Lakeland, Fla. — It was his first start of the spring and it was just two innings, but to think where Matt Manning was at this time last year (lost) and then see how he looked on Monday in the Tigers’ 3-1 exhibition loss to the Blue Jays at Joker Marchant Stadium (found) — it’s rather remarkable.
“Last year was a big mountain to climb for him,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Going back to last spring, the uncertainty of when he was going to arrive (coming off an injury and having not pitched in 2020), he had a miserable month of May, we called him up when he arguably wasn’t ready or wasn’t performing at his best — and he just continued to make strides.”
And there he was Monday, throwing 95- and 96-mph four-seamers and getting tardy swings from bona fide big-league hitters like Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero, Jr. Mixing in just enough sliders and curveballs to keep them honest.
His maturity was on display right away, winning a nine-pitch at-bat with Bichette, the second batter of the game. He saw early in the at-bat that Bichette was tardy on his fastball, fouling three off barely getting a piece of them.
Manning then showed him a curve ball, throwing it just off the plate. After Bichette was tardy to another 95-mph fastball, again ticking it foul, he slipped in a slider — just off the plate. Finally, he got Bichette to ground weakly to second base, jammed by another 95-mph fastball.
“That’s the stuff I’m learning,” Manning said. “You can waste a pitch and change the eye level and maybe get a swing and miss, but you have to stay (with the fastball) because he was just tipping it out of (catcher Eric) Haase’s glove.”
Manning allowed just one hit and finished his day by striking out Orelvis Martinez (ugly swing at a slider) and Mallex Smith (elevated four-seam). He threw 27 pitches, 21 strikes.
“I tried to go as quick as possible,” Manning said with a smile. “Two innings were good. Get out of there. I just wanted to establish the zone and threw as many strikes as I could and attack the hitters. Make them swing the bat.”
That’s what Hinch has been preaching. Put hitters in disadvantaged counts and the stuff will play, if not dominate.
“Stuff-wise, he was really good by the end of the season last year, as strong as we could’ve hoped for,” Hinch said. “But that only came through the challenges and his understanding that his best was good enough. It’s more about leverage. He needs to get into more leverage counts and not dance around the zone and have five- and six-pitch at-bats.
“Challenge guys early with any pitch, but when he pitches to leverage, he’s really good.”
Like Manning did last year, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal took their lumps during the abbreviated 2020 season. Both came back stronger and better last season.
“Matt is more established in our rotation,” Hinch said. “Now it’s a matter of making the same leap we saw Casey and Tarik make last year. That’s the challenge ahead for Matt.”
Players of interest
The battle for the final spots in the bullpen is hot and showing no signs of cooling off.
Already right-handers Will Vest, Jason Foley, Ricardo Pinto, Jacob Barnes and Drew Carlton have logged successful first impressions.
Hold-overs from last season, Joe Jimenez and Bryan Garcia both got their second looks of the spring. Jimenez, a little wobbly in his first outing (two hits in a scoreless inning), was much crisper Monday with his fastball hitting 97 mph and sitting at 96.
Garcia got some ugly swings with his sweeping slider Monday, but also gave up a couple of hits.
The eye-raiser, though, was right-hander Miguel Diaz. The 27-year-old former Padre, in camp as a non-roster invitee, struck out two (both left-handed hitters) and featured an effective sinker-change-up mix.
“That change-up is pretty effective,” Hinch said. “If you look at his whiff rate (27% last year), it’s pretty good. They just don’t hit it very often. This was our first look at him. He will go again in a couple of days. We’re trying to build some depth behind the guys we already have, and he’s got Major League experience.”
Around the horn
Tuesday is the deadline for teams and players to exchange salary figures ahead of arbitration. The Tigers have eight players eligible. They are (with projected arbitration figure): Jeimer Candelario ($5.9 million), Michael Fulmer ($5.1 million), Jose Cisnero ($1.9 million), Jimenez ($1.8 million), Spencer Turnbull ($1.8 million), Dustin Garneau ($1.6 million), Harold Castro ($1.5 million) and Victor Reyes ($1.3 million).
… The expectation is the Tigers will sign all of those players to one-year deals before the arbitration date. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, arb-eligible players who agree to a salary before arbitration would get full termination pay. Under the old agreement, teams could cut a player and only pay them a prorated share of that salary.
… The Tigers mustered just two hits Monday, none after the second inning. Akil Baddoo tripled and Willi Castro doubled.
… Blue Jays pitcher Jose De Leon crumbled to the ground after spiking a pitch and left the game immediately with a trainer. The initial report was a shoulder injury.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky