LAKELAND, Fla. — Spencer Torkelson was curious.
“Hey, what size bat do you use?” he asked some of the best hitters in baseball.
Guys such as Mike Trout.
Torkelson started hearing the same thing. Several players used bats that were 33½ inches long and weighed 31½ ounces, a half-inch smaller and a half-ounce lighter than the 34-inch, 32-ounce bat he used last season.
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So, he has switched to a smaller bat, and he likes what he sees so far this spring training. The former No. 1 overall pick is using a maple bat made by Chandler Bats, a company in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
“It’s a bat company that makes really good bats,” Torkelson said. “It feels really good. Trout, and I’m pretty sure Barry Bonds, too.”
“You had me at Trout,” a reporter said.
“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “I was sold.”
Torkelson sat at his locker on Friday morning, putting fresh tape on his new bat.
He has one other ritual. Before putting on his batting gloves, he sprays his hands with a sticky spray.
“I’m a sweater,” he said. “If I don’t do it, it feels slippery.”
Extra work
The Detroit Tigers have eight catchers in camp, which has created all kinds of competition, as well as opportunities to advance their craft. When not catching a bullpen, the catchers can catch balls off a machine to work on technique.
“With the 10 mounds out there, you can only go five or six at a time,” catcher Eric Haase said. “Instead of just standing around, twiddling our thumbs, we can get some work in, and it’s been easy, just to get better.”
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Haase has sensed an increase in talent and depth, not just among the catchers, but the entire roster.
“That’s what you want,” he said. “When you have injuries, when you have guys that are struggling, you need guys to step up. If you have a big talent pool to pick from, that helps tremendously. We had a lot of young guys come up last year.
“When you’re playing on a winning baseball team, most of the time, those guys don’t have those opportunities. But there’s no guaranteed jobs this year, so it’s great. It brings out the best of everybody.”
Although the Tigers traded closer Gregory Soto, Haase said he has been impressed with several relief pitchers fighting to make the team. The list of relievers in the mix for final roster spots is long, and two of them — right-hander Matt Wisler and left-hander Chasen Shreve — have extensive experience in the big leagues.
“They’ve brought in a lot of good free-agent guys that have really good numbers, so that brings up the talent level in the bullpen,” Haase said. “There’s some big shoes to fill in our bullpen, but there’s no shortage of guys here that have unbelievable stuff.”
Wingenter feels good
Right-handed reliever Trey Wingenter, who signed a minor-league contract, threw a bullpen Saturday. The 6-foot-7 flamethrower hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2019, due to elbow and back injuries.
When healthy, Wingenter can be electric on the mound.
“My body feels good,” Wingenter said. “Nothing really bothered me, which is the main thing. I started applying a couple things I’ve been working on with the slider and some mechanical stuff. It’s good to be able to execute a couple things I’ve been working on and see the results. It was encouraging and only helps build confidence.”
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His fastball averaged 95.9 mph and his slider registered a 46.9% swing-and-miss rate with the San Diego Padres in 2019. Wingenter logged a 5.65 ERA with 28 walks and 72 strikeouts across 51 innings in 51 games.
He checked his velocity a couple times.
“It’s right on path for my normal buildup,” Wingenter said. “The game is always going to give you a bit more adrenaline. I don’t look a ton at it because I know how I feel. I can tell it’s coming out clean. … It may be 91 (mph), but I know that’s going to be 96 in a week or two.”
Meadows Bros. look good
Outfielder Austin Meadows, in a recent Q&A with the Free Press about his mental and physical health, revealed he dropped about 15-20 pounds of fat this offseason. During the interview, Meadows was sitting in a chair on the back porch of his home near Tampa, and his face appeared slimmer.
On Saturday, Meadows showed up to spring training, and his body looked a lot healthier in person.
“We got after it this offseason,” Meadows said. “First of all, getting myself in physical shape. I was in bad physical shape last year. I wasn’t playing, and it just wasn’t really good. Being able to have an offseason to reset mentally and physically, and go through everything I went through, I’ve learned a lot from it. I’m excited to get back out there, take what I’ve learned and be me again.”
Meadows, 27, took batting practice on the backfields.
He played 36 games last season and missed significant time with vertigo and COVID-19 and bilateral tendinitis in his Achilles tendons. He also struggled with his mental health, which sidelined him in September.
“Definitely nice to be back out there,” Meadows said.
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Parker Meadows, Austin’s younger brother, looks stronger in his legs and upper body, which isn’t surprising considering he prioritized adding strength this offseason. Last season, the 23-year-old hit .270 with 20 home runs, 56 walks and 108 strikeouts in 127 games with High-A West Michigan (14 games) and Double-A Erie (113 games).
Seems like a mission accomplished for both Meadows.
TigerTown tunes
Whoever was playing the music Friday morning had a wonderful sense of humor. On a chilly day, with a strong wind that made it feel even colder, a song blared from the speakers:
“Sunny and 75” by Joe Nichols.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.