Good first impression for Mantei

It was a good first throwing session for Matt Mantei, whose pitches were coming out of his hand with good velocity and location low in the zone. But then, pitch quality is rarely the question with him. It's about staying healthy, and the last couple injuries (wrenched ankle with Boston in 2005, oblique strain in Tigers camp in 2006) haven't had anything to do with his arm.

Don't expect Mantei to make this club out of spring training. The Tigers want to make sure he can stay healthy before committing to him, and that's likely going to take an early-season stint at Triple-A Toledo to answer. He realized that, and that's why he allowed for four weeks in his contract before the Tigers have to decide for good April 28 whether to call him up or grant him his release to sign with another team.

Why is Mantei doing this again, two years after his last try with the Tigers didn't work out? As his wife explained to him last year when he was debating whether to try this, he'd regret it the rest of his life if he didn't give it one more best shot and see what happened. Plus, he has a five-year-old son who has never seen him pitch in person.