LAKELAND, Fla-“We won the trade!” is usually the go-to phrase on social media whenever a team does well after a trade. On Sunday afternoon, the phrase was in full force as the Tigers lost 10 to 5 to Baltimore. Both Nick Maton and Matt Vierling went yard and so did Jake Rogers, who was playing in his first game since July 18, 2021.

In the battle for bullpen spots, it was rather an ugly outing for Jace Fry. He got just one batter out, allowing six runs on five hits. Rony Garcia, Chasen Shreve and Kervin Castro all pitched scoreless innings. Brendan White, who was added to the 40-man roster back in December, was impressive as he had his slider spinning and was able to draw three swings and misses for a pair of strikeouts.

Bright spot on rough day for Tigers pitching: Brendan White K’ed 2 in clean 9th. Fastball and sinker averaged 95+ mph. His 3 sliders averaged 3005 rpm. All 3 drew swings and misses.

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) February 26, 2023

Riley Greene to play the corner spots in the outfield

Before the game. A.J. Hinch talked about where to put Riley Green in the lineup. He is one of the players Hinch mentioned that will play multiple positions.

He’s gonna play one of the corners, if not both, the corners of sometime this spring, just to give us ourselves a bit of optionality. He knows it, he’s on board. I’m trying to get him as many bats in the spring”.

Hinch also discussed where he could bat in the lineup as he tinkers to see what he has among the roster in spring.

“The best version of him is going to stay in that top third of the lineup somewhere. It will be matchup dependent. We could mess with that a little bit. I’ve gotta get to know a few new hitters and how to optimize the moves that the other manager’s gonna make and where am I going to hit (Austin) Meadows or other guys that I could pair up with him.”

There are numerous combos the Tigers could use in the outfield in this spring before the Opening Day lineup is settled. Even players like Zach Short, who saw time in the outfield on Saturday, could be even in the mix.

Tigers odds and ends

Eduardo Rodriguez tossed two scoreless innings in his first start of the spring.
Jermaine Palacios has two hits on the spring so far and both have been RBI singles
Outfielder Jonathan Davis, who is fighting for a fourth spot in the outfield, had a walk, then stole a base and then a single in the 7th.
Vierling finished 1-2 on the day and César Hernández, also who is vying for a roster spot, drew two walks.

Photo Credit: Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK