I’m not sure if that’s good or bad? 
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Dude needs to play in the majors this year. He has the power that the team needs. Back up to tork , dingler and dh.
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He isn’t ready for the Majors yet.
Plenty to work on from offense and defense.
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Predictions for 2026 Going Into Spring Training:
1. Kevin McGonigle makes the OD roster.
2. Trei Cruz takes over McKinstry’s role sometime this year.
3. Spencer Torkelson will hit for the highest average of his career
4. Verlander will win 10+ starts
5. Colt Keith All-Star
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I told you guys last year Tork is a good player. I was made fun of constantly for it. But if hits 40 homers this year I would not be surprised at all
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Framber 15 wins.
Skub 17
Carpenter stays healthy and hits 30
McGonigle wins RoY
Vierling DFAd mid season
Mize has a 4 ERA 1.3 whip platform year
Gleyber has a 260/350/410 platform year
Clark up by JuneLy..ish. Parker to RF, Carp to DH, thus the health.
McKinstry remembers who he was.
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I wasn’t one of those guys making fun of you about it.
I am a huge Tork fan.
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Skubal isn’t winning that many games with tigers hitting and him not wanting to go past 6 innings.
Mostly cause we actually watch the at bats.
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I hope Tork figures it out but still in the show me mode at this point.
Mckinstry remembers who he was, best line of the day.
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2025 starts over 6 innings 16 of 31
2025 playoff starts over 6 innings 2 of 3
Pitch count in playoffs 107-97-99
No pitch count higher than 105 in RS
No 3 game stretch in RS with 97+ pitches each
2024 Skubal wins-18
Keep buying that media narrative tho. They are trustworthy
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Its not media. Its my thoughts. Skubal knows more innings more pitches could cause issues with his arm.
2024- 15 of 31 and 1 of 3. Literally 50% last 2 seasons. Now, a higher % come later in the year but not by a lot.
I dont think he has that on his mind. I think the Tigers do. His pitch counts are very very consistent across those 2 years.
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I agree that Skubal innings are more from the Tigers than him and I don’t think it’s just the Tigers.
Starting Pitchers coming up the minor league ladder just don’t pitch beyond the fifth or sixth inning that much anymore. And bullpens have been set up within that pitching model as well.
It’s what baseball has become.
I mean you look at the innings pitched and pitch counts of Gibson, McLain compared to today. If not mistaken Gibson pitched three games in the WS vs the Tigers
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# I saw Tigers prospect Max Clark hilariously break his tooth
Detroit Tigers prospect Max Clark is unshakable. This story proves it.
full article at link.
===
– I turned the corner in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse and saw Max Clark, one of the team’s most important prospects.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked after the Tigers practice on Wednesday, Feb.18.
“Sure,” he said, politely and calmly. “Just a second.”
He walked to a trash can and emptied his mouth.
“I think I just broke a tooth,” he said, looking into the trash can.
“What?”
“I think I just broke a tooth,” he said, poking a finger into the back of his mouth, feeling his teeth.
I looked into the trash can, wondering if he had just spit it out. What are you supposed to do with a broken tooth? I forget.
“We’ll get that figured out in a second,” he said, gathering his composure.
“Feel free,” he said, nodding his head, indicating he wanted me to start asking questions.
At that moment I was kind of stunned. Shouldn’t he do something? Like rush to a dentist or something?
==
Now, remember something important. Clark has never played above Double-A Erie, while Effross has pitched in 88 MLB games, including 11 in 2025 for the New York Yankees.
“Effross is a guy where he’s sinking the ball, making it run,” Clark said. “He’s got three pretty metrically disgusting pitches. So, trying to understand where those have to start, where those need to be placed in order to go and attack was a good test for me, because I’ve never seen stuff like that.”
OK, now he had me intrigued – he was ripping the ball against stuff he’s never seen. Nasty stuff, in his estimation, and that’s fascinating. But I wasn’t completely sure what he was talking about.
“I saw you looking at an iPad,” I said. “Explain it to me like I’m an idiot.”
“So, he has a very low slot,” Clark said of Effross. “He releases the ball very low from the ground, and it runs a ton. So our approach with that changes compared to a normal right-handed pitcher.”
“So, even in batting practice, you are changing your approach?” I asked.
“Yeah, 100%,” he said.
“He’s a big sinker, change-up guy,” Clark said. “So, you’re bringing everything closer into you, because that’s where it has to start.”
“Okay,” I said.
“I was seeing it well,” Clark said. “I had Beau Brieske the other day and saw him well. Obviously, that’s a great guy to start with because it’s high velo. It’s really good slider. It’s a really good change. And that was my first day, so I saw it well off, took some good pitches, put a good couple swings on some others, and then brought that into today to hit.”
==
But this is another part of the learning process.
