Lakeland, Fla. — AJ Hinch was talking about the competition among left-handed relievers for the final one or two spots in his bullpen. This was Tuesday after Derek Holland had pitched so well in a spring loss to the Yankees. And, out of nowhere, he declared, “The only one guaranteed (a spot) is Daniel Norris.”
Hinch early on made a commitment to Norris. He let him compete for a spot in the rotation, but all along he saw Norris as a vital piece of his bullpen. Not a bulk reliever. Not an opener or spot starter. Absolutely not a piggyback, tandem-starter like he’s mostly been the last two years.
What he sees in Norris is a weapon, a diverse, multi-usage tool he can pull out in any situation to help win a game. And of all the labels and roles Norris has been branded with through the course of his injury-staggered career — to be called a weapon, at last, has to be music to his ears.
“I want to start, I’ve made that known to AJ,” Norris said on Wednesday. “But I also said, no matter what happens, I made it clear to him that I want you to need me. I want to really help the team. I understand covering innings, but I also want to feel like you need to bring me into a game and you have faith in me.”
That is done.
“We undersell the development of veteran pitchers in the major leagues,” Hinch said. “Obviously health is the biggest factor for him, by far. But he’s learned about pitching, about using his athleticism, how to use his pitches and the value of pitching ahead.
“Going one time through the order the last couple of years, that was good for him, just learning to trust his stuff and not trying to govern himself trying to get through five, six, seven innings. He’s figuring out pitching more and more.”
In 13 mostly multiple-inning relief appearances last season, Norris posted a 2.77 ERA. Opponents slashed .212/.250/.333 against him. He had 28 strikeouts and five walks. Albeit a small sample size, but it felt like the completion of the transition for Norris — from a power-armed thrower to a complete pitcher.
It’s very much the same transition Michael Fulmer is attempting to make this spring. And how convenient, then, that Norris and Fulmer are locker neighbors inside the Tigers’ clubhouse.
More: Tigers’ Michael Fulmer erratic, but encouraged by new diverse pitch mix
“We’ve talked a lot about that,” Norris said. “We’ve had different surgeries (groin surgery for Norris, knee and elbow surgery for Fulmer) but I think both of them did a good number on our bodies. We all watched Michael in 2016, 2017 — it was easy for him. All he had to do was throw power sinkers 98 mph down the middle and it was a bunch of ground balls and strikeouts.
“But all of a sudden, you wake up one day and it’s not there.”
That happened to Norris after his groin surgery in 2018. Where once he averaged 95 mph on his fastball, he was ringing 88 and 89 on the radar gun. That is an identity crisis for a pitcher.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “You’re really digging deep into who you are and what you used to identify with. I mean, it’s still there. I watch Michael, and I’ve been there. I know what he’s going through. It just takes time. It’s not gone forever.”
As he stayed healthy, gained strength and got consistent game action, Norris has his fastball up to 92-93 mph and he can hit 94 when he needs to. But what he’s learned, though, is he has above average spin rate on his four-seamer. In fact, it’s in the top 15 percentile in baseball.
That spin means even at 93 mph, Norris’ fastball is lively, it stays true and is a useful pitch when properly located, especially up in the zone. He’s been able to use it to set up his money pitch — the hard change-up at 87-88 mph.
“He adapted on the fly, too, just like I’m trying to do,” Fulmer said. “He started throwing more change-ups and it’s nasty for him. I’m trying to find out what the next trick is for me, the new pitch or the new sequencing I can do.”
It took two years for Norris to full accept this as his new reality, which is another message he’s tried to pass on to Fulmer, who is in the early stages of the process.
“It starts with frustration,” Norris said. “You feel like your back is against the wall and it’s like, ‘All right, I’ve got to scrap to get out of here.’ When you are pitching at 88 mph and you aren’t used to pitching at 88, you really dig deep and find ways to kind of trick guys.
“For me, I had to just try to stay afloat, stay alive and that taught me a lot about myself and what I could still do at this level without my best weapon.”
Things started to click for Norris at the end of the 2019. Manager at the time Ron Gardenhire was going to shut Norris down in August because, coming off surgery, he was getting to his innings limit. But Norris sent Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson an impassioned and on-point letter detailing why he felt it would be best to let him keep pitching, even if in shorter stints.
That’s how NorHagen was born. Norris and former Tiger Drew VerHagen started making tandem starts. Norris would go the first three innings and VerHagen would take over and go as long as he could. In the final eight starts that year, Norris posted a 2.25 ERA holding opponents to a .193 average, with 23 strikeouts and five walks.
“Once you feel that, that you don’t have your best stuff but you can still get people out – and then when your velocity does come back you are so much better for it,” Norris said. “You know how to pitch. It’s a tough lesson, but it’s a necessary one.”
It will be fascinating to see how Hinch uses Norris in the regular season, both to facilitate wins and to cover innings. Or, if the starting pitching depth begins to thin either because of injury, ineffectiveness or innings limits, might he have to transition back to starting?
“Ultimately, the only thing I wanted was to feel healthy,” Norris said. “If you feel good on the mound — I mean, we’re all here (at this level) for a reason. We’re all pretty good at what we do. But when you are not feeling healthy, that’s when things go awry.
“All I ever wished for was just to feel good and be healthy. “Because then you can compete with anybody.”
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky