About a week ago, there was a hilarious exchange in the Detroit Tigers clubhouse involving a pair of All-Stars.
Riley Greene was asked how he would get a hit off Tarik Skubal.
“I would sit slider,” Greene said confidently, “and hope it goes in the zone.”
So, I went and asked Skubal on how he’d attack Greene.
A devious smile crossed Skubal’s face, as if he were trying to come up with a plan in that moment.
“I’d have to look at the hot zones and stuff,” Skubal smiled, playing along. “I don’t know the scouting report on him – probably sliders in, sinkers off and changeups below the zone.”
Now, let me introduce the same concept.
Only the draft version.
And it actually played out in real life.
Bryce Rainer, the Tigers first-round pick, faced Ethan Schiefelbein, the Tigers second-round pick, earlier this year in the California state playoffs.
First at bat?
Rainer was the leadoff batter for Harvard-Westlake High School, and he promptly singled off this crafty left hander, hammering a fastball low in the zone, finding a hole through the right side of the infield.
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“We have a mutual trainer, so we both respect each other and respect each other’s work ethic and skills on the field,” Schiefelbein said. “So when he got me it’s like, tip my cap.”
But in the next two at bats, Schiefelbein got the best of Rainer.
“He got me first with a base hit and I basically didn’t let him touch the ball after that,” Schiefelbein said. “But he battled.”
Schiefelbein struck out Rainer twice, setting him up the same way both times.
“The third pitch to strike him out were fastballs but they were just set up by my softer fastball low in the zone and then sliders,” Schiefelbein said.
What happened after those strikeouts?
“When I got him, he tipped his cap to me,” Schiefelbein said.
I mean, how cool, right?
Game respects game.
And now, they are professional teammates.
Which is actually nothing new for them.
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You wanna know what made that matchup even sweeter?
Rainer and Schiefelbein have a long history together. They played together on Team USA and on a travel baseball team during the summer.
Here are some of the ways Schiefelbein described Rainer:
“He’s elusive on the field.”
“Reliable.”
“He’s got that versatility … he can play probably a good center field as well.”
“Exciting to watch, has got good pop to all parts of the field.”
“And he’s a good teammate. He’s not one that’s going to be like the vocal leader or anything. Neither am I but I feel we are leading by example.”
And yes, the more Schiefelbein talked about Rainer, the more we learned about Schiefelbein.
They seem cut from the same cloth.
Here’s the spin on Tigers draft pick
More than anything, the Tigers were impressed with Schiefelbein’s ability to spin the ball.
“We’ve seen him for quite some time,” assistant general manager Rob Metzler said. “The first attribute that sticks out is his ability to spin the ball, but I think there’s really good starting pitching projection there. Good athlete, good delivery, good strike thrower, and the fastball, we saw power to the fastball.”
Schiefelbein has a two-seam fastball, a spike curveball, a circle change, a slider and a cutter.
“I feel like you can always take another step forward,” Schiefelbein said. “Right now, I’m trying to learn a sharper slider grip. I pick up things pretty quick. So I think I’d be able to pick up on some things and make some tweaks here and there and start to fly through the system.”
Schiefelbein has two fastballs – a slow one that lumbers around 90 mph and another in the 93-95 range.
“My velo has always kind of just jumped – ticked up every single year,” he said. “So I feel like it will continue to do that as I get bigger and stronger. So just not trying to overdo it, not trying to get hurt while trying to develop more velocity, kind of knowing who you are.”
More than velocity, Schiefelbein pitches with intelligence.
He’s brains over brawn.
“I feel like it’s more about knowing what your stuff does than trying to create something that you’re not,” he said.
Finally, here is one more thing that is enlightening about how this organization is viewed by others, in a big picture way.
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Schiefelbein stressed that he has complete faith in the Tigers development staff.
“I have a trainer that has talked with guys up in the Tigers front office,” Schiefelbein said. “Just mutual trust through those guys. I trust someone and they trust them, which allows me to be able to trust these guys with my development. So I’m really happy to get to work with him.”
Contact Jeff Seidel:jseidel@freepress.comor follow him@seideljeff.