• Veteran outfielder Manuel Margot signed with the Detroit Tigers on their final day in Florida.
• He went 3-for-5 in the two games he played against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tigers’ opening series.

LOS ANGELES — Manuel Margot still doesn’t know all of his teammate’s names on the Detroit Tigers.

Still doesn’t know all the coaches and support staff.

And he doesn’t even have a Tigers bat bag.

His old Milwaukee Brewers bag was on a cart outside the clubhouse, stacked with all the Tigers ones.

Sunday marks Margot’s time on the Tigers at a week — he signed with the Tigers on their last day of Grapefruit League play in Florida — but he has already made a strong first impression.

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“I feel good,” he said Saturday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers finished a three-game sweep of the Tigers with a 7-3 victory Saturday night.

Margot has been one of the bright spots in a Tigers offense that struggled to produce in clutch moments against the defending World Series champions. Margot played in two games in this series, going 3-for-5, while knocking in a pair of runs.

“Try to see the ball and swing at strikes,” he said. “I try not to chase.”

OK, so he might not know everybody, but he’s already speaking the Tigers’ language.

Unfortunately, here’s the harsh truth about this three-game series: Far too many of his teammates were not able to follow his lead.

The good news: The Tigers put runners in scoring position 32 times against the Dodgers, setting up a ridiculous number of opportunities to do something amazing against the team with five wins already this season.

The bad news: The Tigers came through in the clutch just four times. Ugh. Completely unacceptable.

“When you look back, we could have won some games because of how many opportunities we gave ourselves,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “So you want to look at it positively? Keep giving yourself as many punches as you can. If you want to be frustrated, look at the results. Because it wasn’t great with how it ended, how those at-bats ended.”

Here’s the other good news: Hinch doesn’t see any panic in his team.

But he is also realistic about what his team needs.

“We’re going to need the big hit obviously,” he said. “We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re not pressing. We’re not worked up about it. But it’s our reality.”

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Strange days indeed

In some ways, this series felt historic. It was the first time in franchise history the Tigers opened the season against the Dodgers, on a weekend they celebrated their World Series championship — gee, thanks MLB.

And it was the first time the Tigers have opened their season on the West Coast in 25 years.

Also, lost in the moment was how so many Tigers have never experienced this before. This was the first time that six Tigers have been on an Opening Day roster: right-handers Beau Brieske, Brenan Hanifee and Jackson Jobe; left-hander pitcher Brant Hurter; infielder Trey Sweeney; and catcher Dillon Dingler.

So, all of this is still so new to them. Just being part of this.

But there were some high marks.

Consider Spencer Torkelson.

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On Opening Day, he reached base safely in all five plate appearances, with a solo home run and four walks. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Torkelson became the seventh player in Tigers history to walk four times and homer in the same game. (The others? J.D. Martinez, Roy Cullenbine, Jason Thompson, Rob Deer, Travis Fryman and Cecil Fielder.)

Torkelson’s four walks tied for the most by any player on Opening Day in American League history — that dates back to 1901.

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And when presented with Hinch’s good news/bad news approach to putting so many runners in scoring position, Torkelson found the positive side.

“I think that’s pretty encouraging, especially against this caliber of a team,” he said. “There’s not a single hole in their lineup. There’s not a single arm in the ‘pen or starting pitcher that you can take for granted. They’re a really good team. We had opportunities and, couple pitches every night going our way, we’re winning this series. So that’s encouraging.”

So, that’s the state of the Tigers after the first series.

Encouraging signs.

Disappointing results.

 “But still,” Torkelson said, “it sucks to get swept.”

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Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.