Detroit

Tigers

It’s a bummer for the prospect, who is likely to return to AA Erie when he’s able to play again. He hit .167 in 12 spring training at-bats with no walks and a strikeout. Briceño’s the fourth-ranked Tigers prospect per MLB Pipeline and figures to have a real shot at a major league job in the next few years.

If McGoningle secures a spot on the Opening Day roster, Petzold speculates that they’ll have to move on from one of Matt Vierling, Wenceel Pérez, Jahmai Jones, or Meadows. Meadows simply doesn’t give them the value off the bench that they’d like compared to Pérez and Jones. And, to boot, Meadows is hitting .059 with one walk and five strikeouts in six spring training games.

Lee is heading back to Tigers spring training in Lakeland, Florida to undergo further evaluation. The 23-year-old second baseman was added to Detroit’s 40-man roster in the offseason after hitting .243/.342/.406 with 14 homers and 22 steals in 579 plate appearances for Triple-A Toledo last year. Chinese Taipei kicks off the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday night with a showdown against Australia in Tokyo, Japan.

Flaherty had a 37% CSW and allowed just one hard-hit ball today, and he’s now struck out eight in five innings on the spring. The 30-year-old is looking for a bounce-back season after going 8-15 with a 4.64 ERA last year and then exercising a $20 million player option to remain with the Tigers.

Montero, who tossed three scoreless innings against the Panama on Wednesday, has proven an invaluable stopgap option for Detroit’s rotation, piling up 189 innings over the last two seasons and recording a respectable 4.57 ERA — 5.06 xERA — during that span. His demotion always seemed inevitable after the Tigers brought in Framber Valdez and reunited with Justin Verlander in the offseason, and while the timing seems weird, he’s just one of a number of players getting demoted in advance of leaving to join WBC teams.

McGonigle took Dominican Republic starter Luis Severino deep with a no-doubter to right field in the opening frame before adding a two-run single his next time up. He also drew a walk, reaching base safely in all four of his plate appearances. The 21-year-old top prospect’s blend of bat-to-ball precision and repeatable hard contact represents the kind of combination that feels less like projection and more like inevitability. When a hitter controls the zone and squares baseballs with consistency, the transition tends to be smoother than expected. If that foundation holds, McGonigle won’t need a long runway to matter for fantasy purposes — he’ll just arrive and start producing. This is the type of performance that goes a long way to securing his spot on Detroit’s season-opening roster.

Báez is presumably day-to-day. It’ll be top prospect Max Clark taking over in center field for Tuesday night’s international affair.

We’re inclined to believe Nightengale on this one since Skubal is unlikely to approach the century mark in an abbreviated outing at this early stage of his ramp-up process. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner will head back to rejoin the Tigers following his lone outing during the international showcase.

The only sure major leaguer Valdez faced in this one was Jonah Heim, so it wasn’t a great test. Still, he showed his velocity was already up to par in spite of his rather late signing, and he threw 30 of his 43 pitches for strikes. That’s a fine first outing.

Mize fanned two while facing mostly minor leagues today. DeShawn Kiersey Jr. homered off him for the first earned run he’s allowed in five innings this spring.