The Detroit Tigers yesterday swept both of their split-squad games. One half of the roster beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-6 while the other half beat the Braves 6-1. Today they will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates with Tarik Skubal on the mound making his third start of the spring, he posts a 0.00 ERA, a 0.40 WHIP, and eight strikeouts in five innings. The Tigers prospects will take part in the Spring Breakout game today as they take on the Philadelphia Phillies top prospects.
Tigers News & Notes
Pitching
This week the Tigers starters have gone 20 innings giving up one run on seven hits and recording 23 strikeouts. Reese Olson on Monday went four innings giving up a run on two hits, he struck out three. Kenta Maeda on Tuesday went four innings, didn’t allow a run on a hit, and struck on seven. Jack Flaherty on Wednesday went four innings giving one hit, no runs, and struck out five. Casey Mize on Thursday went four innings giving up two hits, no runs, and struck out four. Yesterday Matt Manning went four innings giving up one hit, no runs, and struck out four. The Tigers have a real shot to win the American League Central and that’s because of their pitching they just need to stay healthy.
Kerry Carpenter
Carpenter after dealing with some hamstring issues is starting to find his swing. This week in four games he is 4-12 with a double, a triple, a home run, four RBI, and four runs scored.
Javier Baez
Baez has struggled this spring and entered yesterday hitting .045, he would go 1-4 yesterday. It’s not time to panic or overreact yet, it’s only spring training, and Baez being a veteran he’ll get himself right and be ready for opening day. He’s also expected to be slotted into the bottom three of the batting order which will benefit him.
Colt Keith
Keith is going to be the real deal as he has a hit in four of his last games and is hitting .273 with a .727 OPS; he has two doubles, a triple, seven RBI, and two runs scored.
