After Long Hiatus, Daniel Norris Poised For Big-League Return

By Will Burchfield
Twitter: Burchie_kid

David Price is long gone from Detroit, but a younger version of the hard-throwing lefty is emerging in his wake. Daniel Norris, who was acquired in exchange for Price before the 2015 trade deadline, will make his first big-league start of the season on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.

In a recent interview in Toledo, where Norris has been honing his craft with the Triple-A Mud Hens, the 23-year-old southpaw identified his role models on the mound.

"I watch [Clayton] Kershaw a lot. And David Price, as well. Try to take after those guys," he said.

So Price is out. And yet he is reborn.

Norris, of course, has a long way to go in reaching the rank to which he aspires. But the raw talent is undoubtedly there, which is the most important piece of the equation. Mechanics, command and strategy are all things that can be smoothed out and perfected through coaching and repetition. But Norris' big-league pitching arsenal is an intrinsic gift.

"He's got great stuff," said Med Hens' pitching coach, Jeff Pico. "He's got a real good slider, he can a spin a curveball good, too, and he's got a live arm from the left side. I like the way his changeup's coming along, too, so it's a four-pitch mix."

That explains the hope attached to him within the Tigers' organization. Along with Michael Fulmer, Norris has the potential to anchor the team's rotation for years to come. He showed flashes of that ability toward the end of last season, when he finished out the year in Detroit and pitched to a 3.68 ERA through eight starts.

It was presumed, then, that Norris would start the 2016 season in the Tigers' rotation after a successful surgery in October to remove thyroid cancer. But a back injury he sustained in Spring Training derailed those plans, sending Norris, instead, to Single-A Lakeland (Fla.), where was tasked with recovering his health and regaining his form.

Initially, things didn't go according to plan.

Though he was promoted to Triple-A in late April, Norris was shelled in his first six minor league starts, posting a .344 batting average against and an 8.44 ERA. Suddenly, the MLB seemed very far away, further than it had been for Norris in quite some time. But Pico wasn't concerned.

"Well he was hurt coming out of Spring Training so he got off to a rough start, which I think has to be expected a little bit," Pico said last week. "But he's working his butt off and really just trying to his mechanics back together, get more reps off the mound, more bullpen work and game experience and it's a learning lesson. So that in general has been helping him and I've seen improvement throughout."

Through his frustrating start to the season, Norris maintained the same mindset as his coach. He understood his struggles were part of a larger rehabilitation process, and actually felt the statistics belied his overall performance. His strikeout rate was still well above average and hitters weren't exactly teeing off on him – he hadn't allowed a single home run in the aforementioned time frame.

"I mean it's just about feeling good on the mound. I'm feeling healthy, finally. So it's just about going out there and executing pitches now. The stuff's there so I'm not really worried about it," he said.

Norris referenced his prior five or six starts as evidence that he was turning things around. Pico pointed to a recent bullpen session, in which Norris had looked fantastic. And both of them, sensing the rising current, looked forward to the lefty's next start.

That came Friday night against the Rochester Red Wings. Norris didn't disappoint.

Through seven dominant innings, he surrendered just six hits, without allowing a run, and racked up eight strikeouts. It lowered his ERA to 2.76 over his previous seven starts, during which time Norris has notched 44 strikeouts in 40 innings. That's satisfied the Tigers, who, in an effort to minimize Fulmer's workload and in conjunction with Matt Boyd's recent demotion, have named Norris their starter in Thursday's series finale against Seattle.

Set to return to the Majors after a long hiatus, Norris will no doubt be rearing to go in his first start of 2016. Having been here before, he was burning to get back.

"It's always in the back of your head, the fire to get there," Norris said last week, in Toledo. "You're always wanting to get back to the big leagues, you never want to be here."

It's unclear, at this point, how long Norris will remain with the Tigers. It may be that tomorrow is merely a spot start, and the now well-traveled lefty will be shuttled back to Toledo afterward. But if Norris builds on the momentum he has established with the Mud Hens, the Tigers may have no choice but to keep him around.