Latest news with #ComericaPark
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Detroit Tigers Make Historic Comerica Park Announcement After Cubs Series
Detroit Tigers Make Historic Comerica Park Announcement After Cubs Series originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Detroit Tigers took two of three games from the Chicago Cubs at Comerica Park this past weekend, with star pitchers Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty leading the way in the Motor City. Advertisement The Tigers' series win helped manager AJ Hinch's team bounce back from its previous series, which they lost to the Chicago White Sox. The Tigers' three-game set with the Cubs included large, boisterous crowds throughout the weekend, a welcome sight for fans of the historic baseball franchise. Following the series, the Tigers' public relations account share a historic news announcement showing just how popular the Tigers' matchup with the Cubs was both locally and throughout the Midwest. Jack Flaherty pitches against the Chicago Cubs on June 8 at Comerica Park. © Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images "Two of MLB's best teams and fanbases came together this weekend, selling out Comerica Park for three straight days," the Tigers' PR account wrote on X. Advertisement "It's the 2nd-highest attendance (121,509) for a three-game series in Detroit since 2015, topped only by last season's playoff-clinching series vs. CWS (Chicago White Sox). #RepDetroit," the account added. "And we won the series by making it even better," a fan wrote. The Tigers possess the best record in the American League at 43-24, one game ahead of the New York Mets for the best record in Major League Baseball. Last season's playoff exit at the hands of the Cleveland Guardians looms large as the Tigers head toward the All-Star Break. Detroit is a team on a mission, with their sights set on a World Series championship. Expect fan support to continue to grow as the Tigers continue their march toward baseball's second season. Advertisement Related: Mark Wahlberg Did Not Hesitate to Give His 2025-26 Detroit Lions Prediction This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
A glimpse into the secrets of the Tigers' Comerica Park ‘smart cage'
DETROIT — Last June, construction workers at Comerica Park were busy during a Tigers road trip. The team was gone for six games. When the club returned, there was a new set of stairs at the far end of the dugout. The stairs lead to a nondescript green door. Almost a mysterious entry point. But like all things with the Tigers these days, there was a specific, targeted purpose. The stairs and the door lead to Detroit's so-called smart cage, a project completed midway through last season as part of the team's multiyear overhaul of the home clubhouse. Advertisement Baseball produces endless numbers and scenarios. Sometimes they make sense. Sometimes they seem inexplicable. Here is one such example: Last season, Tigers utility man Zach McKinstry got only four hits in 30 at-bats against left-handed pitchers. That's a .133 average. This season, McKinstry has 53 at-bats against lefties. He is hitting .358. In home games at Comerica Park, McKinstry has an otherworldly 1.250 OPS in left-on-left plate appearances. How do you explain that? Part of it could be opportunity. Part of it could be McKinstry's approach. Part of it could be the offseason sessions with a pitching machine to replicate lefty spin. But especially here during the season, at least a small part of the answer could lie beyond that green door. New staircase/room in Tigers' dugout that didn't exist in the last homestand. — Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) June 21, 2024 The centerpiece of the Tigers' smart cage is the Trajekt Arc pitching machine. This technology is now used by at least 25 MLB teams. The machine, the brainchild of CEO Joshua Pope, projects an image of a pitcher's delivery and can spit out a replication of a pitcher's full arsenal, mimicking the near-exact release point, spin rate and movement of the pitch. The machines generally cost $15,000 to $20,000 a month as part of a three-year lease. McKinstry is one of the team's most avid users, known to exaggerate or condense his open stance against lefties depending on how he's feeling any given day. 'It think it helps with my timing, just making sure I'm on time with those guys,' McKinstry said. 'It helps with pitch recognition. You get to see the pitch shape before you actually have to face the guy.' For those in the deepest baseball circles, these machines are not new. McKinstry began using one when he was with the Chicago Cubs in 2022. But the machines were finally approved for in-game use before last season, hence the Tigers' construction plans for providing quicker in-game access to the cage. The way the Tigers and other teams use these machines peels back a layer to show how hitters are trying to catch up with the wicked pitching forces that rule today's game. Advertisement Justyn-Henry Malloy, who was optioned to Triple A earlier this week, is known to use the Trajekt daily. Before games. During games. You name it. Malloy hit only .215 in 93 mostly sporadic at-bats this season, but he also came through in several big moments, most notably his May 14 pinch-hit, walk-off single against the Red Sox. With the Trajekt, players can punch in Statcast data for the day's starting pitcher and look at his whole arsenal. Some players do not even take full swings, instead simply tracking and gaining a visual for where, say, a pitcher's slider begins and ends. Others, like Malloy and Andy Ibáñez, hit against the machine as much as they can. During games when Malloy was on the bench, he would retreat to the cage in the middle innings, often simulating at-bats against the opposing team's left-handed relievers. Like many teams, the Tigers load the machine with softer baseballs. This limits the potential for stinging hands, injuries if a ball is fouled off the foot or even broken bats. 