MLB players have so much information that they have to learn how to use it. How to follow a gameplan and make adjustments, sometimes between at-bats.
“So, what does this tell you about your preparation?” I asked.
“Everything that I’ve done this offseason has led to these moments,” he said. “We’ve done a ton of work with shapes and working on the body, working on the hands, allowing them to work together and just be ready in a position to go.”
Clark is the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect. He hit .279 in 2024, advancing to High-A West Michigan, smashing nine homers and a .793 OPS. In 2025, he advanced to Erie, hitting .271 with 14 homers with an .835 OPS.
“Obviously last year was a better year than the year prior, and we’re going to continue to do that, build, grow, and just do what we need to do,” Clark said.
He made a swing change in the offseason, adding a toe tap.
“I added the toe tap this year after realizing that it was the best opportunity for me to start and get into a good position,” he said. “I love the change so far. So, I’m having a blast with it. It’s nice to at least go out there and compete against some really, really good big-league arms.”
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# Tigers’ Bryce Rainer among prospects outlet ‘excited to watch’ on backfields
full article at link
==
Rainer is one of four Tigers on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list, joining McGonigle (No. 2), Clark (6) and catcher/first baseman Josue Briceño (76). The outlet last month identified both Rainer and Bonemer as candidates to be potential No. 1 overall prospect for 2027.
==
Bryce Rainer, a shortstop the Tigers selected with the No. 11 in the 2024 MLB Draft, is toiling on the backfields as part of minor-league camp. Baseball America on Wednesday identified the 20-year-old as one of 10 prospects the publication is “excited to watch” on the backfields in Florida during spring training.
…Rainer, 20, is ranked as Baseball America’s No. 29 overall prospect entering the 2026 season after seeing his 2025 season cut short by a dislocated shoulder last June. He appeared to be in the midst of a breakout season after the Tigers selected him out of Harvard-Westlake School in California in 2024.
At the time of his injury, he was hitting .288 with a .383 on-base percentage in 125 at-bats for low Single-A Lakeland in his first minor-league action, with five home runs, 22 RBIs, and nine stolen bases, and an .831 OPS.
“Rainer was on a star track before an injury cut short his season,” Baseball America senior editor Josh Norris writes. “If healthy, he might be mentioned in the same kind of rarefied air as fellow Tigers prospects Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark. … When he was on the field, Rainer was earning rave reviews from scouts. When he’s back on it again, there’s little reason to believe he won’t pick up right where he left off and proceed on Detroit’s very busy star track.”
==
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Do you think Clark starts out in triple A, or Double A?
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# Why Justin Verlander’s 1st bullpen in Tigers return was unusually long
full article at link.
==
It was a 70-pitch, 30-minute session.
That’s a lot of pitches and a lot of time, at least compared to the average bullpen.
“You mean nobody does that anymore?” Verlander said Wednesday, Feb. 18, leaving the TigerTown backfields following a long conversation with manager A.J. Hinch, pitching coach Chris Fetter and catcher Dillon Dingler.
Not these day
==
He threw 20-30 warm-up pitches before unleashing 40-50 competitive pitches, totaling 70 pitches.
It’s the most he has thrown in preparation for the 2026 season.
“Compared to what I’ve done, this is heavier work,” Verlander said. “It’s like a springboard, where I check a box volume-wise and then recover and then do it again five days later – and build on the momentum. Ideally, you keep moving in that direction.”
It also gave Verlander a chance to set expectations for Dingler as his catcher.
They had never worked together before.
“We’re just focusing on building relationships and figuring out what we can do to help his visuals and help him be the pitcher that he is,” Dingler said. “You want to know positioning, what kind of target, and even at the end, we were talking a little bit of sequencing.”
==
The back-and-forth conversation about Dingler’s setup behind the plate created one of the most vocal bullpen sessions in recent memory.
Here’s an example:
“Do you like this or no?” Dingler asked, sticking out his left leg.
“No,” Verlander said.
That’s when Hinch walked from the mound to home plate, helping Dingler understand Verlander’s preferences. Not only did Hinch manage Verlander from 2017-19 with the Houston Astros, but he also caught more than 2,600 innings in his seven-year MLB career.
“A lot of it is just aesthetic for me as a pitcher,” Verlander said, “where, when I look up, what looks best to me, so that I can execute to the highest level possible.”
But Verlander isn’t focused only on his own preferences.
“At the same time, I want him to be comfortable,” said Verlander, who has a history of personal catchers. “He’s a Gold Glover, so what he does back there is also pretty special. You don’t want to take that away.”
The goal is simple.
“It’s trying to find a comfort zone where we can both feel good about working with one another,” Verlander said.
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Not sure tbh, think lot of it depends on how he does in ST, my guess is AAA, challenge him and see how he does.
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Blast from the past…