DETROIT -- Most Major League catchers were in demand by pitchers looking for someone to catch their mound sessions while baseball waited to restart. Austin Romine was under lockdown at home in California, so he had to improvise.

“I acquired a pitching machine that had an automatic feeder,” he said. “Some of the days, just to keep it fun, I had my seven-year-old son out there throwing wiffle balls to me just to keep my mind sane.”

No, he didn’t call upon his older brother Andrew, who pitched in four games during his Tiger tenure as a super-utility player. But he stayed in catching shape to be ready for a group of pitchers he had been learning when Spring Training was suspended, having signed with the Tigers as a free agent last December.

“They stayed ready,” Romine said. “It’s almost like they didn’t miss a beat. We’re out here and it’s almost like we’re halfway through Spring Training the way that they’re pitching.”

That’s close to where they were when Spring Training ended in March. The next part is establishing the pitcher-catcher rapport that becomes critical in navigating through an opposing lineup.

“The biggest thing is just relationships,” Romine said. “You want to have almost like a ping-pong match going on. You want to be back and forth, really making sure that you’re on the same page. The more you talk, the more you learn the mentality of a pitcher. And your teammates, you’re going to learn how they operate, and it’s going to make you a better team in the end.

“Building relationships, it’s huge, it’s hard, but at the same time, with this new stuff going on, it’s hard to get closer to people and really talk as much as you want. But baseball, once you’re out there, it kind of takes care of itself.”

Manager Ron Gardenhire raved in Spring Training about the work Romine put in to learn pitchers and make constructive suggestions in games. He hasn’t had much of a chance to talk with Romine in the early days of Summer Camp.

“We liked him in Spring Training, and he’s a calm influence around the clubhouse,” Gardenhire said. “He was pretty calm in the dugout and had great conversations with pitchers, and I think they enjoyed him. He’s a veteran. He’s been with a pretty good ballclub over there with the Yankees.”

Play ball

The first couple days of full-squad workouts this week have been long, with players arriving and departing in shifts to get their work in while maintaining social distance. Gardenhire hopes for more action Wednesday by setting up intrasquad games slightly earlier than planned.

“We’ve kind of changed the program up,” Gardenhire said. “It just seemed like we weren’t going anywhere and guys were getting anxious out there. It’s going to get hopping because we’re going to start playing intrasquad, we’re going to start doing infield-outfield relays, fundamentals, relays, the whole package and really get after it, and have more of a team format. I think we’re able to do that now.

“I’m tired of shagging. I want to see some action. I think everybody does. The players want to get after it, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Hello, old friend

Gardenhire did not reach out to former Tiger Nick Castellanos after learning the Tigers would see their ex-teammate several times early in the schedule with Cincinnati. But Gardenhire figures the former Tigers slugger, who signed with the Reds as a free agent after Detroit traded him to the Cubs last summer, will be motivated.

“Oh, I'm sure Nicky's going to have fun trying to whack us,” Gardenhire said. “You know what? We miss him. He was really good around here. It'll be interesting to open it up. Seems like we're playing them a lot. With Nicky there, the guy's a good player and he's settled in, and you know what? We'll try to find ways to get him out.

“Hopefully we'll make him chase. I saw teams do that to us when he was with us, so maybe we can make him chase.”

According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Castellanos swung at 38.4 percent of the pitches he saw out of the strike zone last year, the seventh-highest rate among 146 Major League batters to see at least 1,000 out-of-zone pitches.

For now, at least, Castellanos did not offer at Gardenhire’s quip.