CLEARWATER, Fla. — Eduardo Rodriguez looked for a second like he might be having issues with his belt as the Tigers left-hander felt around his left hip before his first pitch against the Phillies Friday afternoon. Once it became clear he was the latest Tigers pitcher to experiment with the new PitchCom system that lets
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Clearwater, Fla. — Count Eduardo Rodriguez among the strongest proponents of pitchers calling their own pitches. He used PitchCom to call all 33 of his pitches Friday in the Tigers’ 6-3 spring win over the Phillies — and, well, he loved it. “It feels good,” he said after retiring nine of the 10 batters he
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. — Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is looking at multi-inning relievers who can bridge the gap between Detroit’s projected starters — none of whom pitched a full season last year — and a rebuilt back end of the bullpen filled with high-strikeout young arms. So when Brendan White came in from the bullpen to
Lakeland, Fla. — The Tigers hit fewer home runs than any team in baseball last season, 110 in 162 games. After clubbing three bombs in their 10-3 Grapefruit League win over the Orioles Thursday, they’ve now hit 15 in six spring games. So, manager AJ Hinch was jokingly asked afterwards, that whole power thing is
Last week, we covered the best pure-hitting prospect in each system, noting that it’s almost impossible to be a Major League regular if you can’t hit. Do you know what’s another way to put yourself over the top? Hit the ball hard. Power can make a .250 hitter into a star or, in some cases,
Lakeland, Fla. — As you might’ve guessed, Matthew Boyd was the first Tigers’ pitcher to experiment with calling some of his own pitches from the mound using PitchCom technology. He did so in his spring debut Thursday, putting the whole Matthew Boyd experience — the nasty slider, the pickoff move, the punch-outs, even the home
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. — Tigers manager AJ Hinch dropped something in the middle of a longer dissertation on Jonathan Schoop the other day that initially slipped through the cracks. He was talking about the club’s emphasis on getting Schoop, who has left camp to play for Team Netherlands, back to swinging at pitches in the strike
The Tigers have enjoyed the buzz of several top prospects climbing national lists in recent years. Detroit had two of MLB Pipeline’s top five prospects in baseball in last year’s preseason rankings in Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, and Greene was briefly No. 1 before he made his Major League debut last June. Torkelson was
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
LAKELAND, Fla. — Hey Matt Vierling, you are gonna play right field today. Yes, coach. Hey Vierling, you are going to bat leadoff against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yes, coach. Hey Vierling, you are going to play third base in a few days, so grab your other glove. We want you to get in some work
Lakeland, Fla. — Matt Manning sat in front his locker last week and basically gave a preview of how his first Grapefruit League start would go. “I’m kind of taking a different approach,” he said. “I’m just trying to ramp up in spring, where I don’t necessarily have my A-stuff all spring, but I can
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers clipped the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7, on Wednesday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, on Nick Maton’s walk-off home run. The Tigers are now 2-3 in Grapefruit League play. What happened Maton hit his second home run of the spring, a 401-foot solo shot to right-center field on the first
Lakeland, Fla. — Alex Lange is unique. Plain and simple. The way his pitches move is unique — though hitters use other descriptive words like filthy, nasty and wicked. The sleeveless turtleneck he wears under his game jersey, even in the scorching heat of these spring games and live bullpen sessions, is unique. His fondness
LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers outfielder Steele Walker has been sidelined indefinitely with a fracture in his hand. Walker, 26, was hit in the hand by a 90.5 mph changeup from Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Paul Fry in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game. The Tigers promoted him from minor-league spring training to participate as a
LAKELAND, Fla. — It’s like trying to follow a social butterfly. One that never stops moving. Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland sits in the dugout on the backfields at TigerTown, taking to Miguel Cabrera, the only player left from when he managed this team. Now, he is between fields, talking to Javier Báez. Before
I got a haircut. Supercuts, $24 for a haircut.I took me a couple of days to work up the nerve to pay that much for a haircut. just like I said. Greedy baseball players are ruining our economy….everyone sees stupid money and wants to be rich quick. It’s a shame. And what.makes.it. worse…is.they are all