LAKELAND, Fla. — More than 90 years ago, in 1934, the Detroit Tigers first came to Lakeland. No other club has a longer active relationship with its Spring Training host city. This is a symbiotic partnership, where the rhythms of Lakeland revolve around the Tigers and the Tigers’ rhythms revolve around Lakeland. Coming, going, then coming back again.
The Tigers convened once again Wednesday for the first official day of pitcher and catcher workouts. Baseball’s spring rebirth was in full effect. Tarik Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, stood at his locker, pulled on a hanger and glanced at his dark blue jersey for the first time. Last year, Nike altered the fabric and switched to smaller lettering. This year, after ample complaining, the old jerseys are back.
The more things stay the same, the more they change.
Perhaps no one symbolizes the evolution of the Tigers more than Skubal. Only a few years ago, he was a shy southpaw from Seattle University, blowing everybody away with his stuff but hardly saying a word while doing it. Now he’s confident, just the right amount of brash, a voice of the team and the best pitcher in the American League.
“I think everyone got a taste of (winning),” Skubal said. “I think you become addicted to that taste. We should be able to use that as motivation to just put our head down and get to work every day.”
These Tigers are coming off a confounding playoff run, where they overcame 0.2 percent odds, finished 31-11, won a playoff series and were at one point only seven outs away from the ALCS. With a young core intact, a few new additions and one large, free-agent elephant lurking around the lakes, the Tigers have reentered the world of expectations.
“I think the biggest challenge for a young team is not looking backwards as you’re trying to progress,” manager A.J. Hinch said in December. “We can’t repeat last season. We’re not trying to repeat last season. We’re trying to be better. We want to win the AL Central.”
The feel is different this year in Lakeland, and so is the look. On what used to be a sleepy half-field, blue brick and a shining metal roof cover a new turf field. The Tigers made several upgrades to their Lakeland facilities over the winter — revamped bullpens, climate-controlled batting cages and more. This is much different than the days of Alan Trammell, when the Tigers practically did their spring training work all on one field. But these are all infrastructure improvements, big projects that pair with small details to help the Tigers’ minor-league system rise to No. 7 on The Athletic’s farm rankings and as high as No. 2 in other publications.
Only a few years ago, the Tigers were lost in the wilderness, trying to catch up in the analytics and technology arms race. Now, entering their third season under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, the Tigers are operating as a data-driven organization obsessed with developing talent.
The Tigers’ spring training facility received several upgrades over the winter. (Allison Farrand / Ilitch Sports)
The homegrown players who trickled in and out of the clubhouse Wednesday reflected the optimism of spring. Colt Keith, who hit .285 after May 6 in his rookie season, is back with experience under his belt. This winter, Harris called him and asked about the possibility of moving from second base to first. The Tigers had a shot to sign Gleyber Torres, formerly of the New York Yankees. At the time, Keith had never played first. Didn’t even own a first baseman’s mitt.
“I was like, ‘Yeah,’” Keith said of his position change, “whatever helps us get back to the playoffs and makes us a better team, I was down to do.”
Across the room, Jackson Jobe sat in a blue chair with a pink bandage around his left forearm. He just had his blood drawn as part of yearly physicals. This time last season, Jobe was in camp as a non-roster invite. Once drafted No. 3, a subject of great controversy, Jobe is considered the best pitching prospect in the game. After debuting late last year, he comes to spring training with a real chance to win a rotation spot. His case is aided by the fact Alex Cobb, an often-injured 37-year-old whom the Tigers signed on a one-year, $15 million deal this winter, is already dealing with hip inflammation and not expected to be ready for Opening Day.
“This is what I’ve worked for, what I’ve dreamed of doing,” Jobe said.
For all the young talent, and despite the rush from last season’s run, the Tigers are not without flaws. The reminders of how difficult it is to succeed at the major-league level were on display on the other side of the room. While Keith was talking about tweaks to his swing, Spencer Torkelson — once a No. 1 pick — was assessing the reality of an uphill climb to make the roster.
