By George Eichorn
Hope springs eternal as the curtain is lifted on the 124th season of Detroit Tigers baseball.
The Tigers are in the final phase of spring training in Lakeland. Their sights now are on starting anew March 28-30 at the Chicago White followed by three games April 1-3 at the New York Mets. The party-like Tigers home opener is April 5 at 1:10 p.m. against the Oakland Athletics.
Club owner Chris Ilitch is making significant upgrades at Comerica Park – now in its 25th season if you can believe that! More than $30 million in improvements (per Crain’s Detroit) include a new 15,688-square feet videoboard (second largest in MLB), upgrades to its audio system and new television monitors. Earlier, Ilitch promised the Tigers a new team airplane. The Tigers refurbished their locker room in phase one last season. On the coaching and players side, president Scott Harris and new general manager Jeff Greenberg revamped the roster following a 2023 surprise second-place finish; 9 games behind AL Central champion Minnesota.
Now in his fourth season, manager A.J. Hinch received a generous contract extension and he made coaching changes as well. Third base coach Gary Jones moved to the dugout; Joey Cora is the new third base coach while Anthony Iapoce is the new first base coach after managing the Tigers AAA Toledo Mud Hens last season. Lance Zawadzi is a new assistant hitting coach and Ryan Sienko is the catching coach.
Detroit added outfielders Mark Canha and TJ Hopkins, pitchers Andrew Chafin, Jack Flaherty, Kenta Maeda, Shelby Miller and infielders Buddy Kennedy and Gio Urshela. Players gone from 2023: pitchers Tyler Alexander, Matthew Boyd, Jose Cisnero, Rony Garcia, Zach Logue, Eduardo Rodriguez, Spencer Turnbull, DH Miguel Cabrera (retirement), infielders Andre Lipcius, Nick Maton, Tyler Nevin, Zach Short and outfielder Austin Meadows.
The likely Tigers lineup features outfielders Riley Greene, Parker Meadows and Canha, DH Kerry Carpenter, catcher Jake Rogers, first baseman Spencer Torkelson, second baseman Colt Keith or Andy Ibanez, shortstop Javier Baez, third baseman Urshela or Matt Vierling, and catcher Jake Rogers.
Torkelson was red hot the second half on 2023, finishing with 31 homers and 94 runs batted in. Greene is coming off Tommy John surgery yet is showing great comeback strides in camp.
The utility players – not set at press time – could include catcher Carson Kelly, outfielder Akil Baddoo and Vierling and infielders Ibanez, Ryan Kreidler or Zack McKinstry.
The Tigers pitching staff features starters Tarik Skubal, Flaherty, Maeda, Reese Olson, Matt Manning and Casey Mize. Their bullpen may include Chafin, Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo, Jason Foley, Tyler Holton, Alex Lange, Will Vest and Joey Wentz. Holton was the Tigers 2023 rookie of the year as voted on by the Detroit Sports Media Association.
The new Bally Sports Detroit play-by-play person is Jason Benetti who worked for the White Sox and still does network TV on baseball, football and basketball. Craig Monroe is the primary color analyst. Dan Petry, Kirk Gibson, Todd Jones and newcomer Carlos Pena, the former Tiger first baseman, are also on board. John Keating, Mickey York, Trevor Thompson, Johnny Kane and Natalie Kerwin are hosts/feature reporters. Matt Shepard was let go by BSD and the Tigers after last season.
Dan Dickerson returns on the radio side (97.1 The Ticket) but will also fill in for Benetti on TV. Monroe, Bobby Scales, Andy Dirks and Daniella Bruce contribute. When Dickerson substitutes for Benetti on BSD Greg Gania of the West Michigan Whitecaps will call Tigers games on 97.1.
Tigers theme and giveaways include a Tigers hockey jersey (April 6), Dan Dickerson bobblehead (April 27), Pink Out the Park jersey (June 8), Detroit Stars hat (July 13), aloha shirt (July 27), Hall of Famer Jim Leyland honors on August 3, Riley Greene Little League Classic (August 17), the 1984 Tigers replica jersey (August 31) and Fiesta Tigres soccer jersey (September 14). All Tuesday home games are “313 Value Games” with discounted tickets to include a hot dog and fountain drink.
Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com or @Sandgsports99 on X (formerly Twitter).
Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters: On the Air: Eichorn, George B, Introduction Harwell, Ernie.
