| Detroit Free Press
Detroit Tigers’ Tyler Alexander ‘felt good’ in his spring training debut
Detroit Tigers southpaw Tyler Alexander speaks on Sunday, February 28, 2021, about his first Grapefruit League game.
Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press
LAKELAND, Florida – Willi Castro wants to put his mark on the daily shortstop work that the Detroit Tigers entrust him with this season. He hopes to continue, but it is crucial that he shows that last season was not a fluke.
The 23-year-old started the year strong by launching a 458-foot home run on the first official pitch he saw since last September. Exploding for six races in the first round, the Tigers reached a 10-2 victory on Sunday over the Philadelphia Phillies at the opening of the Grapefruit League at the Joker Marchant Stadium.
The game lasted seven entries.
“The first entry, the striking quality, I thought was exceptional,” said coach AJ Hinch. “Really from top to bottom, the entire inning, whether it was a drawing, hitting, hitting the ball hard, RBI opportunity. There is a lot to take advantage of from that first inning.”
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Left-hander Tyler Alexander, the Tigers holder, gave up a second-run home run for Adam Haseley (86.4 mph cutter) early in the first round, but calmed down. He allowed two runs in two starts, with three hits, zero walks and a strikeout.
Alexander used 30 shots (22 hits).
“Hoping maybe to get a starting role,” said Alexander. “The Leadoff guy hits a home run on a cutter that I left a bit up and gave up another double on a 0-2 slider. Other than that, I thought my speed off was really good. My biggest thing was that I wanted to get out and attack early, get out in front of the guys with my quick ball. “
The Tigers travel to Tampa on Monday for a 1:05 pm fight against the New York Yankees. Right-handed Kyle Funkhouser is starting. On the other side, Detroit bats will face right-handed Gerrit Cole, an All-Star three times.
The round ends, the fans boo
After 27 shots from Nova and another 23 from Jonathan Hennigan – resulting in five strokes and six allowed runs – Phillies coach Joe Girardi ended the first inning, although the Tigers had bases loaded with two outs.
The crowd booed the Phillies when they left the field.
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Castro bug
Castro’s biggest concern staying on the shortstop is his defense. One side of the debate is that he needs more experience to develop. (He only has 66 games in parts over two seasons.) On the other hand, this dilemma explains that Castro fits much better on second base, where the accuracy of the arm is not tested as much.
At the top of the third, Castro shifted to the left and attempted a backhanded flip to second base Harold Castro covering the base to the middle. But Harold was not ready for Willi’s move and assumed that he would play for first base. The communication failure resulted in an error.
Catchers start hard
Three of the four Seekers who compete for backup work played: Grayson Greiner, Dustin Garneau and Eric Haase. Each of them received a hit, with Haase hitting a home run on the sixth inning and Greiner adding a walk.
Jake Rogers is the other receiver in the competition.
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line up
That’s how the Tigers started the game: Willi Castro (SS), Jeimer Candelario (3B), Christin Stewart (LF), Wilson Ramos (DH), Harold Castro (2B), JaCoby Jones (CF), Akil Baddoo (RF) , Daniel Pinero (1B) and Dustin Garneau (C).
Pinero started because the team has no other first baseman to use, considering that Hinch wants to keep Candelario on third base for now. The team’s number one prospect, Spencer Torkelson, would have played first or third base in this game – if he hadn’t cut his finger last week.
Miguel Cabrera, another first baseman, did not play. Your workload, especially in early spring games, will be closely monitored.
Five players from the spring training minicamp were activated for Sunday’s game: right-handers Nolan Blackwood, Drew Carlton, Robbie Ross Jr. and Logan Shore, along with catcher Brady Policelli.
The Tigers used six pitchers: Alexander, Derek Holland, Alex Lange, Ian Krol, Ross Jr. and Carlton. NEW: After Alexander allowed the only two runs, the appeasers kept the Phillies with one hit and two walks the rest of the way.
Prospects play
The first line-up change came in the second round, with Haase replacing Ramos as a substitute runner. Two of the team’s prospects – outfielder Riley Greene and second baseman Kody Clemens – entered the later entrances.
Greene hit Enyel De Los Santos’ 95.8 mph fastball hit on his first hit of the spring, and then hit a field player on Friday. Clemens chose the glove of pitcher JD Hammer in his only hit.
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Welcome back fans
For the first time in 353 days – dating back to March 12, 2020 – the Tigers welcomed fans to watch their team’s baseball game. Tickets went on sale on February 18, with a limited capacity of 2,000 fans per game, and sold out in three hours.
“It was definitely very good, a good change,” said Stewart. “It was comforting to know that people are out there and still participate in the games. It was a totally different atmosphere.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.