LAKELAND, Fla. -- On a warm, windy Sunday afternoon, when balls were flying out of Joker Marchant Stadium, Jason Foley continued to impress. Not that the Tigers¡¯ hard-throwing reliever really needs to at this point.

Two days after throwing a 100.4 mph sinker for a called third strike, Foley entered Sunday¡¯s 4-4 tie against the O¡¯s with one out and did more of the same, spotting a 98.4 mph sinker at the knees for another strikeout. He followed that by retiring a left-handed hitter, Colton Cowser, with flyout to left.

¡°I feel great,¡± Foley said. ¡°Body feels good. Arm feels good.¡±

An eight-day gap between appearances had created a little bit of intrigue on that, but both Foley and the Tigers say he was fine, just getting a break in the middle of the Grapefruit League schedule. Two effective outings in three days, featuring good command and velocity, seem to back that up.

Foley¡¯s velocity continues to play up across his arsenal, including an average 97.9 mph fastball Sunday and a changeup he threw at 92.1 mph. The changeup is particularly important for him against left-handed hitters like Cowser, who fouled off the one changeup he saw but couldn¡¯t square up the 98.1 mph fastball that followed.

Foley has also been working on a four-seam fastball as a way to change hitters¡¯ eye level away from his usual sinker-slider combination down in the zone. He threw a four-seamer on occasion in 2022 but gave up a .353 batting average off it. He shelved it last year.

"I haven¡¯t executed them terrifically in the real games yet,¡± Foley said, ¡°but I think it¡¯s just a nice mixup, nice elevation change for me to get lefties off the sinker and maybe jam them up and away or up and in.¡±

A look at Foley¡¯s Statcast page provides a fascinating dichotomy: a hard-throwing reliever who relies largely on soft contact. His 97.2 mph average fastball velocity ranked in the top seven percent of MLB players, but so did his 56.6 percent ground-ball rate. His chase rate ranked in the top 12 percent, but his 17.9 percent whiff rate ranked among the bottom three percent of MLB hurlers.

The 28-year-old is not going to become a big swing-and-miss pitcher, but with a lower hard-hit rate he has a chance to further boost his effectiveness. He¡¯ll spend the final week of Grapefruit League play further honing his arsenal, but also he'll get back-to-back outings at some point later in the week to get ready for a typical regular-season usage, whatever the inning.

Kreidler rakes
The aforementioned conditions helped lead to five home runs between the two clubs, the last of them a game-tying opposite-field homer from Ryan Kreidler. He has made an impression throughout camp with his defensive work, including several highlight stops, but he¡¯s also batting .321 (9-for-28) with two homers, five RBIs, eight walks and 10 strikeouts.

He won¡¯t unseat Javier B¨¢ez at shortstop for the Opening Day roster, but he has put himself in very good position for a call as the next shortstop up.

¡°He¡¯s been pretty diligent with his game planning,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°He¡¯s been very good at getting some pretty good pitches to not trying to do too much, therefore getting more out of it. He¡¯s been fun to watch evolve throughout this spring. He¡¯s kept his head down. He¡¯s done his work. He¡¯s trying to make a push to make an impression. We know we can rely on him in so many different ways, and the more that he produces with the bat, the better chance he¡¯ll get.¡±

Quick hits
? Kenta Maeda threw splitters or sliders for 50 of his 74 pitches Sunday against the O¡¯s and had success with both, aside from two of Kyle Stowers¡¯ three home runs. He drew 14 swinging strikes combined from the two offerings.

? Parker Meadows continues to put his speed to work offensively, stealing second base to set up the Tigers¡¯ first run Sunday, then getting a hustle double on a line drive to right-center when the O¡¯s didn¡¯t charge the ball. Meadows hit a sprint speed of 29.7 feet per second on the latter.