Notes: Chamberlain throws first bullpen; Mantiply on Tigers' radar
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Joba Chamberlain threw his first bullpen of the spring with the Tigers and according to him, "everything's good."
Chamberlain said he threw 28-30 pitches and was happy with it.
"I threw everything, everything feels really good and obviously it was nice being able to throw to John (Murrian), our bullpen catcher, he saw me all last year so he could kind of get a feel," Chamberlain said. "Coming out of my hand I can say it feel like one thing but it's nice when the guy that's receiving it on the other end knows what I did last year and caught me last year. Everything's good, everything feels really good. It's obviously nice to be able to throw outside and be in pants and not in a dome where you're still kind of cold."
Chamberlain used the word "good" 10 times, often "really good," when describing how he felt pitching.
One thing that wasn't quite so good?
"Got ready for my rag ball, took some rag balls," Chamberlain said. "I got a rag ball competition with Joel (Hanrahan) tomorrow. I took some, I was a little bit rusty, not gonna lie. Hopefully get some more before we go tomorrow and get after it."
Asked if he was confident he could reclaim his title, Chamberlain didn't sound so sure.
"After my showing today, I'm glad nobody else was watching because it wasn't very good," Chamberlain said. "So we'll get out there tomorrow and see what we've got."
As for the next step in his pitching progression, pitching coach Jeff Jones said Chamberlain would take two days off before throwing again Saturday.
MANTIPLY ON THE RADAR
If you're wondering why the name Joe Mantiply keeps coming up this spring, it's because of former Tigers manager Jim Leyland.
Leyland, who is currently a special assistant for the Tigers, watched Mantiply last season when he was with the West Michigan (A) Whitecaps and Erie (AA) Seawolves.
"Jim Leyland was the guy who I had talked to about him because Jim had seen him quite a bit, liked him," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.
Mantiply, who turns 24 on March 1, was 6-3 with a 2.40 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 38 games with the Whitecaps.
With the Seawolves, Mantiply was 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in eight games.
After the season, Mantiply went to the Arizona Fall League, where he was 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 11 games.
"He's got a funky delivery," Ausmus said. "He looks like he'd be tough visually for a left-handed hitter.
"I've talked to Mike Henneman, who was with him part of the year and Mike really likes him and another huge asset for any pitcher is he's not afraid when he's on the mound. It's tough to teach that mentality and he already has it."
NO "ENERGY SUCKERS" IN TIGERS' CLUBHOUSE
The conversation was about Bryan Holaday but it turned into one about energy.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he's been watching young James McCann more because he already knows what Holaday can do.
"He actually did an excellent job for us," Ausmus said of Holaday. "He brings a lot of energy to the club and to the clubhouse. He has some value beyond catching."
Holaday certainly has a good rapport with the pitchers.
"There's certain guys on every club that bring energy and Bryan Holaday is one," Ausmus said. "There's different kinds of energy. Torii Hunter brought that good energy. He was a guy in the clubhouse that had really good energy, good energy on the field. We don't really have any energy suckers in our clubhouse. It's a good clubhouse."
IT'S GOOD TO BE NO. 1 (MOST HANDSOME)
As news of Ausmus joining the Twitterverse made its way through the clubhouse, there was some fun to be had.
Ausmus, after just one day of having a public account, @BradAusmus07, had over 7,300 followers.
"Probably 5,000 of them are women," longtime Twitter member Justin Verlander said. "They like Brad."
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark asked Verlander if he'd heard that Ausmus was named MLB's most handsome manager.
"I did not see that," Verlander said. "He should tweet that."
The updated 2015 ranking appeared here.
Just don't tweet the link to Ausmus as he said he intends to never read his mentions.
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COMPLETE TIGERS SPRING TRAINING 2015 COVERAGE
