Twelve hundred miles south of Comerica Park, it could hit 80 degrees today in Lakeland, Fla. as Detroit Tigers pitchers and catchers check in a day before formal drills start.
Actualy, "many pitchers and catchers are already working out on their own at the Tigertown complex," Jason Beck of MLB.com posted last week.
The team also posts this tease on Facebook.
The team tweets evidence and a brief video tease Tuesday:
All together now:
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) February 12, 2019
Press play.
Close your eyes.
Deep breath.
BASEBALL IS BACK pic.twitter.com/pJukVGkrbw
New faces include left-hander Matt Moore, a 29-year-old who signed a one-year deal for $2.5 million in December, and right-hander Tyson Ross, a 31-year-old who came aboard two months ago with a one-year contract worth $5.7 million.
General manager Al Avilla describes Moore, whose last team was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, as a starter "with a solid three-pitch mix that we see competing for a spot in our rotation."
Another newbie is righty Reed Garrett, a 26-year-old reliever drafted late last year from the Texas Rangers organization.
They'll be joined this weekend by the rest of Detroit's 2019 potential roster for full-team workouts that start Monday. Exhibition games begin Feb. 22 against Southeastern Florida University, followed the next day by the Tigers' Grapefruit League opener against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.
► Heading south? Spring training schedule and tickets
The Lakeland locker room is ready for two-month use.
(Photo: Facebook)
One familiar face who's not in Lakeland for the first time in decades is newly retired Detroit News baseball writer Lynn Henning, who earns a colleagial shout Monday from Free Press sportswriter Anthony Fenech. In the first spring training column of his fifth season there, he writes:
Nobody loves spring training more than Lynn — he has probably spent more than two years of his adult life here, he proudly proclaims — and something will be missing, at least until he can’t take it anymore and surprisingly shows up next month. I’m proud to call Lynn a friend, and I want to thank him for his guidance and congratulate him on an outstanding tenure at The News.
In a tweet Monday, this minor league pitcher signed by the Tigers in 2013 as an undrafted free agent shows how he feels about trying out for the majors in coming weeks:
Counting the days... who's excited?? #BasebalIsBack pic.twitter.com/QPg6djWZSK
— Joe Jiménez (@JAJimenez27) February 11, 2019
This is the team's 85th season in Lakeland, extending the longest relationship between a major league baseball team and a current spring training host city. The Tigers moved into Joker Marchant Stadium in March 1966, when it opened with 4,900 seats. That was expanded to 8,500 in 2003.
The field on Lakeland Hills Boulevard is named for Marcus "Joker" Marchant, a former city parks and recreation director.
► Comerica Park opener: Thursday, April 4, versus the Kansas City Royals. Tickets on sale Feb. 23.
