Detroit Free Press

LAKELAND, Fla. — Izaac Pacheco, one of the Detroit Tigers‘ most important prospects, has this way about him. An absolute confidence. Not cocky. But man, he’s fun to watch. Because he doesn’t seem afraid of anything. “I love him,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I’ve known him since he was pretty famous in the Houston

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 16-3, on Tuesday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Tigers improved to 6-6 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Left-hander Matthew Boyd pitched three innings and set the tone for the pitching staff with zero walks and seven strikeouts. The 32-year-old has

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers reassigned six players to minor-league camp Tuesday, including a pair of infield prospects, with roughly three weeks until Opening Day on March 30. JEFF SEIDEL: Tigers’ surprising power surge might be the best part of this spring so far FORMER ALL-STAR CLOSER: Trevor Rosenthal plans to be ready to

LAKELAND, Fla. — Former All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal, who has returned to the Detroit Tigers on a minor-league contract, believes he will be prepared to pitch when the regular season begins, but the organization won’t rush him into action. The 32-year-old, an All-Star in 2015 with the St. Louis Cardinals, officially signed with the Tigers

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Spencer Torkelson wasn’t feeling right. “I felt like I was just coming off the ball, missing get-me-over sliders,” Torkelson said. The first baseman worked with Michael Brdar, one of the Detroit Tigers new hitting coaches. “We went into the cage and he put the pitching machine way back like at 64

Apple Podcasts | Spotify • Hosts: Mark Gorosh (@sportz5176) and Evan Petzold (@evanpetzold) • Editors: Robin Chan • Executive producers: Anjanette Delgado, Kirkland Crawford • Email: epetzold@freepress.com On this episode: Welcome to the first episode of “Days of Roar: A Free Press Sports Detroit Tigers Podcast.” Public baseball analyst co-host Mark Gorosh checks in with Free Press Tigers beat writer co-host Evan Petzold, who’s down in

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost, 7-1, to the Boston Red Sox on Monday at JetBlue Park. The Tigers fell to 5-6 in Grapefruit League play. What happened The feeling of this game was dominated by one scary, unfortunate moment. Matt Manning made the start for the Tigers and had a rough beginning.  He

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost, 6-2, to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at Hammond Stadium. The Tigers fell to 5-5 in Grapefruit League play. What happened On a hot, sunny, muggy day — it hit 87 degrees — playing catcher can be brutal. But Jake Rogers had himself a fantastic day. Rogers

LAKELAND, Fla. — Snow covered the banks of the Grand River and snowflakes fell from the sky. It was mid-November and Mason Englert, who joined the Detroit Tigers this offseason via the Rule 5 draft, was completely submerged in the frigid water in downtown Grand Rapids. His head popped up like a submarine coming to

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers have signed right-handed reliever Trevor Rosenthal to a minor-league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training. He is expected to compete for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. Rosenthal, 32, hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2020. The Tigers and Rosenthal have been in communication about the

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 18-5, on Saturday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Tigers dropped to 5-4 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Three pitchers were responsible for allowing 13 runs in the fourth inning. Right-hander Will Vest was charged with six runs, while left-hander

LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, the highest-paid pitcher on the roster, reached to his left hip, where a PitchCom device was attached to his belt, and started pressing buttons. In Friday’s 6-3 win, Rodriguez became the latest pitcher to call his own pitches for his entire outing. The 29-year-old fired three scoreless innings

LAKELAND, Fla. — The food sucked at TigerTown. Not for the players in the major league clubhouse — that was fine. Better than fine, actually. But the food was less than desirable at the cafeteria used by the minor leaguers. “Miserable,” one player said. “Like high school food,” another said. And by that, we don’t

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Jonathan Davis seems like a long shot to make the Detroit Tigers‘ Opening Day roster. The 30-year-old, a five-year MLB veteran, needs to meet or exceed expectations from the organization with his all-around performance on offense and defense. He would greatly benefit from Matt Vierling, a fellow right-handed hitting outfielder, playing more infield

TAMPA, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees, 5-3, on Friday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The Tigers improved to 5-3 in Grapefruit League play. What happened The Tigers secured a rare road doubleheader sweep on Friday. Against two different teams. In two different cities. Manager A.J. Hinch watched the Tigers beat the Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3, on Friday at BayCare Ballpark. The Tigers improved to 4-3 in Grapefruit League play. What happened The outfield duo of Riley Greene (playing left) and Matt Vierling (playing center) carried the offense with home runs in the third and fifth innings, respectively, while catcher Jake Rogers

LAKELAND, Fla. — It’s more than a curveball. Matt Manning, a former Detroit Tigers top prospect, is trying to pick up the broken pieces from his faulty development under the old regime. Scouts raved about his hammer curveball coming out of high school, but that pitch, along with the rest of his arsenal, has been inconsistent

The Free Press is adding once more podcast to its collection, and this time we’ll be leaning in on the boys of summer. Debuting Monday will be “Days of Roar: A Free Press Sports Detroit Tigers Podcast,” hosted by our Tigers beat writer, Evan Petzold, and Mark Gorosh, a baseball analyst, podcaster and longtime player,

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-3, on Thursday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Tigers improved to 3-3 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Left-hander Matthew Boyd, entering his first full season since undergoing flexor tendon surgery at the end of the 2021 campaign, felt healthy coming off the

LAKELAND, Fla. — In the Arizona Fall League, Detroit Tigers left-hander Joey Wentz increased his curveball usage. He wasn’t prioritizing the breaking ball, but the games dictated his pitch mix, and he sounded thankful for the low-pressure opportunity to throw it in games. “I felt comfortable with it,” he said in November. Four months later, Wentz