LAKELAND, Fla. -- Kevin McGonigle has done a great job blending into Tigers camp as a top prospect turned non-roster invite to Spring Training. But he couldn’t help but stand out Thursday afternoon as his home run soared down the right-field line. McGonigle got all of a Beau Brieske fastball

The Tigers haven’t always had a collection of young talent like they’ve assembled in recent years, but their franchise history includes plenty of memorable debuts – some from future stars, others from young players who came seemingly out of nowhere. Many of their best young players had rough introductions to

LAKELAND, Fla. – Kerry Carpenter’s explosive swing allows him to see a pitch a split-second longer and react. But his ability to read pitchers and anticipate a pitch is just about as fascinating. “The swing decisions are helped by the more I see [pitchers],” Carpenter explained Monday. “The more I

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Arguably no topic in Detroit sports has better encapsulated the city’s challenge of preserving history while embracing modernization than the Tigers uniform. For more than 30 years, generations of fans, players and team officials have wondered how to balance the history of an American League charter franchise

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The first Vintage Verlander moment of this new chapter wasn’t a strikeout in front of a packed crowd at Joker Marchant Stadium, or a big fastball or buckling breaking ball. It was a bullpen session on the back fields. This is where Justin Verlander put in the

LAKELAND, Fla. -- While Kevin McGonigle took ground balls with the first-year infielders on the Tigers’ first day of full-squad workouts Sunday, Javier Báez was right there with him, showing him the way at shortstop. “We’re getting to learn from each other all the time,” Báez said. “There’s always something

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The shouts could be heard from the other practice fields as Kevin McGonigle sent a ball spearing into the air Monday morning. The reaction from teammates wasn’t for what he did, but for pitcher Keider Montero, who scrambled off the mound, chased down the popup and made

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.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Hao-Yu Lee’s English is improving. “I'm getting better,” the Tigers' No. 6-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) said Monday morning. “I've been here five years, so I definitely get better each year.”

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Jahmai Jones’ role on the Tigers is to hit left-handed pitching. It’s how he transitioned from a non-roster invite last Spring Training to a fixture on the roster down the stretch last year and into the postseason. It’s a role that earned him a spot on Team

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tarik Skubal is a back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner, a Team USA ace and a record winner in arbitration. He got here by never being satisfied, which might explain his next foray in pursuit of more hardware. Skubal is an aspiring barista.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Riley Greene called his hitting instructor, Jered Goodwin, one night after a game last season. Goodwin asked what was going on. “I was like, 'I feel like I can hit everything for a home run,'” Greene said Saturday. “And it looked like it. I'm swinging at everything,

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The PitchCom device was blaring to Tarik Skubal as he stepped off the mound. “Can you hear that?” Skubal yelled to catcher Jake Rogers. “I don’t hear a thing,” said Rogers, wearing the other end of the PitchCom headset. “My ear is plugged.”

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LAKELAND, Fla. – Tarik Skubal is a southpaw pitcher at the top of his profession, having won back-to-back American League Cy Young awards along with a record arbitration award. He is also a child at heart. “Still young,” he reminded when a reporter began a question about a prospect by

LAKELAND, Fla. – Justin Verlander used to live in this central Florida city. He bought a place on the south end of town shortly after the Tigers drafted him in 2004 and spent his offseasons here for over a decade, making the drive across town to Joker Marchant Stadium to

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Tigers rotation now includes four former Opening Day starters, including two who have done so for Detroit. But for this year’s squad, there’s only one choice for when the season begins on March 26 in San Diego. "Tarik Skubal,” manager A.J. Hinch replied Wednesday morning, getting

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Dillon Dingler has not yet received the Gold Glove Award he won last fall, but as he talked with reporters on Wednesday morning ahead of the Tigers’ first official workout of Spring Training, he at least has his gold glove of sorts. He dug into his locker

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Tigers’ flurry of late-offseason pitcher signings had a purpose: Filling in for an injury. Reese Olson, whose 2025 season ended in July due to a shoulder strain, underwent surgery last week to repair his right labrum and will miss the upcoming season, according to the team.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The 34 Club overlooking right field at Joker Marchant Stadium was packed on Wednesday afternoon, even though the Tigers’ Grapefruit League schedule doesn’t begin for another week and a half. While Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg prepared to formally welcome

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Tigers’ flurry of activity ahead of their first Spring Training workout continued Tuesday with righty-hitting outfielder Austin Slater, who agreed to a Minor League contract with a non-roster invite to Major League camp, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement. The signing, which has

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Turns out there’s a full circle in the Olde English D, at least for Justin Verlander. Nine years after Verlander’s trade away from Detroit marked the unofficial beginning of the Tigers’ rebuild, his return is the latest sign of the Tigers’ intent to make the most of

The Tigers open Spring Training this week with more players established than manager A.J. Hinch has had in his tenure, but that doesn’t change the tone of camp. “Good teams have a ton of competition,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said at the start of the offseason, “and we're

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck's Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The weather forecast says winter still has its grip on Michigan, but the schedule says spring is just around the corner. The Tigers next week open their 61st consecutive Spring Training at Joker Marchant Stadium, and their 90th Spring Training in Lakeland, Fla., extending the longest-running current relationship between a