Tigers excited about pitching prospect Wilmer Flores' velocity spike

Lakeland, Fla. — There was some buzz Sunday when right-handed pitching prospect Wilmer Flores rang the radar gun at 98 and 99 mph in his spring debut at Port Charlotte.

Last season through High A and Double A, the velocity on Flores’ heater sat between 93-94 mph. What happened?

Better conditioning happened. And better body mechanics happened.

“His body is moving faster,” Hinch said. “That’s something our pitching group is always talking about, whether it’s a young guy or an older guy. Once we get his body moving faster, the arm catches up and all of a sudden you see the velo spike.”

Flores has gotten his body leaner and pitching coaches Chris Fetter, Juan Nieves and Robin Lund have worked to refashion his mechanics, body-wise and pitching-wise.

“We’re always talking about velocity, but we never talk about why, what creates that velocity and what creates it safely for your arm. As this industry is getting smarter and diving deep into the bio-mechanics, it spits out this information. … If you study when (Flores) has thrown hard and when he hasn’t, it’s about how fast his body can move.”

The outing got away from Flores on Sunday. He ended up allowing four runs, all with two outs.

"I like the velo, that's important," Hinch said. "Now he has to figure out how to land his secondary pitches in the zone as he increases the velo on his fastball. ... There was a lot to like about Wilmer's first outing. I know it doesn't feel that way in a box score. But I thought it was encouraging."

In Sarasota

The Tigers lost the split-squad game against the Orioles, 5-2, in Sarasota on Tuesday.

Four of the Orioles runs scored in the fifth were unearned. Non-roster right-hander Devin Sweet made a critical error in the inning.

BOX SCORE: Orioles 5, Tigers 2

Right-hander Matt Manning started and pitched two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

Zach McKinstry hit a solo home run and non-roster invitee Keston Hiura rapped an RBI triple.

Injury news

Outfielder Kerry Carpenter (hamstring) did running drills and then hit against a trio of minor-league pitchers Tuesday.

“It’s nice to get him on the field,” Hinch said. “He’s been saying all along that he’s not concerned. Generally when the player isn’t concerned, I’m not concerned. We will ease him back into the games eventually. But he’s getting just as many if not more at-bats this way than if he was actually playing in the games.”

… Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (left groin strain) has begun throwing off flat ground, but isn’t expected to be ready to pitch in games until near the end of camp. “If I’m healthy for most of the season, that’s what’s more important,” Gipson-Long said. “If I tried to push through it or try to do something stupid, that’s just hurting the team.”

… Catcher Dillon Dingler (elbow) has been cleared for full baseball activity. He’s been able to do everything but catch in the game. He’s going to be the designated hitter in at least two more games and could get behind the plate as early as Friday.

… Right-handed reliever Brendan White (elbow soreness) will throw his second bullpen on Thursday and could get back into the competition next week. “I threw 30 pitches (in his first bullpen Monday) and felt really good,” White said. “Back to normal. And I recovered pretty well today. I feel like I’m back on track.”

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky