Lynn Henning

Notes from Port St. Lucie ...

People, performances, and moments from Wednesday's game at Tradition Field, which saw the Tigers beat the New York Mets, 10-6:

(1)Jeff Larish almost has to make Tigers manager Jim Leyland's team for 2009. He got three hits Wednesday, drove in three runs, and is batting .283. He can play assorted positions. And he has the game face of a Marine. Leyland needs Larish on his team.

(2)Zach Miner was superb Wednesday. His manager was both exhilarated by what he saw and frustrated that Miner doesn't throw as well more regularly. Leyland on Miner:

"It was a perfect example of not over-thinking," Leyland said. "Instead of thinking and thinking, he went out and showed his stuff and pitched his (tail) off.

"His stuff is plenty good enough. Plenty good enough. He was a very good major-league pitcher today.

Leyland wondered if Miner, who was tossed into the game when Nate Robertson departed with a sprained thumb, might not have benefited from the shotgun assignment.

"Do I know that?" Leyland asked. "No. But I think it's a point. He went out there and pitched his butt off. Hopefully, it's a great lesson for him."

(3)Danny Worth, the shortstop who replaced Adam Everett when Everett sprained his ankle in the first inning, is some kind of fun to watch play the toughest position on the field.

Great arm. Gets to everything. If he hits -- and that's what the Tigers expected when they made him a second-round draft pick out of Pepperdine in 2007 -- Worth is going to play a lot of shortstop for a lot of years in Detroit.

(4)Ryan Perry will go north with the Tigers as the replacement for Joel Zumaya, who isn't likely to be ready. And here's the scary part: The Tigers might find in Perry that they get just about the same numbers from him that they get from their bullpen Darth Vader.

(5)None of the World Baseball Classic players from the Tigers who went on sabbatical for a few weeks in the name of their homelands was on hand for Wednesday's game. That means almost all of March has been spent by key Tigers players at half-speed, or, at best, intermittent speeds as they have prepared for a long 2009 season.

Those teeth you hear grinding belong to the players' manager, Leyland, who deep down probably finds the WBC about as appealing as an IRS audit.

And maybe less so.