Tigers notebook: Infielder Perez switched to outfield; reliever Englert bounces back

Bradenton, Fla. — The Tigers moved quickly to remove what was starting to feel like a suffocating burden off the back of 24-year-old prospect Wenceel Perez.

Perez, who made two errors at second base in his spring opener and has struggled throwing the ball to first base for the last few years in the minor leagues, will play outfield for at least the remainder of the time he’s in big-league camp.

“Some of it is the reps we have (available),” manager AJ Hinch said following the Tigers’ 5-3 spring win over the Pirates, a game in which Perez contributed a single and a home run. “Some of it is that his best chance to contribute faster in the big leagues is going to be in the outfield.

“I’m not saying it’s forever. But it’s for this camp.”

Perez, whom the Tigers signed out of the Dominican Republic as a shortstop when he was 17, has made 44 errors at second base the last three years climbing three levels of the minor leagues. Most of those errors were throwing errors. The hope is that playing outfield will free him up to concentrate on what he does best.

And that is hit the baseball. Perez’s OPS has jumped at every level — .751 at High-A, .790 at Double-A, .890 in a smaller sample at Triple-A last year.

“He can really hit,” Hinch said. “He conducts good at-bats. He’s a good base runner, one of the better base runners we have in our organization.”

All that was on display Wednesday. His seventh-inning single left his bat at 103 mph and ignited a two-run rally that tied the game. Perez smartly went first to third on a single to center by prospect Justice Bigbie and scored on a sacrifice fly by Keston Hiura.

In the eighth, after catcher Anthony Bemboom homered to put the Tigers ahead 4-3, Perez launched a hanging slider 375 feet over the right-field wall. That ball left his bat at 105 mph.

“He’s bounced around enough (infield and outfield) that we’ve got to solidify things for him a little bit,” Hinch said. “Maybe it’ll clear his mind to just concentrate on one area of defense and focus on his offensive production, where he’s been pretty good of late.”

Getting right

Right-hander Mason Englert, who spent last season with the Tigers as a Rule-5 rookie, had a miserable first outing the spring, giving up three long home runs to the Yankees.

He got better.

Englert pitched 2.2 innings of hitless, scoreless ball Wednesday, walking two and striking out four.

“He was working fast, which is good because he kept his rhythm going to where he could throw a ton of strikes,” Hinch said. “His breaking ball was better, especially against lefties. You could see the confidence grow as the outing went on.”

Englert, who is in the crowded mix for one of the bridge reliever roles, blended sliders, four-seam fastballs (92.3 mph), changeups and curveballs to get six whiffs on 13 swings, plus seven called strikes. He threw 36 pitches, 20 strikes.

“Really good bounce-back from a very tough first outing to a very productive second outing,” Hinch said. “Good step.”

Quick break

Hinch has hit pause on a handful of the regulars. Javier Báez, Mark Canha, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Colt Keith, Jake Rogers and Matt Vierling stayed back in Lakeland while the Tigers hit the road to Bradenton (Wednesday) and then Fort Myers (Thursday).

“There’s no (health) issues,” Hinch said. “It’s just part of the strategy to take some mileage off for the first part of spring. Later on, I won’t do that. They’re going to have to play.”

Greene, who played the outfield Tuesday for the first time since Tommy John surgery, got two hits and a walk, which prompted a pretty good line from Hinch.

“We’re going to keep him,” he said. “As many guys as I’ve told they’re off the team, I’m going to go in there and tell Riley he made the team.”

Around the horn

… Non-roster outfielder Bligh Madris had the swing of the day. He locked on to a 99-mph heater from lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman in the fifth inning and hit it 399 feet over the wall in center. Impressive left-on-left damage.

… Reliever Alex Lange’s first outing of the spring was messy. He struggled to stay in the strike zone (23 pitches, just 14 strikes) and gave up a pair of homers – Tsung-Che Cheng slammed a 2-0 four-seamer and Connor Joe jumped an 0-1 changeup that stayed in the middle of the zone.

… Hinch has set up the rotation for the weekend. Reese Olson will make his second spring start Thursday in Fort Myers. Kenta Maeda will make his spring debut Friday in Lakeland and Jack Flaherty will make his second start Saturday in Lakeland. On Sunday against the Yankees in Tampa, Matt Manning and Mize will pitch in tandem. Hinch hasn’t decided which of the two will start.

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky