Detroit Tigers spring training: 10 questions to watch in 2025 camp, including

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Full article at link.

Who plays third base
Can Colt Keith thrive at first base
Which starters become relievers
Does Maeda make the roster
Can Baez reclaim old role
Has Torkelson made adjustments
Any non roster invitee make a move
Which prospect looks comfortable
Who makes opening day roster

Does Jobe make opening day roster
Jackson Jobe — the best pitching prospect in baseball — made his MLB debut as a reliever in 2024, but his rookie season will be as a starter in 2025. The Tigers haven’t determined if Jobe will make the Opening Day roster, but he is expected to join the Tarik Skubal-led rotation as long as he meets expectations in spring training. Commanding his swing-and-miss pitches is the No. 1 priority.
There’s an organizational benefit to putting Jobe on the Opening Day roster: He is eligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive and has the upside to win American League Rookie of the Year. If he earns a full year of service time (by making the Opening Day roster or being called up within the first two weeks of Opening Day) and wins Rookie of the Year (or places top three in Cy Young voting), then the Tigers receive a draft pick after the first round in 2026. If Jobe doesn’t factor into the awards despite accruing a full year of service time, he retains PPI eligibility for the next two years. In that case, the Tigers would net a draft pick in 2027 or 2028 if Jobe has a top-three Cy Young finish in 2026 or 2027.

Here’s another potential outcome: If the Tigers delay Jobe’s service time by keeping him in Triple-A Toledo for more than two weeks and he still wins Rookie of the Year, then Jobe gets a full year of service time but the Tigers don’t get a draft pick. That’s what happened to Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates last season.emphasized text

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Something does need to change in baseball, just not sure how the sport fares longterm with messy negotiations or lockout/strike.

Of course, as I say that, the specter of a massive labor dispute hovers. The current collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners ends just as Skubal hits the open market.

And by all reports, the negotiations are going to be messy. Not only between the players and owners, but between the owners themselves. Big-market owners and smaller market owners aren’t exactly in lock step on some of the major issues at this stage of the game.

The owners, with growing uncertainty over media and broadcasting revenue with the dissolution of regional sports networks, certainly will push for more cost containment through a lowered collective bargaining tax threshold. They won’t call it a salary cap but depending on how far they push to lower the threshold and increase the penalties, the players may view it as such. And the players won’t budge if there’s even a whiff of a cap in the deal.

The economic landscape is shifting. That seems clear. What I’m not smart enough to figure out, but what owners and agents need to, is whether it will be more beneficial to lock in long-term deals now or roll the dice on whatever the new CBA brings.

Are these $400 million, $600 million and $700 million deals going to go away under the new agreement? Will owners push to put restrictions on deferral amounts? Who knows?

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No Clark or McGonigle.
One I’m interested in seeing is Wilmer Flores. At one point he was highly thought of but has fallen a bit, quite a bit, curious if he was invited so the Tigers Pitching staff can have more time with him. One to watch for me can he regain the shine?

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Hope he does. Thry need him to be their Polar Bear.

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Hhhmmm, the next ST Bonderman has a changeup type story? I hope it works would be a significant piece for the rotation.

Reading this made me think of the other article on the analytics guy who started the analytics move and velocity.

# At 28, two years after surgery, Tigers’ Casey Mize locked in and ready to make his mark
Full article at the link(s) above.

With his body as strong and healthy as it’s ever been, Mize went to work on revitalizing his craft. He spent the winter in pitching labs — the Driveline facilities in Arizona and Tampa and Maven Baseball Academy in Atlanta. When he wasn’t there, he was continuing his work with his trainer in St. Petersburg.

“I just went and found some different opinions and I got some different eyes on me,” he said. “Which was really good.”

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Thus, the pitching lab tour this winter and his quest to find the best version of himself.

“I just got some clarity on some pitch usage,” he said. “I have enough major league sample size now where we can look at what works for me in the big leagues and what doesn’t. We kind of dove into all that. Like, you’re using X pitch too much late in counts or X pitch too much early in counts.

“I got a lot of clarity on how I need to approach hitters, just in general. Ultimately, the hitters will tell me what works and what doesn’t. But at least I will have a really good plan going into it.”

