Clearwater, Fla. — Who knows how this will play out in the next five or six days? But one thing that seems certain, left-hander Joey Wentz is going to be a big factor in the Tigers’ pitching plans this season.
“His growth has been incredible,” manager AJ Hinch said before Wentz went four innings against a mostly stacked Phillies lineup Thursday in the Tigers’ 4-1 spring loss. “That’s kind of been the story of Joey emerging all the way back to September last year – his zone control, attacking the zone.
“His effectiveness long-term as a starter is going to be tied around finding leverage on the first pitch and being able to throw something other than his fastballs in the zone. Going back to last September, he’s demonstrated he can get through lineups multiple times when he does that.”
Wentz’s immediate future seems to rest on the health of right-hander Michael Lorenzen’s left groin. If Lorenzen isn’t ready to start the season – there’s been no determination on that – Wentz will likely step in.
If not, Wentz will start the season at the top of the rotation at Triple-A Toledo and be the next man up when the need for a starting pitcher arises. Which it always does. The Tigers used 17 different starting pitchers last season and of the five projected starters this season, none pitched a full season in 2022.
“Michael is going to be a big part of our team,” Wentz said. “We want him out there, obviously. But if he happens to be down, and I don’t know if he will or not, then yeah, I feel ready. I feel like I can compete at this level and get guys out.
“But you want your guys to be out there.”
Wentz must’ve thought he was pitching in a Phillies’ tribute game Thursday. The first three hitters he faced were stars of Team USA in the WBC – Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and JT Realmuto — and the crowd at BayCare Ballpark showed their appreciation.
“For sure,” Wentz said. “Their top three guys got a nice little ovation for what they did in the WBC and obviously they are three great players, the best in the game. But as an opposing player, you look at them like it’s the leadoff hitter, the second hitter and the third hitter and you try to get them out.”
Wentz had his moments. In the third inning he struck out Schwarber swinging at a 93-mph four-seam fastball and then won an eight-pitch fight with Realmuto — beating him with a slower-than-usual 84-mph cutter after he’d thrown two 94-mph heaters by him earlier in the at-bat.
He finished off the inning by getting Weston Wilson to chase a biting curveball.
Wentz ended up allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks, and he was kicking himself for the last pitch he threw – a cutter up and out of the zone that the white-hot Turner lifted nearly over the berm in left field.
“Just kind of pissed off about the ending,” he said. “They got a run in the first and then I put up a couple of zeros after that, worked out of a little bit of trouble. But I would ideally have liked to finish the outing stronger than a two-run homer.”
Not a lot of hitters would be able to get the bat to that cutter, let alone hit it out of the park like Turner did. But even if Wentz hated that particular cutter, it might’ve been the only bad one he threw, and he threw 23 of them getting five misses on 11 swings with five called strikes.
Interestingly, too, the velocity range on the pitch was 83-89 mph.
“Ideally, I would prefer it up toward the 89 than the 83,” he said. “I noticed when I got into the stretch it was slower and I got that strikeout (of Realmuto) with it. It depends whether I’m trying to land it or maybe trying to be more aggressive with it.
“But I would like it to be harder.”
His curveball was very sharp, the spin rate up 293 rpms above his norm. His fastball was lively, too, sitting at 93 mph and getting five swings and misses. His ability to pair the cutter and the four-seamer, as well as land his breaking ball, has been a game-changer for Wentz.
“When you look at left-handed starting pitchers who have done that (four-seam, cutter), they can change the shape of the cutter,” Hinch said. “He can turn it into a slider if he wants. Andy Pettitte did that. Cole Hamels did that. JA Happ did that.
“It’s big for him to navigate different lineups with.”
All things considered, Wentz has done what he needed to do this spring. He’s put himself in position to be the first option if a starting spot opens up.
“I feel a lot better than I did a year ago,” he said. “I feel like I’m getting better and there’s still have a lot of room for improvement. But I do feel good about where I’m at.”
GAME BITS
…Right-hander Garrett Hill, who has fought through a couple of rough innings, pitched two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks with two strikeouts. Criss-crossing the plate with four-seam fastball (95 mph), sinkers (93), sliders and changeups, he got six whiffs on 17 swings and six called strikes.
…The Phillies lost the services of first baseman Rhys Hoskins. The team officially announced that Hoskins tore his ACL and will have surgery. On a frightening-looking play in the second inning, his left knee gave out on him as he was running down an infield single by Austin Meadows. He had to be carted off the field.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter@cmccosky