TAMPA, Fla. — Daniel Norris has been here before, in spring training after a strong off-season, trying to crack the Detroit Tigers’ starting rotation but feeling a familiar frustration.
In the left-hander’s second Grapefruit League start on Sunday afternoon, he wasn’t good. He allowed back-to-back home runs to start his day and gave up another homer in the bottom of the second inning.
That one, the second of the day by the left-handed hitting Brett Gardner, chased him from the pitcher’s mound after throwing 47 pitches in 1 2/3 innings.