LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers are at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium for an intrasquad scrimmage at 10:30 a.m. Friday. The game features the organization’s best prospects.
The two groups were Team Trammell, wearing gray uniforms, and Team Horton, wearing whites. Two umpires were active for the game, one behind home plate and the other roaming the infield.
Right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez started for Team Horton; righty Keider Montero started for Team Trammell.
Team Trammell: Riley Greene (CF), Spencer Torkelson (1B), Ryan Kreidler (SS), Gage Workman (3B), Andre Lipcius (DH), Eric De La Rosa (RF), Jacob Robson (LF), Jack Lopez (2B), Josh Crouch (C), Mike Rothenberg (DH).
Team Horton: Parker Meadows (CF), Cristian Santana (SS), Dillon Dingler (DH), Izaac Pacheco (SS), Jose De La Cruz (RF), Josh Lester (1B), Roberto Campos (LF), Colt Keith (3B), Luis Carpio (2B), Chris Rabago (C).
Tigers insider Evan Petzold is at TigerTown for the game, which features Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and other players. Follow along below for his live observations as the action progresses:
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Observations
First inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): With Rodriguez starting on the mound for Team Horton, Greene reached safely to start the game on an infield single up the middle. Torkelson, though, grounded into a double play. Kreidler followed with a grounder to third base, but the third baseman — Keith — committed a throwing error. Kreidler stole second base, and he scored on Workman’s single up the middle for a 1-0 lead. For the third out, Rabago threw out Workman trying to steal second base.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Montero started for Team Trammell and faced the minimum three batters, but it wasn’t an easy task. He opened his outing with back-to-back walks against Meadows (11 pitches) and Santana. Both hitters were cut down on the bases, as Crouch made perfect throws to second base and caught them trying to steal. Then, Dingler flied out to deep right-center field. Montero sat 94-96 mph with his fastball, but he was inconsistent.
SCORE: Team Trammell 1, Team Horton 0.
Second inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): Rodriguez returned to the mound, and once again, his defenders didn’t help him. Lipcius smacked a line drive down the third base line, and Keith made the back-handed snag, but he committed his second throwing error in as many innings. De La Rosa cranked a ground-rule double to right-center, putting two runners in scoring position. Still, Team Trammell only managed one run in the second inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Lopez.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Right-hander Brant Hurter, the Tigers’ seventh-round draft pick in 2021, replaced Montero for Team Trammell. He worked around an infield single from Pacheco, retiring De La Cruz, Lester and Campos in order to complete his one-inning outing.
SCORE: Team Trammell 2, Team Horton 0.
Third inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): Left-hander Adam Wolf pitched for Team Horton and was the most efficient pitcher so far in minicamp scrimmages. He needed four pitches to get through Rothenberg (groundout to pitcher), Greene (groundout to shortstop) and Torkelson (groundout to pitcher). Wolf is one of four left-handed pitchers on the Tigers’ minicamp roster.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Right-hander Angel Reyes, meanwhile, was the wildest pitcher so far in camp. After giving up back-to-back singles to Keith and Carpio, Reyes plunked Rabago to load the bases. Meadows responded by ripping a game-tying two-RBI double down the right-field line. Then, Reyes hit Santana with a pitch. Dingler grounded into a double play, enough to push home a third run for Team Horton’s first lead of the game. Pacheco flied out to center field, ending the inning.
SCORE: Team Trammell 2, Team Horton 3.
Fourth inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): Right-hander Reese Olson, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2021 Daniel Norris trade, made his Joker Marchant Stadium debut and immediately put himself in a jam. Kreidler and Daneurys De La Cruz (pinch-hitting for Workman) produced singles to center field. But Olson bounced back with consecutive outs. Lipcius had a broken-bat flyout to left field on a changeup, and De La Rosa struck out looking at an 84 mph slider. The inning ended after two outs — but no runs allowed — due to Olson’s pitch count.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Gerson Moreno, a right-handed reliever, pitched for Team Trammell, flashing 95 mph fastballs, a new splitter and inconsistent sliders. He struck out Jose De La Cruz on four pitches for his first out, which isn’t surprising considering De La Cruz struck out 74 times in 39 games for Low-A Lakeland last season. Moreno, expected in Triple-A Toledo this season, got Lester to flyout to center field, then missed with a 3-2 fastball and walked Campos. Keith battled in his at-bat but struck out looking at a fastball to end the frame.
SCORE: Team Trammell 2, Team Horton 3.
Fifth inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): Right-hander Luis Castillo, who pitched for Triple-A Reno in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization last season, squandered Team Horton’s one-run advantage. Robson, the leadoff man, bunted down the third-base line for a single, stole second base and scored for a 3-3 tie on Lopez’s infielder grounder to shortstop that deflected off Pacheco and into the outfield. Castillo picked up momentum with outs against Eliezer Alfonzo (pinch-hitting for Crouch) and Rothenberg. He finished his outing when Greene grounded out to second base.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Carlos Guzman, a right-hander, pitched for Team Trammell. He reached 97 mph with his fastball out of the gate but walked Carpio. Rabago popped out in the infield, and Cooper Johnson (entering the lineup) flied out to center field. But Meadows kept the Team Horton within striking distance, smacking a single to center field and putting runners on the corners for Santana. The 18-year-old phenom struck out looking.
SCORE: Team Trammell 3, Team Horton 3.
Sixth inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): Right-hander Dario Gardea threw his fastball around 92-93 mph, and his secondary pitches aided his completion of a perfect inning against some of the top prospects. Torkelson flied out to shallow right field, Kreidler struck out swinging on a slider and Daneurys De La Cruz popped out to the middle of the infield.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Drew Carlton, a right-hander who pitched for the Tigers in MLB last season, worked quickly for Team Trammell. Dingler grounded out to shortstop, allowed Kreidler to put his smooth defensive actions on display. Pacheco flied out to left field, and Jon Rosoff (entering the lineup) grounded out to second base on the first pitch he saw.
SCORE: Team Trammell 3, Team Horton 3.
Seventh inning
TOP (TRAMMELL): During warmups, Keith dropped to the infield dirt near third base. The trainers came out of the dugout to check on him. After a conversation, Keith stood up — rubbed his neck — and remained in the game. Right-hander A.J. Ladwig, the second oldest player in minicamp, began his outing by walking Lipcius and conceding a single to De La Rosa. He retired the next three batters: Robson, Lopez (strikeout) and Alfonzo. Ladwig, 29, pitched for Triple-A Toledo last season.
BOTTOM (HORTON): Right-hander Elvis Alvarado flashed his 98 mph fastball. He worked around a one-out walk from Lester. In his scoreless inning, Alvarado — previously in the Seattle Mariners’ organization — handled Jose De La Cruz, Campos and Keith, but the 23-year-old didn’t record a strikeout. The Tigers added Alvarado in December as their top pick in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft.
SCORE: Team Trammell 3, Team Horton 3.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.