Tigers prospect opens up about grief, growth and lessons from a tough season

LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers catching prospect Thayron Liranzo lost 35 pounds this winter after the team challenged him to reshape his body.

“He looks more like a center fielder than a catcher right now, which is a huge compliment to him and all the work that he put in, both in the gym and in the kitchen over the past offseason,” Tigers president Scott Harris said.

For Liranzo, 22, the physical transformation was only part of a much larger reset after a season that tested him in ways few people outside the organization fully understood.

Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last July in the Jack Flaherty trade, Liranzo quickly became one of the Tigers’ more intriguing prospects. He finished 2024 strong at High-A West Michigan and then impressed evaluators in the Arizona Fall League, where his switch-hitting power and athleticism stood out.

But 2025 proved far more complicated.

Liranzo hit .206 with a .659 OPS in 394 plate appearances at Double-A Erie. His production dipped, and his prospect stock cooled.

But those inside the organization knew the numbers were only part of the picture.

In the middle of the season, Liranzo’s longtime trainer, whom he considered a father figure, passed away. He dealt with family problems back home in the Dominican Republic. A shoulder injury limited him to designated hitter duty at times.

“All these things were affecting me, and I didn’t really know how to handle it,” he said. “It was my first time going through something like that, and I wasn’t having a good year on the field either. Everything kind of piled up on me, and I felt like I lost my head a little bit.”

But the adversity also presented an opportunity for personal growth.

“2025, I could say, was a key year in my life because I learned so much,” he said. “I don’t say it was a bad year. I think it was a good year because it was a year of a lot of learning. Aside from the physical side, I worked a lot on the mental side, and that’s what helped me.”

Rather than continue carrying it alone, Liranzo began meeting regularly with coaches and members of the Tigers’ mental skills staff.

“It’s very difficult when you have your results in the game and also things happening outside, when your family is going through something or you lose someone close to you,” he said. “When you go to the game, you want to take that out of your mind, but it’s still there. It’s inside you. You have to learn to control that.

“And how do you do that? I think the best way is by talking. I was a person who was very reserved with my things. That was hurting me because I was keeping it to myself. When I started talking with my coach and with members of the staff and letting it out, it was much better.”

He described the change as learning to separate what he could control from what he could not, and to speak openly instead of internalizing everything.

“The advice I would give is that when you’re in that situation, first seek professional help. Try to talk.”

The reset wasn’t only mental.

After the season, the Tigers challenged Liranzo developmentally in three areas: body composition, his right-handed swing and his receiving.

As a switch-hitting catcher, Liranzo’s development path is more complicated than most. He must maintain two swings while handling one of the sport’s most demanding defensive positions.

For a big-bodied catcher, mobility affects everything from blocking to receiving to durability over a 100-plus game season.

So he worked extremely hard, both at the team facility in Lakeland and back home in the Dominican Republic, and stuck to a strict diet.

“After I lost weight, I’ve felt a lot of relief in my hips and in my legs, and it helps a lot with flexibility. As a catcher, I have a big body, so I need more flexibility, and that’s what I was working on,” he said.

This spring marks Liranzo’s second big-league camp, but his first as a member of the 40-man roster.

He is noticeably more comfortable in the clubhouse this year. Though this interview was conducted in Spanish, he now converses more easily in English with teammates, something he said felt intimidating during his first camp.

“I have a lot to learn — a lot to learn. But I feel very happy. I’m obviously fighting for a dream. I want to have the opportunity to help the team become a champion,” he said.

He shares the back fields with fellow young catchers Eduardo Valencia and José Briceño, while learning from veterans Jake Rogers, Dillon Dingler and Tomás Nido.

He’s probably ticketed for a return engagement to Double-A Erie in 2026, but he’s still only 22 and remains firmly in the Tigers’ plans.

“He has all the physical attributes and traits to be a frontline catcher,” Harris said. “It’s just about putting it all together.”

Last season felt heavy in more ways than one. This spring, Liranzo is lighter, in body and in mind.