Tigers Report: Notes, Quotes

--LHP Daniel Schlereth impressed Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp with how well he took instruction when he was sent back to the minors after a short stint with Detroit last season. "I give that guy a lot of credit," Knapp said. "When he went down, he worked on things. He held runners better. He worked on his breaking ball. He was able to throw strikes with both pitches (fastball, curveball). You can't run up a 30-pitch count every time out. You've got to figure out some creative ways to get people out. And he made some progress there. Remember, in that last game at Baltimore (the final day of the regular season), he got the win because he pitched three innings."

--RHP Justin Verlander already knows he's starting Detroit's first game of the season, March 31 at Yankee Stadium. Manager Jim Leyland told the public that during Detroit's winter press caravan. Detroit opens the season with three games in New York and another three in Baltimore. Verlander will pitch the second game against the Orioles. Each series is spread over four days to allow for possible postponements.

--RHP Max Scherzer will pitch Detroit's first game of the season at Comerica Park. "I've just been told," Scherzer said during the Tigers' recent winter press caravan. He thus is scheduled to pitch the third game of the season, in New York against the Yankees. "We're not pitching him until the third game," manager Jim Leyland said, "so he can pitch the home opener." That means Scherzer will start just one of the Tigers' first six games.

--DH/C Victor Martinez initially will bat fifth in manager Jim Leyland's lineup. "I think we will be very interesting," Martinez said. "It will be very tough for the (opposition). I feel like a little kid with a new toy." RF Magglio Ordonez will hit in front of cleanup batter 1B Miguel Cabrera. "He's versatile, and he's a proven run producer," GM Dave Dombrowski said of Martinez during Detroit's winter press tour. "He gives us three guys in the middle of the lineup who can drive in 100 runs. He makes the lineup very strong." "I just want to win," Martinez said. "I came here to win a World Series, and anything I can do to get this team better, I'm willing to do it," he said. "If they want me to DH, I will be the DH. If they want me to be behind the plate, I will be behind the plate. I'm just hungry to win."

--RHP Brad Penny said he chose to sign with Detroit because he felt that gave him the best chance to compete in the postseason as well as continue as a starting pitcher. "I had some offers from teams that I didn't think were able to compete," Penny said. "I would have been more in a role of teaching young kids how to go about business, but I'm at a point where I want to win." The Tigers pursued Penny beginning at the general managers' meetings in November, but the pitcher waited to maximize his options. "I was leaning toward Detroit most of the time, but I had a few offers that I had to consider," Penny said. "(Closing) was something I considered. But I still want to start, and I think Detroit is going to give me the best chance to go out there and start every fifth day. People may think 'Oh, he gets hurt all the time.' And, unfortunately, I have been injured in 2008 and again last year, but my arm has been feeling great, I've been throwing great, and it's not like my velocity has dropped off." Penny had a 5.61 ERA in his only American League season, 2009 with Boston. He pitched on Florida's World Series championship team in 2003.

--RHP Jeremy Bonderman would be someone Detroit would consider re-signing if he drops his demand for a major league contract, GM Dave Dombrowski said. The Tigers became short of insurance starters when they traded RHP Armando Galarraga to Arizona for two minor league prospects. Detroit did not offer Bonderman a contract at the end of last season. "He is looking for a major league contract," Dombrowski said. "If he changed, we would still be open. However, they have not discussed this with us."

BY THE NUMBERS
0 -- Triples on the road hit by new Detroit DH/C Victor Martinez. He has three career three-baggers, two in Cleveland as a member of the Indians and one in Boston for the Red Sox. Martinez has 1,963 road at-bats without a triple, the most by any player since 1952, according to STATS, Inc.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I've never been involved -- and maybe shame on me -- where that topic has been addressed. I think everybody is aware of what he's accomplished. So many things go on, and things are the way they are in certain situations, and we never even had the conversation." -- GM Dave Dombrowski, trying to explain why the Tigers just got around to deciding to retire Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson's No. 11, the year after their all-time winningest manager died.

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