4 things we learned from Tigers’ Spring Training

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Spring Training ended a couple weeks early for the Tigers, and Opening Day remains up in the air as baseball and the world address the coronavirus pandemic. But with about a month together in Tigertown, manager Ron Gardenhire and general manager Al Avila were able to learn a few things about their squad for when it’s time to play ball.

1. The kids can play
Tigers fans were already going to be anxiously waiting this year while top pitching prospects Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal and Alex Faedo continue their development. But with all four in Major League camp as non-roster invites, the quartet had enough innings to show they’re worth the wait, and that they might be closer than previously expected. Skubal was the talk of camp, unleashing a 98 mph fastball on hitters to go with a full arsenal of secondary offerings and poise well beyond his season and a half of Minor League experience. Manning hit 100 mph on the radar gun at Joker Marchant Stadium among his impressive performances. Mize backed up his status as Detroit's top prospect with a devastating splitter, as did Faedo with his wipeout slider.

2. Cabrera is healthy
While the future looks bright, the key takeaway for the present is that Miguel Cabrera is looking healthy and swinging the bat well. It doesn’t necessarily mean his chronic knee issues are behind him, but his 10-for-29 (.345) performance with three home runs in 12 games -- one homer to the opposite field, one to straightaway center and another crushed to deep left-center -- was a reflection of his return to his old swing, now that he can generate some power off his back leg again. If Cabrera can keep that swing going to all fields and take it into the regular season, the Tigers will have a potent run producer again -- maybe not at the 30-homer pace of his prime years, but a 15- to 20-homer season could be realistic.

3. Outfield could be a mix and match
While Cameron Maybin's return brought a much-needed veteran presence, not much is clear in the Tigers’ outfield picture beyond him. Center fielder JaCoby Jones missed most of the Grapefruit League schedule with right calf tightness and returned to action just before camp was suspended. Christin Stewart reported to camp with improved flexibility, but he hit just 4-for-28 in 13 games while struggling with some wind-blown fly balls in left field. Travis Demeritte flashed his power with four home runs in 16 at-bats, but he also struck out nine times. On the bright side, Troy Stokes Jr. looked like a nice pickup from the Brewers, batting 6-for-22 with five doubles.

4. Greene could rise quickly
Riley Greene, the Tigers’ first-round pick in last year’s MLB Draft, wasn’t even in Major League camp and was only supposed to get limited looks in the late innings of games as an extra player called over from Minor League camp. But by batting 5-for-12 with two homers and six walks, the teenager was one of the most impressive hitters of the spring. Greene left Detroit with an interesting decision on what level to assign him whenever the season begins.