Detroit News

Lynn Henning |  Special to The Detroit News St. Petersburg, Fla. – On a day when the Tigers were battered by the Rays at Tropicana Field, 9-5, and when a string of pitchers looked as if they had filed for divorce with the strike zone, it was time to trust technology for consolation. As in, exit

Lakeland, Fla. — Having the option of playing catcher Eric Haase in left field isn’t a just-in-case-of-emergency thing for the Tigers. It’s not even about creating a way to carry three catchers on the roster, though it would facilitate that if warranted. Being able to play Haase in left field opens another level of matchup

Lakeland, Fla. — The conversation before the game centered around the relative weight of spring training performance on roster evaluations and the balance between young players earning spots vs. keeping them on their development track. “Are you talking about Parker?” Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch said with a knowing smile. “Sounds like that’s where you’re headed.”

Lakeland, Fla. — Beau Brieske isn’t going to let whatever role he ends up playing this season define him. He’s a pitcher, period. “That’s the conversations we’ve had,” Brieske said Sunday, referencing his talks with Tigers’ pitching coach Chris Fetter and his staff. “No matter what situation you are in, you have to remember you

Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling (right knee strain) expects to return to game action this week, the earlier the better. “There’s no timetable but it’ll be fairly quick,” he said. He put in a full morning of baseball activity Sunday — taking ground balls, doing outfield work, hitting in the cage, hitting on

Lakeland, Fla. – Before Saturday’s game, Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch was asked what he needed to see from right-hander Matt Manning, who was making his third spring start and coming off a rough outing against the Red Sox in Fort Myers. “We’d like to see progress,” Hinch said. “You get into these third and

Northport, Fla. – Austin Meadows waited patiently in the visitor’s clubhouse while two reporters detained his younger brother Parker. “How come you guys never want to talk to me,” he said, laughing. The brothers Meadows, Georgia-born and raised, combined for five hits and seven RBIs, helping the Tigers to a 16-7 spring romp over the

Northport, Fla. — Somehow, with all the pitchers that were either injured or ineffective last season, all the pitchers the Tigers went through (30 of them), Miguel Diaz pitched in just three games and none before Sept. 30. Position players Kody Clemens (7 innings) and Harold Castro (4 innings) threw more innings than Diaz (3.2).

Lakeland, Fla. — They call him Bonds. Kerry Bonds. OK, not everybody does. But his teammates do. And in his second at-bat in the Tigers’ 4-3 spring loss to the Yankees Friday, Tigers’ outfielder Kerry Carpenter showed why. He slugged a 96.5 mph fastball on an 0-2 count from Yankees starter Luis Severino and hit

Lakeland, Fla. — This was supposed to be the week Matt Vierling dusted off his infield glove and got some game reps at third base and possibly second base. Instead, he showed up on the Tigers’ injury report Friday. At some point on Monday, he strained his right knee in the game against the Red

Lakeland, Fla. — They were moving lockers out of the clubhouse Friday morning, which means only one thing: more players have been sent out of camp. The Tigers announced that right-handed pitcher Reese Olson and infielder Wenceel Perez, who because of injuries never got a chance to compete, were optioned to Triple-A Toledo. Both players

Chris and Tony discuss the new-look Tigers (8-6) at the midway point of spring training in Lakeland, including the progress of first-overall draft pick and first baseman Spencer Torkelson. Chris also takes a crack at the Opening Day roster when the Tigers face the Rays in Tampa Bay on March 30. Here are other highlights

Lakeland, Fla. — If you don’t know who Zach Logue is, go back and find the box score or video highlights from the game at Comerica Park last May 11. Logue was the Oakland Athletics’ lefty who was shutting the Tigers out on five hits with six punch-outs over seven innings that day. The Tigers

Lakeland, Fla. — As his teammates were boarding buses and heading to Bradenton to play the Pirates on Thursday, Reese Olson stayed back in the clubhouse. Again. He had breakfast, played cards with Parker Meadows, killing some time before he’d get on with whatever strength and conditioning or arm care duties he had scheduled for

Lakeland, Fla. — From the beginning of spring training, Tigers manager AJ Hinch cautioned against making hasty judgments about players early in camp. The evaluation process will be long, he said, and will involve a lot more than performance data from the exhibition games. Watching 6-foot-7 right-hander Trey Wingenter pitch against the Cardinals Tuesday brought

Lakeland, Fla. — Pretty sure we can put PitchCom-gate to bed now. After calling all his pitches in his previous spring start, Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 3.1 scoreless innings Wednesday in the Tigers’ 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals and he worked in true collaboration with all aspects of game-calling. “It’s always going to

The Lansing Lugnuts, one of the state’s three affiliated minor-league organizations, will be sold. Diamond Baseball Holdings, which owns multiple minor-league teams across the country, has agreed to purchase the High-A affiliate of the Oakland A’s, the team announced Wednesday morning. DBH also announced its commitment to Lansing, which has been the home of the

Lakeland, Fla. — Tigers infielder Tyler Nevin, who is in the thick of the fight for a roster spot, has not been available for the last two days. Manager AJ Hinch said Nevin was dealing with oblique soreness. “He felt some soreness after batting practice (Tuesday),” Hinch said. “He’s getting an MRI to get it

Lakeland, Fla. — As you might expect in a 16-3 spring romp, there was a lot to be encouraged about Tuesday in the Tigers’ Grapefruit League win over a WBC-depleted St. Louis Cardinals team. Let’s start with first baseman Spencer Torkelson. He has been hitting balls off the barrel most of the spring, and lately,

Lakeland, Fla. — The first cut might’ve deeper had it not been for the WBC. With infielders Jonathan Schoop, Andy Ibanez and Javier Báez out of camp, several players are getting some extended looks this week. One of those is infielder Andre Lipcius, who continues to impress at the plate. He blasted his third home