Grapefruit League action begins as the Tigers welcome in the Phillies

We’re one step closer to Opening Day with Dan Dickerson on the call for the first time in 2025.

Baseball season comes one step closer today as the Detroit Tigers welcome in the Philadelphia Phillies for the first Grapefruit League matchup of the 2025 season. Dan Dickerson will be on the call for the first Tigers radio network broadcast of the season at 1:05 p.m. ET from Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.

Kenta Maeda will be the Tigers’ starting pitcher, though of course he’s unlikely to go more than two innings at this point in camp. Maeda spent a lot of the offseason trying to build himself up in advance of camp after coming in last year throwing 86-87 mph early on and rarely topping 91 mph during the season even after moving to the bullpen. So far he’s been sitting 91-92 mph this spring, and is a little ahead of the curve as most of the other starters on staff are still ramping up their intensity levels.

The Tigers are giving him the opportunity to compete for a starting role this spring, but that’s clearly more of a contingency plan and mainly to allow Maeda to work as normal in spring camp until they see how healthy the staff is when Opening Day arrives.

Beyond that is anyone’s guess, like any spring training matchup this early in the year.

One player who won’t be in the lineup for certain is outfielder Akil Baddoo. Baddoo suffered a hamate hook fracture earlier in the week that required surgery. Likewise, Javier Báez is due to complete his final running tests in his recovered from right hip surgery last August sometime in the next week. He won’t play his first spring training game until that hurdle in passed.

For their part, the Phillies will be starting RHP Nabil Crismatt, a non-roster invitee. The 30-year-old Colombian has pitched for the Cardinals, Padres, Diamondback, and Dodgers in his major league career.

Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, and Max Kepler are all slated to be in the Phillies lineup. Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, and other big names on the roster aren’t likely to debut until Sunday or Monday when the Phillies are at home against the Orioles and Pirates.

The Detroit Tigers television debut will be on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET on Fanduel Sports Detroit, formerly Bally Sports Detroit, as they hit the road to take on the New York Yankees. The Tigers have yet to announce a starter for that one.

Finally, in your moment of prospect hype for the day, Kevin McGonigle’s first day of live ABs was on Friday, and the hamate injury appears to be behind him judging by the reaction to this blast.

Rich Dauer

In a much more somber note, A.J. Hinch will be away from the team for the first game of Grapefruit League action, the Tigers will be managed by bench coach George Lombard as Hinch is away to attend the funera l of former Baltimore Orioles infielder, and Houston Astros ’ coach, Rich Dauer. The starting second baseman on the Orioles 1983 World Series champion squad, Dauer went on to an 18-year career as coach and was a mentor to Hinch from their time in the Royals organization. Hinch played a few seasons with Dauer as one of his coaches, and later tapped him as a minor league manager while working in the Padres front office. When Hinch took over as manager in Houston, he made Dauer his first base coach from 2015-2017.

You may recall the story of Dauer’s near death during World Series celebrations in Houston. Dauer hit his head in a slip and fall accident the night before their World Series parade in 2017. He appeared to be fine, went to sleep feeling no effects, and made it through the parade the next day. However, he’d actually suffered a subdural hematoma , developing a blood clot that nearly killed him the next day. During festivities at Houston’s City Hall that afternoon, he collapsed while standing with the rest of the coaching staff at a ceremony and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. He nearly died during surgery, and dealt with the after effects of the injury in the intervening years until his passing this week at age 72.

Our condolences go out to the Dauer family.