'A lot of guys use it just to see the motion, see how a guy's delivery feels out of the stretch,' Malloy said. 'Some guys might have a really funky release. If we're facing a Joe Ryan, guys will want to just be in there because they want to see what that low release looks like from his motion.' There is not necessarily a direct correlation between access to the machine and the Tigers' success at home. The Tigers are 21-8 at Comerica Park but entered Thursday with a higher team OPS on the road (.741 vs. .723). The surface numbers also don't indicate any clear advantage that correlates to the Tigers' propensity for pinch-hitting. Detroit pinch-hitters have a .609 OPS in home games, ranking 17th in the league. It's also worth noting that not all hitters are fans of the machine. Riley Greene said he rarely uses it. Kerry Carpenter steps in against the Trajekt only to see a pitcher he's never faced before. Advertisement 'It's like the guy on the screen is right there, and then he does his windup, and the release is over here,' Carpenter said. 'It's just coming out of a black hole. It's a little weird for me. But some people love it.' Colt Keith, the Tigers' second-year infielder, said he uses the Trajekt every day, standing back and observing pitches for the digital version of the opposing starter. There are specific instances where it can be beneficial, too, like seeing how Guardians reliever Cade Smith's low-spin splitter differs from other splitters around the league. 'It really is different from the game, in my opinion,' Keith said. 'But I like to watch from behind and see the different pitches, the movement. You can still see how his motion is coming out, and you can see a slider, where it goes, does it pop?' Keith is among the players who have benefited from another aspect of the Tigers' smart cage: Force plates. For years, teams have put force plates underneath turf in cages or mounds to measure how players distribute their weight and generate force. The Tigers have had access to such technology since at least 2019. But the technology is still evolving, and so is the way teams apply the data. In simple terms, the plates measure the amount, direction and timing of force hitters put into the ground. That data can explain how hitters transition through their load, stride and swing. This data can help hitters better harness their kinetic chains and unlock greater power or exit velocity. So when Keith was slumping early in the season, he went to the force plates to better understand what was plaguing his swing. After a brutal April, Keith had an .838 OPS in May. 'I went on them to see how much force I was putting out compared to last year,' Keith said. 'It was a little bit lower. So we're trying some things out. I don't think that was a direct solution, but it definitely got us on the right path.' Perhaps just as important as helping iron out a slump, hitters can record their swings on the force plates to create a reference to turn to whenever things are out of whack. They can even compare their swings to others who have stepped on the plates. The Tigers still have a template for Miguel Cabrera's swing. Advertisement 'There's a baseline for good hitters and what they do,' Keith said. 'So you compare yours to them.' The Tigers have an expanded smart cage at their Lakeland spring training facility. There is now a Trajekt machine at Triple-A Toledo. Like most other teams, the Tigers are expanding and optimizing the ways they use technology and data points. 'Here at home, it's nice because you can develop a routine, you can get some visuals, get your normal routine in,' manager A.J. Hinch said. 'The big trick is it's not mobile so you can't do it on the road.' When the Tigers hosted a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants last week, for example, the Trajekt provided a way for hitters to get glimpses at pitchers they may have never seen before. It even exposed one limitation of the Trajekt: It can't fully replicate the delivery of Giants right-hander Tyler Rogers, the submariner whose hand nearly touches the ground as he throws. 'It's hard to get visuals for everybody,' Hinch said. 'But I like that our players are openly talking about their routines being impacted by the expansion and improvements.' Across Major League Baseball, none of this is revolutionary. But consider it a rare glimpse into the Tigers' process behind that green door. And another window that shows how hitters are punching upward in attempt to counter the nastiest pitchers in the league. 'I think it gives us a little more fighting power against pitchers who got a lot of horsepower,' Malloy said. 'I think it's a really nice tool for us to be able to get our work in.' (Top photo of Zach McKinstry:)
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'I never let it dictate my life': Nic Enright makes MLB debut 2 years after cancer diagnosis
