Lakeland, Fla. — His brother knew better. He even said so after that fateful game last October at Minute Maid Park in Houston. “I know what pitches he likes to hit,” Phil Maton said. And yet, with the crowd on its feet in the eighth inning of an otherwise meaningless regular-season finale, players from both
When the Detroit Tigers acquired Austin Meadows from the Tampa Bay Rays for Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance pick on April 4, 2022, the team thought they were getting a middle of the order bat for a lineup that was in dire need of some offensive punch. In the wake of Riley Greene’s fractured
LAKELAND, Fla. — Inside the Detroit Tigers‘ clubhouse, Justyn-Henry Malloy reaches into his locker and pulls out his Mizuno glove. He runs his finger over the stitching. A sky-blue ribbon — promoting prostate cancer awareness — is stitched into the leather. “My pops is currently kicking cancer’s butt right now!” Malloy says proudly. Henry Malloy,
One of the most intriguing aspects of Spring Training is the position and roster battles each team observes as it determines who will head north to begin the regular season. With these competitions come several dark horse candidates who could crack the Opening Day roster with a strong spring showing. Here’s a look at one
Lakeland, Fla. — Jake Rogers, wearing a cowboy hat as he sat in the clubhouse Sunday morning, didn’t need to look up the date. “July 18, 2021,” he said. That was the last time he caught in a competitive baseball game. He doubled in four at-bats that day, while helping Wily Peralta, Buck Farmer and
Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers’ third baseman Andy Ibanez came to bat with one out and nobody on in the third inning Saturday. He quickly got ahead in the count 3-0. He looked at third-base coach Gabe Alvarez, who gave him the green light to swing away. Ibanez peeked over to the dugout. “He kind of
LAKELAND, Fla. — Jake Rogers was passing around cowboy hats to teammates as he walked around the Tigers’ clubhouse Sunday morning. The team apparently had some lying around for a promotional video and gave some to him. As Rogers chatted up Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, it was impossible to tell he was about to
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 10-6, on Sunday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Tigers dropped to 1-1 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Nick Maton wasted no time. In his first plate appearance with the Tigers, following an offseason trade from the Philadelphia Phillies, the 26-year-old worked
Lakeland, Fla. — Riley Greene, as he did in 76 games last season, hit at the top of manager AJ Hinch’s lineup Sunday. And, as he has in all 93 games he’s played in the big leagues, he started in center field. But, as Hinch said Sunday morning, that won’t always be the case this
This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox. No one will replace the late Al Kaline as Mr. Tiger, but fellow Hall of Famer Alan Trammell has forged his own place as a franchise icon on and off
With the pitch clock being the big topic through two days of spring training, here’s the #Tigers’ starting pitchers sharing their initial opinions on how they’ll deal with it. #MarygroveAwnings
LAKELAND, Fla. — One week before the Detroit Tigers‘ first spring training game, Staci and Kenny Meadows — the parents of Austin and Parker Meadows — got into a debate about watching their sons play together for the first time. The parents live in Loganville, Georgia. The brothers play in Lakeland, Florida. It’s a 7-hour drive. “We might
Miguel Cabrera will retire from Major League Baseball after the 2023 season as one of the most prolific hitters in the history of the game, and a certain first ballot Hall of Famer. On the field, “Miggy” is a mere shadow of his former self, but still a main attraction wherever he goes. He is
LAKELAND, Fla. — Warning: The following column contains glancing references to math and physics. Yeah, I know. Math makes my head hurt. But this is fun science — the kind that explains why a fastball can dance like a wiffle ball. But we are going to explore it through the one person who can explain
Baseball’s new era arrived as many new eras do. With a lot of intrigue and a little awkwardness. With the excited embrace of some, the miffed objections of others and the ultimate conclusion that the game — and the world — will, indeed, go on. It’s Spring Training, so — as in that show “Whose
Lakeland, Fla. — There was a triple play. One Meadows brother homered on the first pitch he saw and the other Meadows brother swears the ball he launched over the Margaritaville Porch in right field two innings later was fair, though the umpires disagreed. There were 12 hits in the game. Thirty-seven position players and
LAKELAND, Fla. — As children, Jace Jung and his brother Josh — two future Texas Tech infielders, first-round picks and Top 100 prospects — used to play a version of Guess Who. No mustaches. No eye color. No facial features of any kind. This was a little different than the typical kid’s board game. “We
LAKELAND, Fla. — Kenny and Staci Meadows had just returned home to Georgia from a trip to Florida, where they had helped their sons Austin and Parker get ready for their first Spring Training together with the Tigers while seeing their granddaughter Adelynne. Kenny was still sore from shagging fly balls for his kids as
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, on Saturday at Joker Marchant Stadium in the first game of the Grapefruit League schedule in spring training. The game, the Tigers’ first played under MLB’s new rules mandating a 15- or 20-second pitch clock, lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes. “That’s a quick game,
Lakeland, Fla. — The Cuban flag is tattooed on his left arm. He was born in Havana and defected to the United States in 2014. That tells you all you need to know about how much playing for Team Cuba means to Tigers’ non-roster invitee Andy Ibanez. But here’s the rub: Ibanez is in a