CLEARWATER, Fla. — Michael Pineda sat by himself in the clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium Wednesday morning while the rest of the team hit the road to face the Phillies. Now, however, Pineda’s Tigers debut is finally in sight, if not his eventual slot into Detroit’s rotation.
After about a week and a half of waiting, Pineda’s work visa was approved. He’ll make his first Tigers appearance on Saturday, piggybacking starter Eduardo Rodriguez against the Orioles at Joker Marchant Stadium, manager A.J. Hinch announced.
Pineda had been in camp, having been in the United States on a resident visa that was expiring, but had to wait for the work visa before becoming a full participant. He’s expected to throw just a couple of innings Saturday as he begins to build up his endurance, a process that will continue after the Tigers break camp to head to Detroit next week.
As long as Pineda gives his permission, he is likely to open the season at Triple-A Toledo for a couple of starts. Though he has nearly 10 years of Major League service time, he still has a Minor League option, allowing the Tigers to send him to the Minor Leagues if he approves. Aníbal Sánchez had a similar situation with the Tigers in 2017 when he was pitching long relief while working on pitches to eventually return as a starter.
Tyler Alexander will open the season as the Tigers’ fifth starter. Pineda will slot in there when he’s ready.
“[Alexander is] going to start the fifth game of the year,” Hinch said. “And that’s about as far as I really need to take it.”
Peralta expected to join camp this weekend
Wily Peralta, who has also been awaiting visa approval after signing a Minor League contract to return to the Tigers earlier this month, could join camp this weekend, according to Hinch. The veteran right-hander, who was one of the surprises of the pitching staff last year following his midseason callup, has supposedly been throwing in his native Dominican Republic to build up his arm.
Peralta, who was reassigned to Minor League camp on Monday, is also expected to open the season in Toledo. He’ll prepare for a relief role. The Tigers want to see how he’s throwing before they determine how much time he needs, which could factor into how Detroit builds a 28-man Opening Day roster without him.
“We need to get Peralta in camp and see where he’s going to be physically and where his readiness is,” Hinch said. “I don’t think he’ll break camp with us. I don’t think that’s fair to him or fair to these guys, but that might impact [the roster] more from a length standpoint.
Mize throws in Minor League game
While most of the Tigers were off on Tuesday, Casey Mize took the mound at Joker Marchant Stadium against a group of Yankees Minor League hitters and tossed four innings in his third start of the spring. The camp game served the purpose of stretching out Mize’s arm while keeping him on schedule to be ready to start the second game of the regular season April 9 against the White Sox.
“It was very low-adrenaline, no people in the stands,” Hinch said. “He faced all Minor Leaguers. From a volume standpoint, he threw four innings. He had a little bit of stress, which I was happy that a couple guys got on. There were a couple errors made behind him. He gave up a couple hits. It was more of just a conditioning and endurance day than a necessarily quality Spring Training start.”
Skubal dominates Harper again
The last time Tarik Skubal pitched at the Phillies’ BayCare Ballpark, he staked his claim to a 2021 rotation spot with a high-strikeout performance that included fanning Bryce Harper twice. Skubal returned Wednesday already firmly established as a Tigers starter, but he pitched to Harper in a 7-1 win like he was trying to make the club all over again.
Skubal faced Harper with two outs and nobody on in the first inning and froze him with an 0-2 fastball at 95 mph on the outside corner. Two innings later, Skubal faced Harper with runners on first and second and two outs and sent down Harper swinging at three sliders in the upper-80s.
It was a good matchup for Skubal, who was looking to ramp up his adrenaline and intensity in his third start of the spring. He allowed three hits across four scoreless innings with five strikeouts and a walk.
“It’s an MVP player coming off an MVP year,” Skubal said. “Obviously the adrenaline runs a little bit higher when you face those types of players. I was kind of in a jam there and I made three quality pitches to get out of it. That’s kind of why I guess the emotion went a little bit higher. To make those pitches to that type of hitter and get those results is always good.”
Skubal threw 47 of 66 pitches for strikes. His slider was particularly effective, garnering 10 swings, seven misses and four called strikes on 18 pitches. His fastball drew eight called strikes and three swings and misses.