Versatile Vierling ready to roll thanks to help from pitching coach

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tigers assistant pitching coach Robin Lund had a simple question for outfielder/third baseman Matt Vierling shortly after last season ended: What does your first day of Spring Training look like?

Lund is a biomechanics expert who has done wonders with Tigers pitchers over the past few years. But as a pitching coach, his work with Tigers position players has been limited. He knows how to build up arms, but to help Vierling bounce back from an injury-ravaged 2025 season, he needed to know what Vierling was building to.

For Vierling, who can play all three outfield positions as well as third and first base, it was a simple question with a complex answer.

“I was like, 'Man, it could be anywhere from 40 to 70 throws,’” Vierling said he told Lund. “I could be on the infield. I could be in the outfield. But I'd like to be anywhere from 200 to 250 feet, and I would be able to make anywhere from 40 to 70 throws.'”

It’s not just the number of throws, but the angles. A throw across the infield is different than a throw from the outfield.

Lund mapped out Vierling’s offseason rehab towards that goal, getting Vierling ready for that point. The throwing progression and its level of detail reminded Vierling of his days pitching at Notre Dame nearly a decade ago. Four months later, the results not only have Vierling working out at full strength, they have manager A.J. Hinch’s key weapon for his roster back.

“When you talk about throwing programs, you go immediately to the pitchers,” Hinch said. “But having Robin and his experience handling the return-to-play throwing program and the biomechanical study, we’re just so much further advanced than we used to be with him on our staff at the little details like that. We’d be foolish not to use the pitching side of the staff to bridge the gap.”

With Andy Ibáñez gone, Jahmai Jones is Detroit’s primary platoon specialist against left-handed pitching. Jones began his career as a second baseman, but he is now an outfielder/DH who could play the infield in a pinch. Prospects Hao-Yu Lee and Max Anderson are infielders who crushed left-handed pitching with Triple-A Toledo last year, but neither has made their respective MLB debuts yet. Javier Báez can play all over the field, but he is primarily needed at shortstop. A healthy Vierling is the Tigers’ best chance for a right-handed hitter with infield versatility.

So far, so good.

“Me and Lundy talked every week, especially closer into January and February, just to dial it into Spring Training,” Vierling said. “Throwing-wise, my shoulder feels great.”

Most of Vierling’s offseason work took place near his home in St. Louis. When winter settled in, Vierling took his throwing work indoors, throwing into a net at times and throwing in a large facility at others.

“Just throwing a ton, that was the biggest thing,” Vierling said, “just throwing so much that my arm's ready for this and conditioned for it. Throwing six, seven, eight, nine days in a row, I'm used to that already.”

Most of Vierling’s work this week and next will be in the outfield. As Spring Training continues, he’ll get more work in the infield.

“We're doing this with a couple of our multi-position guys, where the early part of camp they're going to have a singular focus and then they'll sort of migrate,” Hinch said. “For Matty in particular, given last spring, we want to control the volume of the throws and just the general arm swing. He'll start in the outfield for the first week or so. We'll eventually put a third-base and first-base mitt on him and get him more towards what a specific role could be for him.”

Said Vierling: “I'm cool with it. Definitely more outfield throws right now, because the throwing is a little different, a little more loft, a little more of a path. Infield's a little more short, using more of your arm. But yeah, whatever he wants me to do, I'll do.”