Gardenhire on Romine: 'Going to be big for us'

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The beard that Austin Romine has grown makes him almost unrecognizable from the guy who was a Yankee for most of the previous decade.

“A few of his [former] teammates over there are really talking about that beard an awful lot,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said after Sunday’s 10-4 win over the Yankees at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Behind that facial hair, however, is a ton of experience. The Tigers are counting on it to help out their young pitching staff. They’re already seeing the benefits from it.

While Daniel Norris earned rave reviews for his two scoreless innings in his Spring Training debut against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, what stood out to Gardenhire was the catcher working with him. Watching Romine call the game with Norris reminded him why the Tigers signed Romine two months ago.

When Norris tried to guide a pitch, Gardenhire said, Romine talked to him about finishing the batter instead of wasting pitches with no real intent.

“Daniel threw the ball good. Our catcher’s going to be big for us,” Gardenhire said afterward. “Those are the conversations I love to hear. I want them trying to make [pitchers] better. By having that conversation with him, I think Danny kind of took a step back.

“Matthew Boyd, that’s what we talk about him doing -- finishing pitches a little bit better. He goes for the strikeout an awful lot, and if he wants to get into the seventh inning of a game, he’s going to have to get early outs. Good stuff. I like that stuff.”

The Tigers did not have that experience last year behind the plate. James McCann, Detroit’s primary catcher from 2015-18, was non-tendered and signed with the White Sox last offseason. Grayson Greiner was in his first full Major League season last year. John Hicks had played more first base than catcher in '18. Jake Rogers didn’t arrive until late August. Bobby Wilson provided a veteran presence, but his 4-for-44 hitting in 15 games made him difficult to put into a lineup.

That’s why the Tigers targeted a free-agent catcher. When Alex Avila signed with the Twins, Detroit moved quickly on Romine, signing him to a one-year contract. He arrived from the Yankees with a good reputation for working with a pitching staff, but Detroit has seen it first-hand.

“Romine’s really good at explaining what he wants to see from a guy, what he sees when he drops his arm or whatever it might be mechanically,” Gardenhire said. “He’s really good at picking this stuff up and then [adding] the mental part of getting a hitter out.

“Romine’s got some great knowledge that he’s going to throw out there with these guys. All the catchers are going to learn from him.”

The pitchers already are.

“He’s very good at what he does,” said Spencer Turnbull, who developed a chemistry with Greiner last year, but threw to Romine for the first time on Sunday. “I think it’s not just his skills, but his experience in the game will really add an edge that maybe I haven’t had before, which will be nice.”