Dunedin, Fla. — Tigers lefty starter Joey Wentz was undaunted. The Blue Jays came at him with their A-team Tuesday, eventually beating the Tigers 6-4. The first four hitters, all right-handed, were George Springer, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., and Matt Chapman.
Not too shabby. But Wentz got through the first three on seven pitches. He gave up a single to Bichette but struck out Guerrero on three pitches, the last a nasty cutter. And as a bonus, catcher Donny Sands threw out Bichette trying to steal on the pitch.
“I try not to think too much about who is in the box,” said Wentz, whose second inning got away from him a bit. “They had some of their guys in there today. But if you want to pitch in the big leagues, you’re going to have to face these guys all season.
“I looked forward to the matchup. I enjoyed it.”
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He ended up allowing two runs in the second, walking left-handed hitter Cavan Biggio and giving up and RBI double to lefty Kevin Kiermaier.
“Just kind of poor on my part,” Wentz said. “As a lefty, you’re supposed to be able to handle the lefties. But I fell behind and they some good swings on balls.”
All things considered, there was a lot to like about Wentz’s outing. His four-seam fastball sat at 94 mph. He got three whiffs on seven swings at his cutter. And, the pitch he’s looking to add to his arsenal, a curveball, he threw 10 of them, getting a swing-and-miss, three called strikes with none put in play.
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“I’m trying to use that more this year and I thought I had good results with it,” he said. “If I can land spin it will help my fastball. And I think it’s a good pitch in itself. I just have to land it, which in the past has been hard for me to do.
“I’ve been working on it. I think I’m doing a pretty good job with it.”
If things stay the way they are health-wise, Wentz will likely start the season at the top of the rotation at Triple-A Toledo. But coming off his strong finish in Detroit last year and a dominating run at the Arizona Fall League, he’s like to be a key piece of the rotation in Detroit at some point this season.
PITCHER PITCHCOM
Facing the Tigers on Monday night in Tampa, Yankees’ right-hander Luis Severino was calling his own pitches, having the PitchCom device on his belt.
“I absolutely loved it,” he told Yankees’ television. “I wish we had this before.”
Hinch said some of his pitchers were considering using it but the club is waiting for Major League Baseball to OK it for the regular season.
“It’s really difficult to dive all the way in when you don’t know whether it’s going to be allowed during the season,” he said. “I hesitate to do something for four or five weeks and then have it not be approved.”
He said some of the veteran starters were toying with it. Nobody has used it in a spring game yet.
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MEDICAL UPDATES
…Right-hander Reese Olson was scheduled for an MRI Tuesday. He’d been on a slower ramp this camp after throwing a career-high 119.2 innings at Double-A Erie last season and experiencing some elbow soreness in September. He was scheduled to throw live batting practice on Wednesday and in his last bullpen was hitting 95 mph with his fastball. But he reported abdominal discomfort in his left side. He will be shut down pending the results of the MRI.
…Reliever Jose Cisnero (neck spasms) threw a live bullpen session on Sunday and is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Wednesday.
…Minor league camper Steele Walker was struck with a pitch on his left hand Tuesday. He was sent for x-rays.
chris.mmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter@cmccosky