Manager AJ Hinch responds to Triple-A delay: How it helps and hurts Detroit Tigers
LAKELAND, Fla. — The details remain murky, but one thing is certain.
The Triple-A baseball season is getting pushed back a month, from April 6 to May 4, and MLB teams will open alternate training camps, similar to last year's structure with the minor leagues canceled.
The reason for the delay is to provide an extra month to vaccinate players and increase the attendance at ballparks.
"I don't know how many guys are going to be there or what the situation is going to be," Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Wednesday. "But whatever we have to do to get the major league season up and running in a positive, healthy way is necessary."
Still, there are going to be some organizational difficulties — now that Triple-A players are going to be confined to intrasquad games against their teammates rather than official contests against fresh opponents.
"We'll do our best to prepare them, and from an innings standpoint, it probably helps the pitching across the industry," Hinch said. "From at-bats and readiness to help us in the big leagues, for those who don't make the team, it's a logistical challenge."
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A handful of notable players in big-league camp could be impacted by the delay, depending on whether they make the MLB team or get shipped to Toledo: Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning, Kyle Funkhouser, Beau Burrows, Jake Rogers, Grayson Greiner, Isaac Paredes, Zack Short, Daz Cameron, Derek Hill and Christin Stewart.
The Triple-A season will now begin at about the same time as the Double-A and Single-A seasons, which were already slated to get pushed back a month. This means Manning, outfielder Riley Greene and third baseman Spencer Torkelson — three of the Tigers' top prospects — should start official games during the same month.
Greene is expected in Double-A Erie, with Torkelson behind him in High-A West Michigan. It's unclear if Greene and Torkelson will compete at the alternate training site or remain in Lakeland for a second round of spring training with Double-A and Single-A players.
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"That'll be a question we're going to have to answer, whether it be young pitching, young hitting, people that have been in camp here that aren't ticketed for our team," Hinch said. "We're going to have to adjust."
Yet the Triple-A delay isn't going to significantly alter the Tigers' roster configuration when the team breaks camp for Detroit, Hinch said, but "obviously, there are some caveats with that" regarding the young players.
For example, Paredes — who might end up on the borderline of Triple-A and MLB as spring training concludes — could benefit more from top-tier games in the majors as opposed to in-house reps in Toledo.
"But it would be doing a disservice to a lot of guys in that clubhouse if I, or Al (Avila, general manager) or anyone in the organization, simply put a guy on the team because there are no games in April in Triple-A," Hinch said. "He's going to have to earn his keep and make sure he can help us."
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More starters announced
Right-hander Michael Fulmer is officially scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota. He is on track to return on time from Oklahoma, where his wife gave birth to their second child. If he has travel or COVID-19 intake screening delays, Skubal will start in his place.
Either way, Skubal is going to pitch Saturday.
On Sunday, righty Jose Urena will start Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays in Lakeland. He will be followed by Mize and Julio Teheran out of the bullpen. This offseason, Urena inked a one-year, $3.25 million contract.
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"We're hoping for nine innings on Saturday and Sunday," Hinch said. "We're still waiting for (Yankees manager Aaron Boone) to tell me on Friday that we have a potential for nine innings if they have the pitching lined up.
"The earliest we would play nine innings is Friday. Saturday is a virtual lock unless something happens between now and then for either team. As of now, Sunday we're penciled in for nine. ... We won't have any five-inning games unless Armageddon hits."
Starters for Thursday (Blue Jays in Lakeland) and Friday (Yankees in Tampa) are right-hander Spencer Turnbull and lefty Matthew Boyd, respectively.
Garcia making progress
Right-hander Rony Garcia, recovering from an appendectomy, is "progressing nicely" in camp, Hinch said, but he hasn't thrown from the pitcher's mound yet and is "not close" to facing hitters in live batting practices.
"It's looking more and more likely that it's going to be tough to get him ready for the season," Hinch said. "I don't know, maybe things happen over the next three or four weeks. His health is more important than his readiness on time."
As the team's 2019 Rule 5 draft pick, the 23-year-old Garcia logged an 8.14 ERA, 1.619 WHIP, 14 strikeouts and nine walks in 21 innings for the Tigers in 2020. He started two of his 15 games.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Where Detroit Tigers are helped and hurt by Triple-A delay in 2021