At Driveline, he dove into his mechanics, not so much to build velocity but to facilitate consistency.

“That misconception is one I had, as well, that they are solely velocity-driven,” Mize said. “When I went there, we didn’t really talk about velocity whatsoever. That was not the goal of me going there. They had some stuff for me to work on in terms of how I’m moving. A by-product of that might be increased velocity, but that was never the intent or their main feedback for me.

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“We were mostly talking about the slider and carrying the fastball a little better.”

Mize has altered his slider, which had a minus-4 run value last year with opponents slugging .500 off it. He’s developed a couple of variations, one tighter and one with more horizontal break.

“I just need to execute better; that’s the main thing,” he said. “Change around the usage a little bit and be a little more efficient in that usage. Like, don’t keep forcing the two-strike sliders or whatever. I need to be able to move on to other things.”

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Where are the kids?

Hinch was asked about the decision to bring catching prospect Thayron Liranzo to big-league camp and not other top prospects Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle.

For starters, Liranzo is going to be 22 in July. He’s almost two years older than Clark and McGonigle.

“But it’s mostly that, you know, he’s behind the plate and he’s new to the organization,” Hinch said. “The responsibility on both sides of the ball is really important. He has a history with our catching coach Ryan Sienko from their time together with the Dodgers and the acclimation process for catchers is pretty in-depth.”

Given the position battles in this camp, it would be difficult for Clark in the outfield or McGonigle at shortstop to get all the reps they need. Hinch added, though, that he expects both will be brought over to big-league camp throughout the spring.

“I am hoping we get to see these guys in a game over here,” he said. “But their development and their steps forward are probably better suited to part-time over here and more full-time on the (minor-league) side.

"It’s not a knock on their readiness. It’s more an indication of what this camp is going to be like and how serious we’re going to be about the choices and the reps.”

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Strange. Anyone know the reasoning behind this?

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It’s all about service time. If a team waits a few months into the season before calling a player up to the big leagues then the team gains an extra year of arbitration on that player.

The extra 1st round pick is to combat that tactic and promotes calling a player up when he is ready versus taking advantage of the system.

I hope I explained that in a way it could be understood.

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Ah, even a caveman can understand it. Thanks!

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These weren’t listed as subscriber articles.

There is more on the RH Hitter, Skubal, third base etc…

Why isn’t Max Clark in MLB camp?

The Tigers invited catcher Thayron Liranzo — the No. 6 prospect in the organization — to MLB spring training, but the Tigers didn’t invite center fielder Max Clark and shortstop Kevin McGonigle, both ranked as top-3 prospects in the system. All three prospects finished last season in High-A West Michigan.

THURSDAY’S OBSERVATIONS: Who’s on third base for Tigers in camp after Alex Bregman to Red Sox?

In years past, the Tigers brought Colt Keith (in 2023) and Jackson Jobe (in 2024) benefitted from being around MLB players in spring training, even though they were told at the beginning of camp that they wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster. Those spring experiences helped prepare Keith for 2024 Opening Day and Jobe for his MLB debut at the end of 2024.

So why not Clark and McGonigle in 2025 camp?

“We treat major-league camp invites as a developmental decision,” Harris said. “If there are players that we think can benefit from exposure to the big leagues, if there there are players whose development will be enhanced or accelerated as a result of being here, we’re going to invite them. If we think there are players that can benefit from being on the minor-league side and staying focused on their development goals and preparing for their second full pro season, we’re going to keep them on the minor-league side.”

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I take my diet pretty seriously and Chick-Fil-A is about the only fast food I will eat. Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich. 520 calories, 37 grams of protein, and curbs my tremendous love of bacon.

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I Love Bacon GIF by The Bachelor Australia

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https://x.com/EvanPetzold/status/1890794057745473606

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You know you’re desperate for baseball when watching batting practice highlights. Lol the pitcher is throwing 60 miles per hour. :joy:

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It’s harder to go oppo on that slow slow stuff though.

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Shhhhh. :grinning:

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For those going to Tiger ST games in Lakeland, I will be there Monday, please note that there is major road construction on Massachusetts rd(Lakeland Hills) where the stadium is located.

https://x.com/DetroitTigersPR/status/1893311577392111652

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