Tony Paul | The Detroit News Baseball fans, clearly, are an eager bunch. Spring-training tickets in both Florida and Arizona are hot commodities, including the Tigers, who earlier this month sold out all 15 of their home Grapefruit League games in three hours. The Tigers are operating at limited capacity at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland,
Zack Hess had to wait until the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft to hear his named called. The right-hander out of LSU had a ton of talent, but he also had a very high effort and funky delivery that scared teams away. The Detroit Tigers selected him with a plan to transition him
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. – AJ Hinch and his coaching staff had just finalized lineup plans Wednesday for the first couple of exhibition games, which start Sunday, with Tigers’ top prospect Spencer Torkelson to make an early start at third base. Then came the phone call Wednesday night: Torkelson cut his right index
LAKELAND, Fla. – Spencer Torkelson’s highly anticipated Grapefruit League debut will have to wait a few days. The Tigers’ top prospect will miss the first few games of Spring Training after suffering a small cut on his right index finger. The injury happened Wednesday night at home, manager A.J. Hinch said. Torkelson is sharing a
Mitts popping, bats cracking, sun shining–just some of the stimulations for the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Florida as all but a few stragglers are present to prepare for the upcoming, semi-normal 162-game schedule for the 2021 season.
Tarik Skubal fully emerged from the shadow of Casey Mize and Matt Manning in 2020. After some early struggles, his major league debut was a success under difficult circumstances and offered a glimpse at his potential to become a very good starting pitcher. Now with some experience under his belt, and a new pitch to
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press Show Caption Hide Caption How Detroit Tigers’ Casey Mize felt pitching live to batters Wednesday in camp Detroit Tigers pitching prospect Casey Mize pitched Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, against Niko Goodrum, Harold Castro and Greg Garcia in camp. Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press LAKELAND, Fla. — Top pitching prospect Casey
Jeff Seidel | Detroit Free Press LAKELAND, Fla. — We interrupt spring training for a fishing story. Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, two of the Detroit Tigers’ top prospects, went fishing in a pond behind the house they are renting at spring training. And Jake Rogers, their other roommate, went out to watch and pulled up
I must admit I was hoping Mike would go with a big leaguer so I could nab Franco here, and had I been able to walk away with a Franco-Robert combination with my back-to-back picks, I would’ve been thrilled. I know Robert faded down the stretch in 2020, but keep in mind that was just
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — Professor AJ Hinch delivered a meaty media session Wednesday morning. The topic: zone defense. Say what now? This wasn’t a basketball discussion. The way Hinch conceptualizes and teaches defensive shifts is akin to playing a zone. “The reality is, we don’t know exactly where the ball is going
Jeff Seidel | Detroit Free Press LAKELAND, Fla. — One Stanford man was heart-broken for another on Wednesday. Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch was rattled after learning that Tiger Woods was seriously injured outside Los Angeles on Tuesday after a rollover accident. “I was sick to my stomach,” Hinch said Wednesday morning. Hinch and Woods both attended
LAKELAND, Fla. — No American League team shifted its infielders last year more often than the Tigers, who shifted on 50.5 percent of opposing plate appearances according to Statcast. Don’t expect that to change dramatically under new manager A.J. Hinch, whose Astros led the AL in shifts in each of the previous four seasons. The
Tigers infielder Willi Castro says he’s really excited about having the chance to be the everyday shortstop in 2021. #TigersST
Tigers starter Casey Mize says it’s definitely different this year, trying to break camp with a spot in the rotation . #TigersST
Tigers outfield prospect Riley Greene says he learned a lot in Toledo in 2020, but his cooking skills are being put to the test in Lakeland this spring. #TigersST
Evan Petzold | Detroit Free Press LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers infielder Willi Castro recently had his braces removed. He flashed a sharp smile Wednesday afternoon, fielding ground balls and firing them to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Beyond the braces, the 23-year-old is losing the training wheels. The Tigers are confidently moving forward with him as their
It’s the match-up that beats at the heart of baseball, so it’s only natural that it plays a prominent role in spring training workouts. Take a look and a listen as Tigers batters get their first swings against live pitching. Spencer Turnbull, Matthew Boyd & Matt Manning are among those on the mound, while Miguel
LAKELAND, Fla. — Jake Rogers has some history watching top prospects grow up. The Tigers catching prospect caught Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Alex Faedo at Double-A Erie in 2019, then caught them again along with Tarik Skubal at the alternate training site in Toledo, Ohio, last summer. He shared a house last Spring Training
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News Lakeland, Fla. — If you ever questioned the wisdom of bringing players who are still in the lower rungs of the minor-league system to big-league training camp, we draw your attention to the scene on the backfields of Joker Marchant Stadium Wednesday. Twenty-year-old Riley Greene, the Tigers’ No. 4-ranked prospect, was
Growing up as a Detroit Tigers fan in the ’80s, names like Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris, and others come to your mind. The image of Sparky Anderson on the steps with his pipe and his glasses may also come to mind.