Detroit News

Detroit — The Tigers will not have their new pitching coach in the dugout on Opening Day on Thursday. Manager AJ Hinch announced Monday that Chris Fetter had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be away from the team “for the foreseeable future.” “I’m devastated for him,” Hinch said. “No. 1, we’re going to navigate through

Lakeland, Fla. — Offsetting news Monday that the Tigers had lost pitching coach Chris Fetter for the time being to COVID-19 protocol, manager AJ Hinch revealed that first baseman Renato Nunez has decided to stick with the Tigers rather than pursue work with another club. Nunez, a right-handed hitting first baseman who next week turns

Dunedin, Fla. — What the Tigers have in Tarik Skubal is akin to what dog-owners have in their new pedigreed puppy. A lot of work ahead. And a lot of fun watching as some blessed DNA takes over and creates a certain, well, magnificence. Skubal has the physical stuff down. He affirmed as much Sunday at

Three young Detroit boys pumped their fists in the air as their mom pulled into the parking lot next to Triumph Church on Sunday morning. The boys weren’t excited about worship service. They wanted to meet the Detroit Tigers’ mascot, PAWS. To celebrate the start of the Tigers’ baseball season on Thursday, the team hosted a giveaway

Detroit – Manager AJ Hinch has set the Tigers Opening Day roster, but not necessarily in stone. There are probably more than a few players still walking on egg shells because one sticky question remains unanswered. What happens when right-handed starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull gets cleared and returns from the non-baseball (COVID-19 protocol) injured list?

Lynn Henning |  Special to The Detroit News Lakeland, Florida — For sheer weirdness, the sports world has annually offered spring-training baseball games, where all kinds of misadventures and artistic abuse can occur. They don’t get a lot loopier than the nine-inning cavalcade of craziness that unfurled Saturday as the Tigers beat the Philadelphia Phillies,

Detroit — So, how did Derek Holland get here? Through all the ups and downs with Texas, the injuries, the nomadic journey from team to team (White Sox, Giants, Cubs, Pirates); from last Aug. 8 against the Tigers when he gave up four home runs to the first five batters in Pittsburgh to pitching eight

Detroit – Barring any late waiver claims, the Tigers 2021 roster is set. Manager AJ Hinch announced Saturday morning that reliever Joe Jimenez was optioned to Triple-A Toledo and that lefty Tyler Alexander had made the team. Hinch said he’d informed non-roster first baseman Renato Nunez that he did not make the Opening Day roster.

Bradenton, Fla. — AJ Hinch looked at the gaudy scoreboard high atop left-center field at LECOM Ballpark. It was the fourth inning of Friday’s game between the Tigers and Pirates and Hinch, who has been in a few ballgames during his years playing and managing, saw something borderline crazy. His starting pitcher, Matthew Boyd, had

By Jerry Green |  Special to The Detroit News The Rock sat clutching a can of beer on the porch of the roadside motel in the spring-training town in the middle of Florida. It was back in the age when beer cans were made of heavy gauge steel coated with tin. He finished his beer

Bradenton, Fla. — Roster debates as the Tigers get ready for Opening Day were trimmed, a bit dramatically Friday, when manager AJ Hinch announced Casey Mize had made his starting rotation, and that Derek Holland and Michael Fulmer have won bullpen jobs. Mize struck out nine in four innings in Thursday night’s game against the

Dunedin, Florida – You could see it in his pitches Thursday night at TD Ballpark. You could see it in Casey Mize’s mound mannerisms, as well, a kind of fed-up fury that comes when a 24-year-old pitcher who three years ago was a first-overall draft pick decides he’s had enough rehearsals. Mize wants to make

Lakeland, Fla. — Both almost certainly will be with the Tigers at some point this season, but for now infielder Isaac Paredes and catcher Jake Rogers will be finishing their spring training at the club’s minicamp. Both were optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Thursday and sent to the club’s minicamp. In addition, veteran non-roster infielder Greg Garcia also

Lakeland, Fla. — Both almost certainly will be with the Tigers at some point this season, but for now infielder Isaac Paredes and catcher Jake Rogers will be finishing their spring training at the club’s minicamp. Both were reassigned Thursday, reducing big-league camp to 37 players. With Rogers gone, the path seems paved for Grayson Greiner

Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers starter Jose Urena thought it was going to be a routine PFP (pitchers fielding practice) play. The Phillies had runners at the corners with no outs in the second inning of the Tigers’ 4-1 spring win Wednesday. Urena got Darick Hall to hit a slow bouncer toward first base and he immediately

Lakeland, Fla. — Oh man, it would’ve been such a cool moment. Just imagine. Manager AJ Hinch lets rookie Tarik Skubal pitch to one batter in the fifth inning. Gives him one more up-down, gets to his pitch-count and as he’s taking the ball from him says, “Oh, and by the way, you’ve made the team.

Lakeland, Fla. — Grayson Greiner was at the hospital awaiting a CT scan on the night of March 7. His wife and two young children were with him. Three-year-old Hudson couldn’t quite figure out why daddy looked so different. “He kept asking what was wrong with my face,” Greiner said Tuesday, able to laugh about it

Lakeland, Fla. — You slump early in camp and nobody notices. You slump late in camp, and it’s a story. Tigers rookie Isaac Paredes, as his fight for one of the last position-player spots on the roster comes down to the wire, has hit the skids offensively. He’s 4 for 31 this spring with seven strikeouts.

Nice, it was, having baseball back last summer. Having actual big-league games on radio and TV, even if a pandemic was barring folks from MLB ballparks. Soothing — that’s the word — having those broadcasts from Comerica Park and other big-league ballparks flowing into living rooms and vehicles as Matt Shepard on Fox Sports Detroit

Lakeland, Fla. — The working assumption has been, if the Tigers carry Rule 5 rookie Akil Baddoo on the Opening Day roster, they will have to carry five outfielders. A logical assumption given the Tigers presently have four mostly-established outfielders — Robbie Grossman, JaCoby Jones, Nomar Mazara and Victor Reyes. But you know the deal about