New Tiger Norris says he’s a ‘bulldog on the mound’

Baltimore — Daniel Norris, the Tigers newly-acquired left-hander, was trying to explain how exactly he is related to manager Brad Ausmus.

“I had my mom text me this,” he said. “It’s by marriage. My mom’s dad’s daughter’s husband? Something like that. Her second cousin’s dog? Something.”

Ausmus couldn’t really tell you either.

“He told me what it was but I wasn’t really following,” Ausmus said. “He mentioned my aunt, my dad’s sister. Somehow it’s connected. He’s from Johnson City, Tenn., which is where my dad’s from.”

The two met for the first time on Friday after the Tigers acquired Norris from Toronto for David Price. But “Brad Ausmus the ballplayer” has been a presence in Norris’ life since he was a child.

“People were always giving me his card and stuff,” he said. “My aunt was the first one who told me about him when I was a little kid. When we saw him on TV or we saw his baseball card, it was exciting.”

Ausmus is less concerned about the familial connection than Norris’ highly-touted left arm.

“Yeah, I just want him to get outs,” he said. “No matter how we are related.”

‘I never back down’

Norris will make his first start in the big leagues since April 30 here Sunday. In his last start with the Blue Jays, it took him 78 pitches to get through three scoreless innings.

There was concern that his fastball velocity was down and he had lost some sharpness on his breaking ball.

After three months at Triple-A Buffalo, Norris feels like a different pitcher — or, more accurately, like the pitcher he has always considered himself to be.

“My velocity is good,” he said. “My past three or four starts have been 92-95 mph, which is pretty normal. Somebody asked me about that (decreased velocity) and don’t know where that comes from. I heard that and I kind of scratched my head.

“I feel good now. Early in the season in Toronto I was going through a dead arm period. Maybe that’s what they’re talking about.”

He not only fine-tuned his mechanics at the Triple-A level, he also went through an attitude adjustment.

“That was something we talked about a lot down in Triple-A — realizing who I am as a pitcher,” Norris said. “They said, ‘Hey, listen, you’re a power lefty that strikes people out. That’s what we want.’

“When I first went down, my impression was, ‘Hey, we want you to go deeper in games.’ So I was messing around with a two-seam fastball, trying to get early contact. But that’s not what they wanted. They wanted me to put guys away.”

And that suits his mentality much better.

“I’m a bulldog on the mound,” he said. “I am completely opposite of the way I am (in the clubhouse). When I get out there, the switch flips. I am a competitor. A bulldog. I never back down.”

His stat line at Triple-A wasn’t overly flattering — 3-10, 4.27 ERA, 1.511 WHIP, left-handed batters hitting .304 against him. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“I’ve been working really hard,” Norris said. “Sometimes results don’t really show how you are doing. Some things haven’t gone my way at Triple-A this year, but I’ve been fine. Watching my mechanics evolve, everything was right on track. At some point the tide was going to change.

“My velocity was back and my stuff was back up. I am finally feeling good.”

Change of plans

Just in time, then, because the Tigers are going to give him every opportunity to be in the rotation for 2016.

“The trade itself speaks volumes for what they think of me,” he said. “And that’s great. I couldn’t have asked to be put in a better situation. I have the opportunity to compete in the big leagues.”

That said, he isn’t approaching it as an audition.

“That could be the case, but, regardless, I have to go out there and win ballgames,” he said. “We’re what, 3-1/2 games out (of a wild-card spot)? We are 100 percent still in it. I want to go out there and win.”

Much was made in the media about Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos telling Norris that he wouldn’t trade him prior to the deadline. Norris doesn’t seem bothered by it.

“I knew something had to happen for them,” Norris said. “It wasn’t like a 100-percent shock. But he had told me on Monday I wasn’t getting traded. Kind of interesting. But (Anthopoulos) called me before it went down and apologized. At the time, David Price wasn’t available, but once he was, he couldn’t not make the trade. I understood 100 percent. And I am happy. This is good for me.

“When I got the news, you can go one of two ways — you either have that sinking feeling in your heart or the uplifting one. I was definitely uplifted.”

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

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