“I haven’t shown that I can play consistently,” Torkelson told reporters gathered around his locker. “There are people who have decisions to make, important decisions, and I haven’t given them a real solid belief to trust me up to this point. And that’s just what it is.”
The PECOTA projection system has Detroit winning only 79 games. FanGraphs projects the Tigers to win 82 games and finish second in the AL Central. A team with so many young hitters can be subject to volatility. Talented as its pitching staff is, repeating last season’s excellence could take a combination of good health and good luck.
Perhaps the Tigers already got some of that luck when they were able to land 29-year-old right-hander Jack Flaherty on a two-year deal. You probably know the story by now. The Tigers signed Flaherty, helped him improve, then traded him at the deadline. Now Flaherty is back, sharing a clubhouse with the players he was traded for — shortstop Trey Sweeney and catcher Thayron Liranzo.
Flaherty won a World Series with the Dodgers last fall but also tracked the Tigers from afar. Detroit’s games would be on in the clubhouse when Dodgers teammates would ask Flaherty, “How are they doing this?”
Expected to command a four- or five-year deal, Flaherty’s market never materialized this winter. Perhaps teams had concerns over the back injections he received last summer, maybe there was worry over fastball velocity that fluctuated down the stretch or maybe it was something else. Whatever happened, the big offers never came. The Tigers got Flaherty back on a short-term commitment.
“There’s a lot of dumb reasons,” Flaherty said of feedback he got from other teams. “Reasons that don’t really make sense. I say the business is the business, but some of it wasn’t real businesslike.”
Frustrated with the broader market, Flaherty wanted to come back to the Tigers because of his experience last season. He stands to recreate a formidable 1-2 punch with Skubal. He also does so with a newfound championship pedigree.
“You’re gonna see some of these names start to rise,” Flaherty said of his Tigers teammates. “Skub’s name is all out there. (Riley Greene) was an All-Star last year. You got a bunch of other guys that are pretty damn good, especially in the bullpen.”
Upbeat as the vibes were, one big specter cast a shadow over nearly every conversation on the first day of spring training. The Tigers remain in on Alex Bregman, the star third baseman who is still unsigned. Bregman could be the missing link who upgrades the Tigers’ questionable offense, brings stability to their infield defense and injects more experience into their young clubhouse.
Hinch, who managed Bregman in his younger days with the Houston Astros, has been hearing it all offseason. In airports. In restaurants. Walking down the street.
“I live in Houston in the offseason so you can imagine how that’s going,” Hinch joked. “It’s obvious he’s a very talented player, a very impactful player, and someone who’s close to my heart. This is a guy who I’m really close with.”
While the Tigers wait for the Bregman sweepstakes to play out — the Cubs, Red Sox, Astros and Blue Jays have also held interest — Hinch said he’s doing the best he can to focus on the players in Lakeland. Some of those players are grappling with uncertainty related to Bregman’s decision. Last year, Matt Vierling was getting reps at third base before the Tigers signed Gio Urshela early in camp. Then Vierling started doing more work in the outfield. After Urshela was let go in August, suddenly Vierling was on the dirt again.
“I know there’s Bregman and all that swirling around,” Vierling said. “I’m just prepared for anything. He’s an amazing player. I’m just working hard at third base, and if he signs, then obviously I’ll mix around even more.”
Hinch is entering his fifth season with Detroit. He would almost certainly love to add a player of Bregman’s caliber.
But will the price — and the years — be right? Hard to say.
“I’ve tried not to go into the public relations banter on trying to recruit him here,” Hinch said. “But he can help any major-league team. Time will tell where that is and what he chooses. But a special guy.”
Regardless of Bregman, Wednesday served as another checkpoint in time. In 40 days, the Tigers will leave Lakeland and head west. They open the season against the mighty Dodgers in Los Angeles.
This is the cycle at work. Here in Lakeland, it all begins again.
(Top photo of Tarik Skubal: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
