Detroit Tigers vs. Florida Southern Mocs: Game Time, Live Stats, Lineup, and Series History

Feb 14, 2014; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitchers Drew Smyly (33) and Rick Porcello (21) throw in the bullpen during the Detroit Tiger

We’ve already said this once or twice this spring, and we’ll say it once or twice more between now and opening day, but “real” baseball is once again here for the Detroit Tigers. This game – being a Major League Baseball team against an NCAA Division II opponent – admittedly isn’t as “real” as they come, but it’s pitchers and hitters from one team digging in against hitters and pitchers from another, so we’re going to count it for now.

Detroit Tigers vs. Florida Southern Mocs – 1:05 PM ET
Joker Marchant Stadium – Lakeland, FL
Live Stats: MLB Gameday (probably) or fscmocs.com
Weather forecast: 81 degrees, partly cloudy.

What is a ‘Moc’?
Judging from their logo, a moc is a snake, probably the short form of moccasin, a venomous variety native to the southeastern United States also commonly known as a ‘cottonmouth’ (if Wikipedia is to be believed).

Fun Fact
One of the FSC assistant coaches is Colin Kaline: grandson of Hall of Famer Al Kaline, 2011 Detroit Tigers draftee, and 2011 graduate of Florida Southern College.

When They Last Met
The Tigers won last year’s meeting 11-0 in the rare mid-March contest. Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, and Brayan Villarreal held Florida Southern to two hits and one walk against sixteen strikeouts. Offensively, the Tigers pounded out 11 runs on 11 hits including homers by Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera.

According to information from this 2012 MLive Live Blog by James Schmehl, today’s game will be the 28th contest between the Tigers and the Mocs, with the Tigers now holding a 24-1-2 all-time series advantage.

Tigers Lineup

Here’s the expected starting lineup for the Detroit Tigers, as reported yesterday:

• 1. Ian Kinsler
• 2. Torii Hunter
• 3. Miguel Cabrera
• 4. Victor Martinez
• 5. Austin Jackson
• 6. Andy Dirks
• 7. James McCann
• 8. Nick Castellanos
• 9. Jose Iglesias
• P. Drew VerHagen

Robbie Ray expected to pitch following VerHagen.

Replacing James McCann with Alex Avila, and this looks like a completely reasonable opening day lineup (with a different pitcher, of course).