom Johnson, Ben Malgeri, Seth Stephenson, Parker Meadows.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and retired Detroit News sports reporter.