Tigers announce spring training broadcast schedules for television and radio

With just eight days left until the Detroit Tigers pitchers and catchers report to Lakeland, the club released their spring training television and radio broadcast schedules on Monday. As usual, we’re going to get really excited for baseball, and then get just a handful of games to watch until Opening Day. Fortunately, the dulcet tones of Dan Dickerson will be more readily available, with 18 games broadcast on the Tigers Radio Network.

Grapefruit League action is set to begin on February 24 at home against the New York Yankees, but that game will only be a radio broadcast. The Tigers televised debut will be the next day, Sunday, February 25, on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte. However, that will be a Bally simulcast broadcast. We won’t see Jason Benetti make his debut as Tigers play-by-play man for Bally Sports Detroit until March 4 in a home game against the Boston Red Sox.

As usual there aren’t many televised broadcasts, though a few other road games may be available via the opponent’s broadcast. All tolled, there are only six games set to be televised in spring camp, with 18 broadcast on the radio. That will have to hold us until Opening Day arrives.

While the lack of televised games remains a minor source of irritation, MLB does have something new in store for fans as well. The four day Spring Breakout event, taking place from March 14-17, will be a series of seven inning exhibition games featuring each team’s top 20-25 prospects taking on other organization’s farm systems. The games are technically considered part of major league camp, so a lot of young prospect talent will get their first exposure to the big league side of spring training camp for that game.

The Tigers Spring Breakout game is set for March 16 at 1:05 p.m. ET against the Philadelphia Phillies at home at Joker Marchant Stadium. While most of the breakout series games are set to follow regular major league spring training games as doubleheaders, the Tigers game will be a standalone, so the kids will have the whole spotlight for a day. It should be a good time, and as all minor leaguers are eligible, you might even see a Kevin McGonigle or a Max Clark in the same lineup as Colt Keith or Justyn-Henry Malloy. MLB seems set to roll out a lot of prospect content in coordination with the event, they want teams to play their top prospects, and there’s a lot of potential for a fun couple of days in the middle of spring training as the league looks to spotlight their future stars.