Detroit Tigers: Victor Martinez’s hitch, 2 more cuts, season preview

The Detroit Tigers are being ultra careful with Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera hoping each will be ready for Opening Day.

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With that in mind, they have been watching each one very closely and have discovered a hitch in V-Mart’s step while running. He also landed awkwardly at first base in yesterday’s game but stayed in and later hit a two-run homer that ultimately won the game for Detroit. He says he is fine and is penciled in today’s lineup as DH (Miggy will get the day off).

The Tigers cut two more players on Thursday, one of which–Buck Farmer–will likely be back very soon.

Finally CBS Sports takes a look at the Tigers’ outlook and (surprise) thinks they can be a playoff team or regress quite a bit.

Detroit Tigers’ Victor Martinez running with ‘hitch’ in step – James Schmehl, MLive

"“(Martinez) says he feels good. I talked to him (Wednesday),” Ausmus said. “At least he says he feels good. So I’m gonna trust him on that.”Martinez is less than two months removed from undergoing knee surgery and he appears to be on schedule to be inserted in the starting lineup on opening day. However, Martinez may still be in the process of recovering mentally from surgery.“Anytime you have surgery there’s going to be a mental aspect to it,” Ausmus said. “For a lot of people, you have to convince yourself that you are going to be fine and it’s not going to be re-injured by playing. I think that applies to almost every player.”That could explain the “hitch” Ausmus has noticed when Martinez, who has appeared in three games this spring as a designated hitter, runs the bases."

Tigers cut Farmer, Dolis but say they’re not far off – Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press

"“He’s quite a bit ahead of schedule, if you look at his career path,” Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.But after getting optioned to Triple-A Toledo this morning, the right-handed pitcher is scheduled to start the season in the Mud Hens’ rotation.“We think he’s got a very bright future,” Ausmus said. “Going down and developing a little bit further isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s disappointing to go to the minor leagues, but from a broader point of view, it’s probably best for him.”"

2015 MLB team preview: Detroit Tigers – Matt Snyder, CBS Sports

"The Tigers have enough talent here to win their fifth straight AL Central title and certainly enough to make the playoffs if someone tops them. They do have plenty of company in the Central now, though. The Indians look very strong, the White Sox are significantly improved and the Royals are brimming with confidence to match their sick defense and bullpen.Overall, the Tigers need strong bounce-backs from Verlander and Nathan while they also need full health from the likes of Cabrera, Martinez and Iglesias. If those things turn out well, the Tigers will breeze to the playoffs. If not, they may miss the playoffs. It would be very foolish to predict a collapse, though. There’s too much talent here for that to happen."

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