Detroit, MI
Justyn-Henry Malloy, Max Clark collide in Detroit Tigers’ 4-2 loss in Grapefruit finale
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost, 4-2, to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday in their final Grapefruit League game.
Detroit ended with a 12-13 record in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
The big scare happened in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Justyn-Henry Malloy, who was playing left field and is fighting to make this roster, collided with centerfielder Max Clark, the Tigers’ highly touted prospect.
Both players stayed on the grass for some time. After medical personnel and manager A.J. Hinch rushed out to the outfield, Malloy walked off the field and Clark stayed in the game.
As the ball rested in the outfield — and no other fielders around — Bryson Stott went slowly around the bases for a two-run inside-the-park homer.
Malloy was replaced by Jahmai Jones, who is also fighting for one of the last spots on the roster; Jones later homered.
Get away
The Tigers kicked off a wild few days.
Early Sunday morning, they bussed west from Lakeland to Clearwater to play the Phillies, then planned to hop on a plane to fly to San Francisco for a couple of exhibition games.
So, this Sunday get-away before the get-away game featured just enough big leaguers to appease MLB rules — you have to bring a certain number of MLB players to an away spring training game — but plenty of playing time was taken up by prospects.
On the mound
Right-hander Reese Olson made his fourth start of Grapefruit League play (and his fifth outing overall when including a simulated game on March 11).
He threw 5⅓ innings, allowing four hits and two runs. He struck out three with two walks.
What has Hinch seen from Olson this spring?
“I’ve just seen him healthy,” Hinch said. “He’s very consistent. His personality is really easy to deal with every day. He has the kind of the workman’s mentality where he just brings the lunchpail to work, and he’s understated, which is what leads him to be a little under-appreciated.”
Olson is coming off a strange season Last year, Olson had a 3.18 ERA in five starts in April, but the Tigers struggled, and he had a 0-4 record. But he posted a 0.64 ERA in five starts in May
“I think his first half last year was better than it was ever talked about,” Hinch said. “And then the first start afterwards he gets hurt.”
But he pitched in the postseason.
“By the time people caught up that he was pretty damn good, he was inactive,” Hinch said. “He’s a continuous learner. He will tweak a lot of things, but I never have to worry about getting him getting too high or too low.”
At the plate
Infielder Kevin McGonigle, another of the Tigers top prospects, started at shortstop. He doesn’t seem fazed by big leaguers.
He hit a homer to right field off Aaron Nola, who received Cy Young votes in three of the last five years.
Spencer Torkelson, who is also fighting to make this club, went 2-for-3, finishing his spring training with a noteworthy .326 average.
On to San Francisco
The Tigers planned to leave for San Francisco immediately after this game.
And they will bring a group of minor leaguers as a taxi squad.
They will play Monday night, bringing back “pitching chaos.” No, kidding.
“We’re doing a bullpen game, everyone’s favorite, on Monday,” Hinch said, smiling. “Nine relievers, my dream scenario.”
And Casey Mize and Jackson Jobe are expected to pitch in Tuesday’s game.
Part of it is to get to the West Coast and adjust to the time change. But it’s more than that.
“I just think it’s good to do something different on your way to to Opening Day, if you can,” Hinch said. “It gives us a couple days to just everything changes. Everything. Everybody’s in a good mood today that you know is traveling. Everybody, there’s just a little more energy.”
Some players, such as relievers Tyler Owens and Chase Lee, are making the trip just so they can experience travel with the big-league club, knowing they might be needed at some point this season.
“So, their first time with us will not be quite as intimidating,” Hinch said.
Three stars
1. McGonigle; 2. Olson; 3. Torkelson.
Next up: Giants
Monday (9:45 p.m., no TV) vs. San Francisco in an exhibition game at Oracle Park.
TRENDING: Jackson Jobe and Casey Mize have made Tigers starting pitching rotation
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
Both generations on the ice Friday are intent on growing the game for today’s kids. Hartje and the Polar Bears believe an important step for women’s hockey in Michigan would be starting a Division I college team.
“I think if the PWHL establishes a team in Detroit, it will put a lot of pressure on the colleges to make sure there’s a D-I team in the state,” Hartje said. “Michigan has the second-highest number of players in the league, and it would have been a dream for us to be able to stay in the state to play.”
It’s been a problem for decades. Pierson had to turn down the offer from Boston University, because her family couldn’t afford to send her to New England for college. Hartje ended up at Yale University, and Megan Keller, who scored the gold medal winning goal for the U.S. in the 2026 Winter Olympics and plays for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, went from suburban Detroit to Boston College.
Meanwhile, 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic team members and Michigan natives Dylan Larkin of the Red Wings and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to stay in the state to play with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, then based in Ann Arbor, before moving on to the University of Michigan in the same town.
“Megan’s brother played at Michigan State, and I’m sure she also would have stayed here to play for a Michigan school,” Skarupa said. “It’s imperative that Michigan gets a college program.”
Skarupa is serious about growing the game. She is working with Keller and the NHL Foundation U.S. to identify recipients for its $100,000 Empowerment Grant Program for Girls Hockey.
“Every time I go back to a city, there are new teams, new girls and new faces,” she said. “It’s a testament to growth all over the world, but it is tremendous inside the U.S.”
Detroit, MI
Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002
An additional case, this one involving a victim who was then 14 years old, has been added to the sexual assault investigation against a former Detroit Police Department sergeant.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the latest charges on Friday against Benjamin Martin Wagner, 68, who now lives in Greenville, N.C. He had retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2017.
The victim in the additional charges was 14 years old when the assault happened in October 2002 in Detroit, Worthy said. The prosecutor alleges that Wagner approached the victim, pointed a handgun at her, ordered her away from the location and then sexually assaulted her.
In this case, he faces charges of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. An arraignment hearing took place Friday in the 36th District Court in Detroit. A probable cause conference is scheduled for April 7.
The woman is now 37 years old.
“She has lived with what happened to her for 23 years and has now bravely decided that she wants to be a part of holding him accountable,” Worthy said.
Wagner participated in a court hearing Thursday and was remanded to jail, one week after he was charged with 15 counts of kidnapping and rape in five separate sexual assault cases. All of those incidents happened between 1999 and 2003 in the northwest side of Detroit, with the victims being young women between the ages of 15 and 23.
The court dates for the earlier list of charges are April 7 for a probable cause hearing and April 14 for a preliminary exam.
Wagner joined the Detroit Police Department in 1989 as a police officer and was eventually promoted to sergeant. He retired in 2017 and moved to North Carolina.
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