Many of the Tigers’ position players have already been in camp since Wednesday, but Sunday marks the first official full-squad practice where everyone has reported. Today, baseball is truly back. The Tigers writers on site have taken some interesting notes over the past couple of days, so let’s go over a few things.
AJ Hinch mentioned Sunday that Colt Keith would focus on third base, while also getting some reps at first base. The Tigers had him suiting up for first base last year, with Spencer Torkelson not yet fully established as an everyday first baseman. Looks like they’re keeping a few left-handed hitters involved at the position anyway, just in case. Hinch mentioned that they don’t expect Keith to play second base at all, except in a pinch.
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Meanwhile, former prospect Jace Jung, who has been stagnant over the past two seasons in few major league appearances, is also preparing to play first base. Of course, he’ll finally have to start hitting. Jung made some swing adjustments, lowering his hands and trying to be shorter and faster in baseball. He came out of the All-Star break hot and cold in August, but finished September with a 1.162 OPS and three home runs for the month in 14 games. At just 25 years old, Jung’s story may not be written yet, but Triple-A pitching also tends to get pretty thin over time. He needs to do something big this season.
Hinch addresses the whole team
As always, the first full gathering of everyone in major league camp is an opportunity for manager AJ Hinch to set the tone for the season. The only player absent was Justin Verlander, who worked out for a week with the club before taking a few days off for a family commitment. Hinch expressed his enthusiasm for the club, but as always, warned everyone that what they did before is now a thing of the past and they need to get back to the day-to-day to improve. He has become accustomed to emphasizing the need to accumulate success little by little over the course of a long season to achieve his goals, and the message did not change on Sunday.
Riley Greene focused on his approach
Riley Greene spoke with reporters on Saturday, talking about his monstrous first half of the 2025 season and the deep slump that followed him down the stretch and into the playoffs. His point was that he was swinging the bat so well and running so hot that it was starting to feel like he could crush anything near the zone. That was true for a while, but once pitchers started staying away from him, recognizing that he was swinging a ton, Greene’s confidence got the better of him as his plate discipline crumbled. His view, which is also AJ Hinch’s, is that he just needs to breathe and be more situationally aware, recognizing when a single will do the trick and when pitchers will just stay out of the zone against him for the sake of his power.
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The key quote from Cody Stavenhagen article on Greene for The Athletic Detroit sums it up. “If you have two strikes and a runner on second base, maybe try not to hit a ball 5,000 feet.”
It seems to me. Greene is one of the most dangerous hitters in the game, ranking 25th in wRC+ for 2024-25. Excessive tinkering can ruin everything that made him this hitter. Modest adjustments to his approach and improved situational awareness could be enough to get him to that next level. He was already there until he collapsed for long stretches after the All-Star break. Taking your shots early in the count is a must, but it’s also essential to settle in and simply place the bat on the ball deeper in the count and with the runners in scoring position. Now 25 years old, I hope the Tigers slugger can mature this approach somewhat. He’s going to have a huge year if he can.
Tips
Evan Woodbery with MLive to the story of Jack Flaherty decision to sign up for 2026. Looks like he had more guaranteed money in free agency, as you would expect. But he feels comfortable in Detroit and knows they have a chance to win. That was apparently worth more than another uncertain look at free agency, and Flaherty may be one good season away from finally getting the type of deals he was waiting for last offseason.
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Freep’s Evan Petzold has a story about Reese Olson explaining her shoulder injury and why they tried to rehab her again before finally agreeing to the surgery. Essentially, he was going to miss all of 2026 every time he had surgery, so it was worth trying to completely rehabilitate him and avoid going under the knife.
Minimal Injury News
Everyone is rehabilitating their hips and elbows, everyone is moving forward with their game progressions
