Detroit News

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — If Tigers center fielder Derek Hill looks different at the plate this spring, it’s because, well he is. Like, completely different. “I’ve just tried to keep it as simple as possible,” said Hill, the Tigers’ first-round pick in 2014 who finally made his big-league debut last season. “I

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — The Tigers’ first cuts of the spring came on Friday. Four pitchers were assigned to Triple-A Toledo: Joey Wentz, Alex Faedo, Beau Burrows and Kyle Funkhouser. Wentz and Faedo, both coming back from Tommy John surgeries, are rehabbing and will eventually end up on the injured list. Seven

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers manager AJ Hinch mentioned it earlier in camp, that he suspected that one day Major League Baseball might step in and legislate shifts out of the game. Well, his suspicions are now a little closer to reality. The league announced Thursday several rules experiments that will take

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Dunedin, Fla. — If you were hellbent to do so, you could come up with logical and reasonable arguments against Tarik Skubal starting the season in the Tigers’ rotation. He’s still young (24). He went from Double-A to the big leagues last year and only threw 32 innings over seven

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — You kind of expected Renato Nunez to be at least a little embittered. A guy hits 43 home runs, knocks in 121 runs, has a combined 106 OPS-plus, ranks in the top 20 percentile in barrels (exit velocity of 95 mph or better) and hard-hit rate in

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Clearwater, Fla. — Among the smorgasbord of takeaways from the Tigers’ 6-4 spring loss to the Phillies Wednesday is, skipper AJ Hinch is never going to flinch when it comes to using defensive shifts. And why would he? They helped him to five straight winning seasons, two trips to the

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Clearwater, Fla. — Ian Krol threw a curveball when he pitched for the Tigers in 2014 and 2015. But he didn’t throw this curveball, not the one he’s featured in his three scoreless, hitless outings this spring, the one that’s helped him record six punchouts, the one that may push

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Remember those two throwing errors by shortstop Willi Castro last week? Yeah, we don’t either. Castro has a way of quickly erasing negatives. He did it with his bat and glove Tuesday — a plus-5 swing on just two plays — in the Tigers’ 6-5 spring win over the

Chris McCosky   | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Fans milled about the concession stands creating a familiar but near-forgotten buzz as Tigers chairman and CEO Christopher Ilitch gave his annual spring training media chat Tuesday, appropriately distanced on the concourse at Joker Marchant Stadium. Ilitch couldn’t help but notice. “We’re not just playing baseball here,

Lynn Henning | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — With a chilled breeze working to out-duel a bright sun and pure-blue sky, this was one of those Florida mornings in March Jim Leyland had known so many years in Lakeland since he first arrived for Tigers spring camp in 1964. He was dressed fittingly: sunglasses riding on the

Chris McCosky   | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — We should all have some of Victor Reyes’ inner calm. This is yet another pivotal spring training for the Tigers’ 26-year-old outfielder. On paper, his spot on the roster is fairly secure. His spot in the starting lineup, not so much. The Tigers brought in two veteran

Lynn Henning | The Detroit News Supposedly, the prep shortstop who was above all others in 2021, who had scouts whispering of Derek Jeter reincarnate, was Jordan Lawlar of Dallas Jesuit High. And that may still be true. But those same scouts know Lawlar has company at Eastlake High in Chula Vista, California, where Marcelo Mayer

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — As much stuff AJ Hinch and his coaching staff already have crammed into this camp — a new defensive system, a new aggressive, pressurizing offensive profile, changing the mentality and identity of the team both on the field and in the clubhouse — it’s hard to believe it’s

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — It certainly could have been a lot worse. Tigers catcher Grayson Greiner suffered a broken nose after being struck with a 94-mph fastball Sunday from Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Elvis Luciano. The break was relatively clean and no reconstruction was required. In addition, there was no damage to the

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Let’s say the Tigers carry six starting pitchers to begin the season. That’s not set in stone, by any means, but it’s been the working theory early in camp. Let’s also say that Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull are two of them. Lock them in for the sake of

Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — On Thursday, Blue Jays right-hander Elvis Luciano hit Tigers infielder Zack Short in the head with a 90-plus mph pitch. Short, fortunately, escaped serious injury. Catcher Grayson Greiner might not have been as lucky. A first-pitch fastball, 94 mph, from Luciano in the bottom of the sixth

Chris McCosky   | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — The Tigers, as they enter the third week of full-squad work, are just about at full camp capacity. Outfielder Victor Reyes passed the COVID-19 intake testing and was cleared for all activities on Sunday. He went through a full team workout on the backfields. First baseman and

Lynn Henning  |  Special to The Detroit News Show Caption Hide Caption Tigers’ Michael Fulmer after first spring start following an ‘exciting week’ Tigers pitcher speaks after his first start Saturday when he faced six batters, giving up a hit and striking out one in a 6-5 win over the Orioles. The Detroit News Sarasota,

Chris McCosky   | The Detroit News Show Caption Hide Caption Tigers prospect Kody Clemens: ‘Excited to show what I have to offer’ Son of Rogers Clemens tells Detroit News’ Chris McCosky what his goals are this spring, which includes using all fields as a hitter. The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — So Tigers’ infield prospect

Lynn Henning  |  Special to The Detroit News Show Caption Hide Caption Tigers’ Willi Castro: ‘I haven’t changed my routine’ Tigers shortstop tells Detroit News’ Lynn Henning why he opted not to play in winter league and the reasons why he’s stinging the ball this spring The Detroit News Tampa, Fla. — In olden days,