Detroit, MI

Tigers top prospect Kevin McGonigle getting tested by big-league pitching

Published

3 weeks ago

March 14, 2026

Tigers top prospect Kevin McGonigle getting tested by big-league pitching

Dunedin, Fla. — Tigers top prospect Kevin McGonigle drew two walks Saturday and made a couple of superb defensive plays at third base against the Toronto Blue Jays. But he’s also getting a live lesson in how Major League pitchers will exploit a perceived weakness.

He’s seen very few fastballs over the last week or so, and almost none for strikes. Instead, pitchers are feeding him a steady diet of spin and off-speed. Jays starter and former Tiger Max Scherzer punched him out on three pitches in the first inning, the last two were nasty curveballs.

“It’s getting close to the in-season style where there’s not a lot of free pitches,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “Starters are going five and six innings. Scouting reports are starting to be paved. Young hitters are going to see a complete change.

“When you homer on the big stage in the Dominican against Luis Severino, I’m sure pitchers in the Grapefruit League are watching.”

McGonigle has one hit in his last 13 at-bats. But give him some grace for the Scherzer at-bat.

“Kevin was 4 when Max broke in,” Hinch said. “That puts it in perspective. His whole life of watching baseball, Scherzer has been at the highest level and dominating and paving his way to Cooperstown.”

Matt Vierling, who is 29, has a lot more skin in the game than McGonigle right now and he punched out twice and took some awful swings against Scherzer, too.

But Vierling recovered, swatting a pair of doubles and knocking in two runs.

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

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Detroit, MI

Justin Verlander placed on injured list for Tigers with hip issue

Published

6 hours ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

Justin Verlander placed on injured list for Tigers with hip issue

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has been placed on the 15-day injured list with left hip inflammation.

Keider Montero will be called up and is expected to start Sunday, April 5, against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park.

It will be retroactive to April 1, so the earliest Verlander will be eligible to return is April 16.

Verlander has already pitched once this season, although his first start was forgettable. He gave up five runs off six hits in 3⅔ innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He struggled with his command, throwing 80 pitches (53 for strikes) while recording one strikeout with two walks. Since then, he has worked on his mechanics.

“Head position,” he said Saturday. “Trying to be a little more deceptive and stay in line a little bit longer.”

The Diamondbacks hit Verlander hard, making contact with seven balls that featured an exit velocity over 100 mph.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Verlander said. “I hope it’s not like last year … months trying to find it. Hopefully I find it a little quicker than that. But yeah, you know, I think talking to analysts and those guys and the stuff is actually pretty good, so not too far away. I hope.”

Verlander, 43, signed a one-year deal with the Tigers this offseason, returning to the franchise he spent his first 13 seasons with. He made 29 starts in 2025 for the San Francisco Giants.

And he was expected to start Sunday night against the Cardinals in Comerica Park in front of a national audience on “Sunday Night Baseball” on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service.

Montero was optioned to Triple-A by the Tigers on March 4, with the franchise planning on him as their No. 6 starter in the rotation.

“We’ve got to protect our rotation,” Hinch said when Montero was sent to Toledo. “For him, defining the role where we felt like he can help us the most was going to be, at some point, in our rotation. Whether that’s getting called up as a sixth starter, or god forbid anything happens, he’s equipped to handle that, and the only way to do that is get him going and building him as a starter.”

In 2025, Montero registered a 4.37 ERA with 31 walks and 72 strikeouts across 90⅔ innings in 20 games (12 starts) for the Tigers. He also logged a 5.91 ERA across 42⅔ innings in 10 games (eight starts) for Triple-A Toledo.

Montero has made one start for Toledo, throwing four scoreless innings against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on March 29. He struck out three with one walk.

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

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Detroit, MI

‘Downtown Takeover’ in Detroit leads to several teens being detained, dozens in the streets

Published

18 hours ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

‘Downtown Takeover’ in Detroit leads to several teens being detained, dozens in the streets

Crowd of teens out past curfew detained downtown

The incident was not random, as ‘Ceasefire Detroit’ announced that there were talks of a “Downtown Takeover” involving kids and teens. Throughout Friday evening, videos from social media showed large groups of teens running around in the downtown area past curfew.

DETROIT (FOX 2) – Dozens of teens swarmed Downtown Detroit, leading to a heavy police presence in the area.

What we know:

Detroit police say a gun was fired during the commotion but no one was hurt. Police are working to determine who fired the shot. Police sources also told FOX 2 that officials have been tracking the kids and teens around the city all night.

Meanwhile, officials have been detaining teens, but due to the large number of people, they have been placed on buses.

What we don’t know:

It is unknown if anyone got hurt or how many people were detained/arrested. FOX 2 will update this report when we learn more.