LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tyson Ross knew he had a strong arm going into the offseason. He wanted his old sinker back as well. He has put a lot of work in trying to find it.
Before he arrived at Spring Training, he had somebody set up an iPhone on a tripod and put the camera in slow-motion video mode to film his throwing sessions. Since reporting to camp, he has checked Rapsodo machines and slow-motion cameras to look at spin rate and delivery.
“I was a sinker-slider guy before my injury and surgery,” said Ross, who underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome after the 2016 season. “I really haven’t had that pitch the last couple years, so I’m trying to look at the film with the numbers and trying to figure out what the ideal spin and everything is to get that sinker back to where it was before.”
If he can get it right, he can pair it with his fastball and slider to give him pitches moving in different directions. His struggles last year came in part because his pitches were moving in the same direction.
“Movement for me is big,” he said.
Ross paid for a 3-2 pitch that Nick Williams hit out to center field for a three-run home run, but otherwise didn’t give up solid contact, despite a 30-pitch first inning as part of a 39-pitch outing in the Tigers’ 10-6 loss to the Phillies on Sunday. A bloop single and infield ground-ball single preceded the homer, and Ross retired five hitters with two strikeouts after that before hitting his pitch count.
“It’s a longer first inning than I would’ve wanted, but I feel good physically,” Ross, 31, said. “I was able to get back on track and get my work in today.”
Manager Ron Gardenhire has praised Ross’ work ethic and experience, saying he could have a big influence on younger players in the clubhouse. Ross believes it could be a two-way benefit, with old and young players alike exchanging ideas.
“I’ve just been out here watching guys throw, watching them work, seeing what they’re working on, talking about what I’m working on, trying to get on the same page and just kind of grow together,” Ross said. “There’s some high-value conversations that can happen between teammates throughout the course of Spring Training and the season. We can all help each other get better.”
Cabrera returns
Miguel Cabrera was comfortable at the plate Sunday in his first game action since last June, walking in the second inning before lining a 3-0 pitch into left field for a single to lead off the fourth. He was less confident on the bases and in the field, feeling like he needs to get his legs under him and used to moving at game speed again.
That’s not a surprise, and probably should disappear in time. He has plenty of that with more than four weeks before Opening Day.
“He’s just uncomfortable with the way his feet worked and everything else,” Gardenhire said. “That’s just because he hasn’t done it in a pretty good while. You just have to give him time.”
Cabrera will head to Jupiter with the Tigers split-squad on Monday, and could play Tuesday in nearby Port St. Lucie.
The bigger they are, the harder they slide?
Though Grayson Greiner’s head-first slide into home plate looked like a tone-setter Saturday for the Tigers’ first run of Grapefruit League play, Greiner said it wasn’t any sort of statement. He’s just more comfortable sliding head-first than feet-first.
At 6-foot-6, Greiner has further to go to reach the ground sliding that way. It isn’t graceful, Greiner admits, but it works.
“He’s just slow,” fellow Tigers catcher John Hicks joked.
Gardy’s quote of the day
“Our people in our offices were ducking. And they didn’t have to, because [the ball] went over top of them.” -- Gardenhire, on Dylan Cozens’ home run, which hit the roof of the Tigers administration building behind the right-field deck and bounced over
Up next
The Tigers have their first split-squad set of this Spring Training on Monday, when they play road games on both of Florida’s coasts. While potential Opening Day starter Jordan Zimmermann starts against the Phillies in Clearwater, Daniel Norris begins his bid for a rotation spot when he faces the Cardinals in Jupiter. Both games start at 1:05 p.m. ET. The Cardinals game will be on Fox Sports Detroit and MLB.TV, while the Phillies game will be available on radio at AM 1270 in Detroit and online through MLB.TV and MLB Gameday Audio.