Kreidler bests Skubal in BP before AL Cy winner wins battle

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Ryan Kreidler has played infield behind Tarik Skubal plenty of times over his brief Major League career with the Tigers. He had never faced Skubal, he said, until he stepped in the box on Tuesday morning on the back fields at Tigertown for the first round of live batting practice this Spring Training.

¡°When you get to face a Cy Young in your own camp, that¡¯s exciting,¡± Kreidler said. ¡°For me, it was just a good opportunity.¡±

For someone who¡¯s fighting for his place on the depth chart and trying to prove he can hit Major League pitching, it was a very ¡°Welcome to the big leagues¡± moment. Which is why he had every reason to smile as he laced a Skubal fastball into the gap for what would¡¯ve been a double in a game situation.

But just as this is practice work for hitters, so it is for Cy Young award-winning pitchers as well. Skubal was scheduled for 25 pitches, or five per hitter, and Kreidler hit a 3-0 fastball on Skubal¡¯s 24th pitch. So Skubal asked Kreidler to get back in the box. Against the advice of onlookers, he did.

To be fair, Skubal told him what pitch was coming: fastball.

Like many opposing hitters realized last year, when Skubal is on, knowing the pitch often doesn¡¯t matter. Instead of walking off with a sense of confidence, Kreidler walked off with a broken bat, courtesy of Skubal¡¯s heater in.

¡°I think it kind of cut in on me a little bit,¡± Kreidler said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to see. It¡¯s so early [in camp].¡±

Skubal laughed.

¡°Yeah, it¡¯s hard to hit,¡± he said with a smile.

Skubal¡¯s fastball got up to 97 mph, according to observations. For this first session, however, he was focused on simply throwing strikes, executing good pitch shapes and building up his endurance.

¡°Just a little less adrenaline this year than last,¡± Skubal said. ¡°Last time I pitched was in a playoff game, so I just didn¡¯t quite have that adrenaline. But I think that¡¯s to be expected.¡±

Broken bat aside, Kreidler has looked good at the plate through a couple days of formal workouts. He put on a show in traditional batting practice Monday, launching some drives to left field.

After working last offseason with former MLB slugger Mark Trumbo on his swing, Kreidler said he simplified things this winter. Instead of working with a swing coach, he focused his efforts on finding a swing that he can easily repeat so he can find consistency. A healthy offseason allowed him plenty of time to hit instead of rehab.

Kreidler faces long odds to make the Tigers¡¯ Opening Day roster, but even if he opens the season at Triple-A Toledo, he could potentially be the only infielder there who¡¯s on the 40-man roster, allowing him an easy path to Detroit if the Tigers need help.

¡°He¡¯s resilient,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°We¡¯ve got to find a consistent approach and a consistent at-bat for him to really break through, but it¡¯s a fine line between being a guy who¡¯s struck in Triple-A and and contributing in the big leagues, and Kreid sits right on it.¡±

Day 2 highlights

• Righty reliever Brendan White had essentially a lost season in 2024 due to nerve issues in his arm that eventually required a hydrodissection procedure similar to what Beau Brieske underwent a couple years ago. But his live batting-practice session Tuesday looked strong, flashing some of the same high-spin arsenal that caught the Tigers¡¯ attention two years ago. Other than a solid line drive from Jahmai Jones, White kept hitters from squaring him up.
• A few days after Kerry Carpenter and Hinch talked about Carpenter potentially getting more at-bats against left-handed pitching this season, Carpenter got a live BP session against non-roster lefty Matt Gage on Tuesday as a first look. It was a good test for a first day of facing live pitching, but Carpenter looked comfortable and avoided awkward swings.