Detroit News

Lakeland, Fla. — Say the word aloud to anyone from Michigan. “Lakeland.” Notice how faces become thousand-watt bulbs. “Lakeland.” Sunshine. Warm weather. The fading of winter’s wrath in the north. The joy of baseball, back for another long, luxuriant go-around. The Tigers have been setting up spring camp in Lakeland since 1934, the longest such

Lakeland, Fla. — Talk about getting your work in. Tigers right-hander Michael Lorenzen’s day Tuesday started with an eight-pitch at-bat against Raimel Tapia of the Red Sox — which ended in a home run to right field off a 3-2 changeup — and then an 11-pitch at-bat against rookie Triston Casas. “It’s taxing,” said Lorenzen,

Lynn Henning |  Special to The Detroit News Lakeland, Florida — Getting to Lakeland for spring training was particularly important this year. Much has changed with the Tigers. On a big-league baseball level, you might say it’s akin to a new White House administration, the Tigers now being run by Scott Harris and his front-office team.

Lakeland, Fla. — Can a spring camp be a success if it ends with a ticket back to the minor leagues? It may take a minute to feel that way, but for outfielder Parker Meadows, third baseman Andre Lipcius and right-handed reliever Brendan White, their first big-league camp was an unqualified success. “They did an

By Lynn Henning |  Special to The Detroit News St. Petersburg, Fla. − The Tigers used only relief pitchers in Monday’s 9-5 loss at Tropicana Field. Early on, it looked as if the relievers needed relief. The Tigers walked seven Rays batters in the first three innings. Miguel Diaz escaped a 31-pitch first inning, minus any

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. — 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