Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — You really need to be careful about making hard and fast judgments about players off a small sample size. Especially in baseball, where the normal measuring base is 162 games. Take new Tigers outfielder Nomar Mazara as a case study. From 2016 through 2019 with the Rangers, he averaged
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Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — When Tigers manager AJ Hinch talks about a “culture of pressure,” which he has quite a bit early in spring, this is what it can look like: On Tuesday, Spencer Torkelson scored from first on a double by JaCoby Jones. High- risk play, but he scored without
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — A few days ago, manager AJ Hinch pulled prospect Spencer Torkelson aside to give him a heads up. Be prepared to get some work at first base as well as third base this spring. “There’s just been so much talk about it, about him moving to third base, over
Lakeland, Fla. — AJ Hinch on Monday was asked if he liked reliever Alex Lange’s demeanor on the mound. “You mean breathing fire in game one in spring training?” Hinch said, laughing. “With some intensity? Yeah, that’s a plus.” Lange, to say the least, has announced his presence in this camp with some authority. The 25-year-old
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Almost daily, manager AJ Hinch is asked about his concern level regarding shortstop Willi Castro’s defense at shortstop, specifically, his throwing. “Accuracy is key, but you can focus on that and make it a problem if you are not careful,” he said. Well, Castro isn’t making it easy to
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Don’t tell Matt Manning he’s not making the team out of spring. He ain’t buying it. “I’m pitching like I’m trying to make the team out of spring,” Manning said. “They talk about how they’re going to take the best 26 players. I’m going to try to be
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers manager AJ Hinch said it earlier camp, for some young players, their development might be better served keeping them in the big leagues rather than sending them back to Triple A. Clearly, he thinks 22-year-old Isaac Paredes fits that description. “He can play,” Hinch said Wednesday
Tony Paul | The Detroit News Detroit — Most years, even the down years, scoring Tigers Opening Day tickets is like winning the lottery. This year, with all the COVID-19 uncertainty, tickets have been more accessible since they went on sale back earlier in the winter. The luck element, this time, will be if you get to
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Bradenton, Fla. — The good baseball folks at FanGraphs have made a keen observation about new Tigers’ right fielder Nomar Mazara. How does a guy have a hard-hit rate that’s in the top 10 percentile in baseball last season, an exit velocity that’s in the top 18 percentile and come out
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Bradenton, Fla. — Casey Mize has five above average to elite pitches. That’s why the Tigers took him with the first overall pick in the draft in 2018. That’s why he’s been on top of the club’s prospects list since he signed. That’s why he has a chance to be
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Bradenton, Fla. — Game of adjustments, right? You hear that phrase day after day, year after year, around the game of baseball. Here’s what that looks like: Tigers right-hander Casey Mize got two quick strikes on veteran right-handed hitter Todd Frazier leading off the second inning Monday at LECOM Park, but he
Lynn Henning | The Detroit News Editor’s note: This is the first in a weekly series of stories in which Detroit News freelance writer Lynn Henning will rank the top prospects in July’s MLB Draft. Not that the Tigers are being overly picky, but if the kind of hitter who can bash good pitching happens to
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Manager AJ Hinch didn’t exactly pull punches when he was asked about where right-hander Kyle Funkhouser stood in the Tigers’ pitching plans. “He is in that gray area right now in between Triple A and the big leagues,” Hinch said last week. “He got a little taste
Lynn Henning | The Detroit News Editor’s note: This is the first in a weekly series of stories in which Detroit News freelance writer Lynn Henning will rank the top prospects in July’s MLB Draft. Not that the Tigers are being overly picky, but if the kind of hitter who can bash good pitching happens
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — What to do about Baddoo? That’s more than just cheesy wordplay. It’s actually one of the serious questions facing the Tigers this spring. What exactly are they going to do with Rule 5 draftee Akil Baddoo? “He’s a real good-looking prospect,” general manager Al Avila said. “We got
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Derek Holland, for one, was fired up to pitch in front of actual, human beings Sunday. “I wish I could say the exact words to describe how it felt,” said the veteran lefty trying to win a spot in the Tigers bullpen as a non-roster invitee. “It’s everything
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — AJ Hinch already knows what’s coming Monday when he brings the Tigers into Tampa to play the Yankees. The Yankees, as much as any team, are still embittered by the sign-stealing scandal that took place under Hinch’s watch in Houston in 2017 and 2018, the scandal
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Derek Holland, for one, was fired up to pitch in front of actual, human beings Sunday. “I wish I could say the exact words to describe how it felt,” said the veteran lefty trying to win a spot in the Tigers bullpen as a non-roster invitee. “It’s everything
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Hang with me here: Let’s say this was like, 2005, and JaCoby Jones was a basketball player. At this stage of his career, he’d be more likely to thrive on the And1 Live Tour than in the NBA. He’s so gifted athletically. He can give you a
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Julio Teheran didn’t suddenly forget how to pitch. Can we be clear about that? From 2013-2019, the two-time All-Star flat-out posted every five days. He made over 30 starts in each of those years, averaged 191 innings with a 3.64 ERA and a .231 opponent batting