CLEVELAND — Shortly after Guardians reliever Nic Enright had his name called for the first time to enter a major league game, he had to pause before he got to the mound so Comerica Park could play "God Bless America" before the inning. It allowed him to take a few extra moments of reflection. It had been quite a journey. Advertisement Enright made his MLB debut on Sunday, May 25, in a 5-0 Guardians loss to the Detroit Tigers. Two and a half years earlier, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and it threatened to end his baseball career. Then, on Sunday, he reached the game's pinnacle. "A day like [Sunday] makes the long, winding journey that it's been all worth it," Enright said. "On Friday, being able to tell my wife and my parents in person, seeing it wash over their face, that's a moment I'll be able to cherish for the rest of my life." Guardians right-hander Nick Enright throws a pitch against the Tigers, May 25, 2025, in Detroit. Nic Enright details discovery of Hodgkin's lymphoma On the morning of Dec. 18, 2022, Enright woke up with what he described as a crick in his neck. When the discomfort persisted, he went to the emergency room the next day. Advertisement Doctors ran tests for 48 hours on the two small bumps on his neck. Then they came in and delivered the scary diagnosis: He had Hodgkin's lymphoma. Cleveland Guardians pitcher Nic Enright poses for a photo during the team's media day, Feb. 22, 2024. "Me and my now wife are sitting there in the hospital room [thinking], 'There's no way, I feel great,'" Enright said, adding that they began looking at the common symptoms and realized he had all of them, from the eczema on his elbows to night sweats to bumps on his eyelids. "And we were like, 'Oh, man, this is real.'" Enright has spent the last 2½ years undergoing several rounds of immunotherapy. He's gone through 12 treatments, normally in spurts every few months, in addition to all the many check-ups, scans and blood work. He has four rounds coming up this offseason. Advertisement Through all the treatments, and the struggle and side effects that come with it all, Enright couldn't help but wonder: should he keep playing? "There were some dark days, and that's when I leaned on the people around me," he said. "There were some moments … where me and my wife were sitting there and we're like, 'Is this all worth it?' Am I doing the right thing?'" Nic Enright makes MLB debut with Guardians All of it, the struggle and the stress for not only him but his family, led to the moment in Detroit, where he completed the dream of playing in the major leagues. "When I jogged in, we stopped for a minute to play "God Bless America," so I was standing out there with the umpire, being able to just kind of collect my thoughts, take a deep breath," Enright said. "I used that time to just kind of think of everything that had gone on these last couple of years, all the obstacles I've been through, everything that [my family] has overcome. Advertisement "And when the song finished, I was like, let's go play baseball." Columbus Clippers pitcher Nic Enright high fives catcher Bryan Lavastida to celebrate a 3-0 win over Omaha in the season opener on April 3, 2024. Enright was terrific in his debut, striking out three in two scoreless innings. It was almost too much for him to believe, given the events that acted as difficult prerequisites to get there. "I kind of just stepped down in the tunnel and took a moment just to be like, 'Man, this really happened. It wasn't a dream,'" he said. "That was really special." It was a storybook moment. Enright was given No. 59 to wear, the same number that used to belong to Carlos Carrasco, who battled leukemia while he played in the major leagues. Last weekend also happened to be "Strike Out Cancer" weekend in Detroit. Advertisement Enright standing on a major league field was a victory in itself. And every time he jogs out of the bullpen, it'll continue to be a win, regardless of the actual result that day. "Everything I've gone through these last couple of years, to me it's just a testament that while this disease is a terrible one, I never let it control me," Enright said. "I never let it dictate my life." Now, his message to anyone who will listen is get anything you're worried about checked out, and don't let it define you. "That's why sports can be a great metaphor for life — you don't have to be a professional athlete to go through this," Enright said. "The biggest thing was not letting it control me and not letting it dictate how I was going to live my life. Advertisement "So that's the biggest thing for anyone else who's going through something similar to this — to not let it consume you and not let it become everything you are." This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians reliever Nic Enright makes MLB debut with Hodgkin's lymphoma
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Injured Giants pitcher Justin Verlander takes the mound for a bullpen session in Detroit
DETROIT — San Francisco Giants right-hander Justin Verlander threw during a bullpen session on Tuesday night as the 42-year-old, three-time Cy Young Award winner tries to work his way back from a strained right pectoral muscle. Verlander wore road-gray uniform pants and a black, short-sleeve crew neck as he threw from the mound in the bullpen at Detroit's Comerica Park, where the Giants played the second of a three-game series with the Tigers, losing 3-1.
Washington Post
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Tarik Skubal says he teared up as Tigers fans roared moments before his 1st complete game as a pro
DETROIT — Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal emerged from the dugout to pitch in a ninth inning for the first time in the major leagues, triggering a roar and standing ovation from the Comerica Park crowd as men, women and children chanted his name. 'Little teary-eyed out there, honestly, before the inning started,' Skubal said Sunday. 'It was pretty cool. I just thought to myself, `12-year-old me wouldn't believe that was an opportunity to have the fan base support you the way it does and be in that moment.'
