LAKELAND, Fla. — The practice was done and Josh Crouch was walking toward the Detroit Tigers facility. “I saw you hit today,” I said. “You showed some pop.” Crouch, a catcher, broke into a smile. “Thank you,” he said politely. “I feel blessed to be here.” Crouch was the Tigers’ 11th-round pick in 2021. The
Associated Press New York — Major League Baseball on Friday canceled the first week of spring training games through March 4 in the first public acknowledgement of the disruption caused by the lockout. The announcement came with the work stoppage in its 79th day, and a day after economic talks between the management and the Major
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers announced Friday night fans can attend minor-league minicamp beginning Monday. There’s no cost to attend. The Tigers began minicamp Tuesday, when pitchers and catchers reported, and start full-squad workouts Monday. DAY 3 OBSERVATIONS:Franklin Perez throws a baseball; what’s a core velocity belt? WHO’S THAT?:Why Tigers are paying close attention to
Lakeland, Fla. — It was good to see the big guy again, smiling, wearing the Detroit Tigers home whites — even if it was during the drudgery of another minor-league minicamp. Zac Houston, all 6-5, 280 pounds of him, was added to the camp roster late after another right-handed pitcher, Carlos Sanabria, was delayed because of visa
Lakeland, Fla. — By now, if you are at all plugged into the Tigers’ prospect reports, you know Beau Brieske’s backstory. Didn’t start pitching full-time until his senior year of high school, wasn’t recruited, went to junior college and then Division II Colorado State-Pueblo, was the 802nd player drafted in 2019 (27th round by the Tigers)
For the first time since 2017, the Detroit Tigers are picking outside of the top ten in the MLB Draft. We first took a stab at projecting the top of this class way back in July, shortly after the 2021 draft concluded, and things haven’t changed too dramatically since then. We have some performances from…
LAKELAND, Fla. — Franklin Perez is trying to mount another comeback. The 24-year-old right-hander isn’t part of minor-league minicamp, but he makes daily trips to the Detroit Tigers‘ spring training facility for his rehabilitation. He underwent right shoulder surgery on May 12, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. A key step in his return to
Detroit — Tigers individual-game tickets went on sale Friday morning, even as Major League Baseball and the players’ association continue to hold firm in their negotiations that has the lockout nearing 80 days with no end in sight. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred continues to express hope that the season will begin on time in early April.
Associated Press New York — Major League Baseball on Friday canceled the first week of spring training games through March 4 in the first public acknowledgement of the disruption caused by the lockout. The announcement came with the work stoppage in its 79th day, and a day after economic talks between the management and the Major
During our Detroit Tigers radio podcast a few weeks back, myself and Chris Brown talked to the voice of the West Michigan Whitecaps Dan Hasty and we received questions about what the rotation would look like for the Whitecaps in 2022. It got me thinking about projecting the what the pitching staffs would look like…
As negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association continue, the league announced Friday that the first week of exhibition games will not be played. “We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of Spring Training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5,” the league
LAKELAND, Fla. — They stood side by side. The Future, Part 1. And, right next to him, The Future, Part 2. Ty Madden — the Detroit Tigers‘ second pick in the 2021 draft — was throwing a bullpen on Thursday, right alongside Jackson Jobe – the Tigers’ first-round pick. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture
LAKELAND, Fla. — Eliezer Vicente Alfonzo wants to be his own man. The 22-year-old Venezuelan grew up in the shadow of his father, Eliezer Jesus Alfonzo, an MLB catcher who played 193 games over six seasons for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies from 2006-2010. “He tried to make me a leader,”
This weekend, the 2022 college season gets underway, with many future first-rounders and big league stars set to help their teams compete for a chance to go to Omaha and the College World Series. Tipping our cap to them, we decided to give it the ol’ college try ourselves by identifying the best college product
Lakeland, Fla. — This wasn’t part of the dream. When he was drafted by the Tigers in the 11th round back in 2014, the last thing right-hander A.J. Ladwig could’ve imagined eight years down the road was being 29 and humping it through another minor-league minicamp. But here he is. “It (calling it quits) was definitely
Ronald Blum | Associated Press New York — The threat to opening day on March 31 appeared to intensify Thursday when the drawn-out talks to end Major League Baseball’s lockout ended just 15 minutes after they had resumed following a four-day break. What was supposed to be the second day of spring training workouts instead
LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter stood behind a fence near the bullpens. General manager Al Avila and top assistants Sam Menzin, Jay Sartori and David Chadd settled in the same area, along with vice president of player development Ryan Garko. Baseball Hall of Famer Alan Trammell stopped his activities
Lakeland, Fla. — At 9 a.m. Thursday, about an hour before the first pitchers group would begin throwing their bullpens for the day, Tigers new head pitching coordinator Gabe Ribas was on the back fields at Joker Marchant Stadium affixing stretch bands onto the fences, setting out weighted balls, plyo balls, Indian clubs, nets and other
LAKELAND, Fla. — A big blue concrete wall has appeared on the backfields at TigerTown. It looks so strange and out of place. It doesn’t go around anything. Doesn’t hold up anything. It’s just, well, right there beyond the right-field fence of one of the fields. And it made you wonder: What the heck is that
The odds of a delayed 2022 MLB season are growing stronger, but images of Detroit Tigers minor leaguers in action have begun leaking out of spring training camp. MLive’s Evan Woodbery tweeted out the roster for Detroit’s minor-league mini-camp on Wednesday morning (it’s fairly close to our depth chart projections), and various beat writers began…