 Friday, June 28 |
| Tarik Skubal’s rise from ninth-round Draft pick to AL Cy Young Award candidate has come with a tremendous amount of work. During the season, much of it comes at the ballpark, where the clubhouse becomes the players’ sanctuary. But what does Skubal do between all that hard work? What’s a 10-letter word for a common puzzle hobby? Yes, Skubal — proud member of the cell phone generation — fills out crosswords. Not on his phone, but pen to paper. “Every day,” Skubal said. He’s not alone. In a clubhouse filled with creature comforts, one of the most popular features is a seemingly timeless one. Each day, clubhouse manager Dan Ross prints the daily crossword puzzle from USA Today as well as the daily Sudoku and puts a stack of them on the counter in the middle of the clubhouse. It’s fairly common around MLB clubhouses, but it’s a ritual for Skubal, putting his mind to work while his body takes a break. MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
| By far, the crossword puzzle is more popular. “I’m sure it’s seeing other people do it, too,” Rogers said. Skubal is decidedly not a Sudoku fan. “Because it’s [freaking] hard,” he said. “I didn’t have anyone to help me. Sudoku, you can’t be the only one trying to do it, because you never know if you’re right or wrong. Crosswords, you can just scribble out the letters.” Said Rogers: “I cannot do Sudoku. The other day, Reese [Olson] was doing it, and I just grabbed his paper and I was like, ‘I’ll get one for you.’ I didn’t get one, and he was like halfway through.” Tigers rookie outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, on the other hand, could say the same thing about crosswords. He said he got hooked playing Sudoku on his phone. When he got into pro ball, that affinity followed him to pen and paper. “I play Sudoku on my phone. I’ll play checkers. I love checkers on my phone. I’ll play Wudoku,” he said. “It just keeps my attention. Gen-Z or whatever.” |
| While Malloy doesn’t consider himself a math person, he likes the interconnectivity, simplicity and logic involved. “I have 1 through 9. That’s it,” he said. “There’s too many possibilities in crossword puzzles, in my opinion. But I’ve also never really taken the time to do a crossword puzzle, if I’m being honest.” Other games have come and gone through the clubhouse. Immaculate Grid became a great way for current players to recall notable names of past and recent seasons. But as the competition for lower and lower scores heated up, the search for obscure players became too taxing. “I didn’t just want to put in a player. I wanted the percentage to be low,” Malloy said. “Once the guys started making it competitive last year near the end of the season, it was your Immaculate Grid versus someone else’s.” Said Rogers: “When I was doing it, I would just do the first [name] that came to my mind. But a lot of guys were trying to get the lowest percentage that they could.” |
| CASTELLANOS RETURNS TO COMERICA |
| The sight of Nick Castellanos taking early batting practice Monday at Comerica Park, slashing line drives deep into the gap in right-center field, brought back flashbacks. This was where Castellanos forged his style as a hitter. Before he became a 30-homer All-Star slugger, he was a doubles machine in Detroit. He even led the American League with 10 triples in 2017. “It’s kind of where I grew up as a Major Leaguer,” Castellanos said, “just learning the ins and outs of the game, learning how to play every day, learning how to get a routine, figuring out how to do this as best I can.” Five years after the Tigers traded Castellanos in a Deadline deal, Detroit still holds a special place for the Phillies outfielder. He still has deep family roots here, including his grandfather, a retired Detroit firefighter. They were well represented during the just-completed series. |
| It was the first time Castellanos played in front of Tigers fans since the trade. He hadn’t been back since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Castellanos doesn’t know many Tigers anymore aside from former Phillies outfielder Matt Vierling, but he said hello to Riley Greene. When Greene was drafted in 2019 and took batting practice at Comerica Park upon signing his first pro contract, Castellanos met him. “I got to see him swing. I got to talk to his parents,” Castellanos said. “Honestly, the way his career is growing is not a surprise, because you saw all the ingredients there, how talented he is, how humble and good of a person he is. Very happy to see.” |