Detroit Tigers game score vs. Baltimore O's, Tampa Bay Rays: Time, TV

Detroit Free Press
 
Detroit Tigers game score vs. Baltimore O's, Tampa Bay Rays: Time, TV

Grapefruit League: Detroit Tigers (10-7) vs. Baltimore (6-8) and Tampa Bay (7-7)

Where: Ed Smith Stadium (Orioles) in Sarasota, Florida, & Tropicana Field (Rays) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

TV: Vs. Rays on Bally Sports Detroit.

BOX SCORE vs. Orioles.

BOX SCORE vs. Rays;

Probable starting pitchers: Tigers LHP Zach Logue (1-0 6.23 ERA this spring) vs. Orioles RHP Kyle Gibson (0-0, 1.80); Tigers RHP Miguel Diaz (1-0, 0.00) vs. Rays RHP Drew Rasmussen (0-0, 16.20).

Tigers lineup: TBA.

Game notes: The Tigers split their squad once more, with half heading to the big-league park in St. Petersburg to take on the Rays, and half heading to the not-big-league park in Sarasota to take on the Orioles. Neither of the pitchers the Tigers will send to the rubber — Zach Logue in St. Pete and Miguel Diaz in Sarasota — are expected to break camp with the big-league squad (though as 2022 taught us, MLB GMs plan and UCLs laugh).

The Rays are a trendy pick to at least make the playoffs, if not win the AL East outright because, well, they’re the Rays and just because we can’t understand how they do what they do is no reason to bet against it. That’s just science. Y’know, like trading a two-time All-Star outfielder with a couple years of team control away in favor of a young infielder with virtually power displayed … and then getting 16 doubles and 20 homers out of him in 331 at-bats. (That would be the Tigers getting Austin Meadows — who, yes, has looked much better this spring playing with his brother — and the Rays getting third baseman Isaac Paredes. (In former GM Al Avila’s defense, Paredes only hit .205 last season, and the Tigers had plenty of dudes hitting less than their weights already in 2022.)

The Orioles are not  a trendy pick to make the playoffs, despite their 83 wins last season — they missed out on a playoff spot by just three games. Like the Rays every year, we’re also not clear how the O’s managed that, though they at least had the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up in catcher Adley Rutschman, so it’s not entirely “praying to the ghost of Earl Weaver.” The O’s ARE a trendy pick to regress, even though they have more talent on the way: namely, top prospect Gunnar Henderson, who slashed .259/.348/.440 in 34 games last season as a 21-year-old in the majors. He’s only hitting .105 this spring with no extra-base hits, so he may not break camp with the O’s either, but he’ll be lurking in Triple-A Norfolk.

After today’s split-squad fun, the Tigers will reunite back in Lakeland for a visit from the Red Sox on Tuesday before getting their final off day of the spring on Wednesday. The O’s head to Bradenton to face the Pirates on Tuesday, while the Rays get a visit from the split-squad Twins.

Live updates

Can't see the chatter? Refresh the page or check it out on