LAKELAND, Fla. -- Mike Pelfrey is a sinkerball pitcher. No matter what happens the rest of his career, let alone this Spring Training, that won't change.
What the Tigers are asking him to do this spring, however, is mix it up, adding fastballs and cutters to his sinker-splitter attack. The results of those pitches in his start Wednesday against the Nationals -- a 9-1 Detroit loss -- depend on the vantage point.
Pelfrey's cutter had movement. The Nationals' bats did not. As a result, Pelfrey threw 51 pitches -- and just 26 strikes -- over 1 2/3 innings, including two walks, five other full counts and two bases-loaded, full-count situations in as many innings.