Detroit Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez pitches a simulated game Wednesday, March 16, 2016, in Lakeland, Fla. Video by Anthony Fenech / DFP
LAKELAND, Fla. – The key to the Tigers’ season didn’t make the trip Wednesday to take on the Astros. Anibal Sanchez stayed back on the grounds of Tiger Town to throw three simulated innings on a diamond tucked hard by the property’s farthest edge, behind Joker Marchant Stadium, behind a three-story construction site of metal and concrete.
The bones of the Tigers’ new major-league clubhouse and executive office suites stretch from the showcase field at Joker Marchant to the edge of the minor league fields, and when it is done, and the grounds are remade, the franchise should boast as slick a developmental spot as there is in the game.