Detroit News

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Not again. The Tigers’ already-battered starting rotation may have taken another hit Wednesday afternoon. Eduardo Rodriguez, the club’s lefty ace, came out of the game after 23 pitches in the first inning with an apparent injury. His velocity was down on his sinker and four-seam fastball — 89 mph down from 92-93. He

St. Petersburg, Fla. — For the past six weeks, as the Tigers dropped a steady stream of 3-2 and 2-1 games, it was natural to wonder about Riley Greene. How might he have changed that day’s scoreboard? Greene had been a stud during Tigers spring camp: .429 batting average in 11 games, a couple of homers,

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Game plans are only as good as those who execute them. The Tigers watched the Rays attack fastballs and chase breaking balls against Alex Faedo Monday night. So on Tuesday, rookie right-hander Beau Brieske was looking to establish his breaking balls early. “It was also based on the way I’m trying to

St. Petersburg, Fla. — The conversation with manager AJ Hinch before the game Tuesday turned into an illuminating discourse on the art and craft of hitting at the big-league level. The central theme was hitters versus swingers. Miguel Cabrera, we can all agree, is a hitter. He can adjust his swing mechanics to react to the variations

St. Petersburg, Fla. — According to the Gregorian calendar, which remains a personal favorite, Monday marked 566 days since Al Avila called AJ Hinch to ask if he might want to discuss managing the Detroit Tigers. Hinch sat in the visitor’s dugout Monday at Tropicana Field as the Tigers got ready to play the Rays in the

St. Petersburg, Fla. — AJ Hinch nailed it before the game. He was asked about rookie Alex Faedo’s anxiety level as he prepared to make his third start and his first ever as a big-leaguer in his hometown, against the team he grew up rooting for. “Honestly, I think the people around him are more nervous

St. Petersburg, Fla. — At some point, Derek Hill might want to ask somebody on the Major League rules committee where exactly he’s supposed to run when he’s trying to beat out a bunt. “Nah, I don’t want no part of that,” he said before the game Monday. Back on April 29 in Los Angeles, he was

Detroit — The Tigers started the day comfortably with five available outfielders. By the third inning, two of them were out of the game and destined for the injured list. Makes it tough to enjoy a series sweep when you keep getting bitten by a snake. “We feel like we’re in a good place and we’re

Detroit – Two more outfielders went down, an inning apart. Another starting pitcher went down the previous day. The Tigers kept losing pieces, as the season teetered. At some point, you have to forget what you’re missing and lean on what you have left. On Sunday, the Tigers offered a reminder of what they might

Detroit — Austin Meadows was looking forward to getting home to Tampa, seeing if his house was still standing and maybe do some damage against his former team. “Be nice to get my first homer (of the season) there,” he said, laughing before the game Sunday. Mostly, he was hoping to get on his boat and

Detroit — Robbie Grossman, already in a full sweat after early work at 10:30 Sunday morning, sat quietly at his locker, scrolling around on his phone. Few in the Tigers’ clubhouse are as ready for a nine-game road trip than he is. “Can’t wait,” he said. Hitting in spacious Comerica Park, especially in the chilly April

We interrupt this regularly scheduled programming, which was to have been an update on Ty Madden’s mastery at Single-A West Michigan, to pass on this news bulletin: Madden hasn’t been pitching all that well for the Whitecaps. Still, to hear Brayan Pena talk, Madden’s 5.01 ERA and 1.32 WHIP are no big deals. “He has

It’s Sunday morning, and Brayan Pena, the West Michigan Whitecaps manager, is in his clubhouse office at Comstock Park, just outside of Grand Rapids, ready to answer a pressing question as his gang gets ready for an afternoon game against the venerable Beloit Sky Carp: Just what does Wilmer Flores need to do to get

Detroit — The Tigers turned four double-plays, got 7 2/3 innings of scoreless relief pitching including a bounce-back effort from closer Gregory Soto, got timely home runs from Eric Haase and Willi Castro, got two more hits from a surging Miguel Cabrera and beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0 Saturday, winning back-to-back games for the first

Detroit — What he should have done was work out a bonus system with Javier Báez and Jonathan Schoop. Like, $500 for every throw he digs out of the dirt and every time he stretches his groin to the snapping point to catch one of their throws. He’d have earned a nice little nest egg by

Detroit — The Tigers on Saturday pulled right-hander Casey Mize off his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo and placed him back on the injured list. Part of the decision was based on logistics and part of it was because he was still feeling discomfort in his right elbow. “Casey is going back to Lakeland,” manager AJ

Detroit — Tuna? Somebody threw tuna on him? The celebratory beer shower has taken on a new twist, apparently. “I’m still inhaling baby power,” said reliever Will Vest, who struck out Ramon Urias and Rylan Bannon with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to earn his first big-league save and preserve a much-needed 4-2

San Diego — The San Diego Padres say no cancer was found when manager Bob Melvin had prostate surgery on Wednesday. Melvin, 60, was recovering at home Friday after being released from the hospital, the team said. Melvin said Tuesday that he didn’t think he had cancer, but the doctors wouldn’t know until the surgery. He

Detroit — Might as well start with the future Hall of Famer. The Tigers have been searching and searching for somebody to spark their dormant offense. Why not Miguel Cabrera? Cabrera smoked a double into the right-field gap to put Detroit on the board in the third inning then hit a solo home run to left

Detroit — A week ago, it seemed a foregone conclusion that when Victor Reyes was ready to come off the injured list, Willi Castro would be optioned back to Toledo to clear a roster spot. Now? It seems unfathomable that Castro would be sent back. “Willi’s played very well the last few days and opened