LAKELAND, Fla. — The running joke in the clubhouse starts with Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard. “They’re ducking George Lombard behind the scenes because they don’t want their shoulder tapped to come in and meet with me,” manager AJ Hinch said Friday. “They’re certainly wondering and curious. It’s really hard because we haven’t communicated
Bradenton, Fla. — AJ Hinch looked at the gaudy scoreboard high atop left-center field at LECOM Ballpark. It was the fourth inning of Friday’s game between the Tigers and Pirates and Hinch, who has been in a few ballgames during his years playing and managing, saw something borderline crazy. His starting pitcher, Matthew Boyd, had
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize pitched masterfully Thursday night. And with a chip on his shoulder. “I wanted to make a good impression,” Mize said Thursday. “Because, you know, I needed to. This spring hasn’t been as good as I would have liked for it to be, so I knew I needed to
BRADENTON, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2, on Friday at LECOM Park, improving to 11-11 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Left-hander Matthew Boyd, the Opening Day starter, pitched into the fifth and sixth innings for the first time this spring. He was incredibly efficient, using 75 pitches (52 strikes) and
By Jerry Green | Special to The Detroit News The Rock sat clutching a can of beer on the porch of the roadside motel in the spring-training town in the middle of Florida. It was back in the age when beer cans were made of heavy gauge steel coated with tin. He finished his beer
Former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize has made the Tigers’ Opening Day rotation, manager A.J. Hinch announced this morning (Twitter links via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). Hinch also revealed that former AL Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer will begin the season in the bullpen, where he’ll be joined by veteran lefty Derek Holland
A.J. Hinch’s first Spring Training as Tigers manager set what he hopes will be the tone for his tenure, with an attention to detail, an aggressiveness on the mound and on the basepaths, a tenaciousness at the plate and an expectation to win the day. What that means for Detroit’s 2021 season will unfold over
Bradenton, Fla. — Roster debates as the Tigers get ready for Opening Day were trimmed, a bit dramatically Friday, when manager AJ Hinch announced Casey Mize had made his starting rotation, and that Derek Holland and Michael Fulmer have won bullpen jobs. Mize struck out nine in four innings in Thursday night’s game against the
We’re less than a week from Opening Day, and A.J. Hinch and the Detroit Tigers have announced more roster pieces as the 26-man roster begins to coalesce. Two days after naming Tarik Skubal and Julio Teheran to the rotation, Hinch has informed Casey Mize he will be joining them in the starting rotation as well.
A day after his nine-strikeout gem against the Blue Jays, Casey Mize has made the Tigers’ rotation, manager A.J. Hinch announced on Friday. The move pushes Michael Fulmer into the bullpen. Ranked as the club’s No. 2 prospect and No. 11 overall in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, the 23-year-old right-hander joins Tarik Skubal, the
Right now, the weak side of the Detroit Tigers’ development system is a lack of bats. That will likely look different a year from now as the club’s top three pitching prospects graduate to the majors. Meanwhile, the team selected hitters with all six picks in the 2021 draft and generally drew good grades for
LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize is coming back to the major leagues, manager AJ Hinch announced Friday. Right-hander Michael Fulmer will make the team and pitch out of the bullpen. Also, left-hander Derek Holland is going to make the roster. Holland, a 12-year MLB veteran, has tossed eight scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts
During the offseason, it is commonplace to develop wants for one’s team to improve and the different ways in which to do it. Of course, I had sights set on the likes of JT Realmuto for the Detroit Tigers. But it is one thing to reference what the club should do and another to keep in mind…
Dunedin, Florida – You could see it in his pitches Thursday night at TD Ballpark. You could see it in Casey Mize’s mound mannerisms, as well, a kind of fed-up fury that comes when a 24-year-old pitcher who three years ago was a first-overall draft pick decides he’s had enough rehearsals. Mize wants to make
When Casey Mize gets his pitches working and finds a rhythm on the mound, he can make a gem of an outing look like a game of catch. Thursday was a gem, but not necessarily effortless. Mize wore his intensity on the sleeve of his Spring Training jersey as he tried to pitch his way
The Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays ended Thursday’s contest deadlocked at three runs apiece. Jeimer Candelario continued to swing the bat well, Eric Haase crushed a late inning home run, and Joe Jiménez continued to look alternately good and bad, often from pitch to pitch. But what mattered in this one, is that both
Veteran infielder Greg Garcia will not make the Tigers’ season-opening roster, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com was among those to report. It’s unclear whether Garcia, who signed a minor league contract with an opt-out clause in the offseason, will remain with the organization. A Cardinal and Padre from 2014-20, Garcia carries quite a bit of experience
This week, MLB Pipeline ranked farm systems by their position-player and pitcher groups as well as their 21-and-under talent. This provides one way of highlighting the strengths of the game’s best farm systems and also gives us a chance to point out ways that some of the more middling clubs can still stand out on
DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers tied the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-3, on Thursday at TD Ballpark, remaining at 10-11 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Right-hander Casey Mize — pitching for spot in the starting rotation — struck out nine over four innings to open the game. The 24-year-old allowed two earned runs on five
The 2021 edition of Spring Training was always going to be a special one for prospects. Following the lost 2020 Minor League season, Cactus and Grapefruit League play represented the first opportunities to see some of the game’s brightest young stars perform in public once again, away from the alternate training sites and instructional league