LAKELAND, Fla. >> Jack Flaherty is getting a bit restless. Like, all-revved-up, no-place-to-go restless.

By design, Flaherty will be the last Tigers starter to make his spring debut, most likely later this week.

“I hardly know what day of the week it is,” he said. “But that’s the hope.”

It’s been like Groundhog’s Day for him so far this spring. Workout, throw bullpens, rest and repeat.

“The beginning of spring is always a little bit weird,” he said. “It’s like, bullpen, couple of days off, throw a live (bullpen), couple days off, another live — you can’t really get into your normal five-day routine where I know exactly what I have today and tomorrow and I can expect what’s going to happen.”

There are a couple of reasons why Flaherty is slotting last in the spring rotation. One, his World Series championship run with the Dodgers ended on Oct. 30. He threw 184 innings last season, his most since 2019, and 22 of them were in October. It makes sense, physically, to activate him a little later.

Secondly, the Tigers want to line it up so once Flaherty gets on his five-day routine, he can ride it right into the regular season, presumably getting his first start back in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on March 28.

“I am excited to get on a five-day and actually get into a routine,” he said.

And he’s excited to get into the competition. In the meantime, he’s had ample time to fine tune some of the small adjustments he made during the offseason.

“We don’t need a lot of extra out of him, but we’re still going to find ways to get him a little better,” manager AJ Hinch said. “More effective arm-side (in on right-handed hitters), just subtle tweaks compared to last season.”

Right-handed hitters slugged .440 with a .730 OPS against him last year, up from his career splits of .377 and .672. In 2019, when Flaherty limited righties to a .182 average, .317 slug and .536 OPS, his neutralizer was the slider (.175 batting average, 46.5% whiff).

It hasn’t been as effective against righties recently.

They slugged over .500 against his slider the last two years, though he still got a lot of swing-and-miss — 35% last year, 46% in 2023. He resorted to using his knuckle-curve more against righties. He’s also tried, so far unsuccessfully, to incorporate some kind of changeup into his mix. He’s thrown 17 the last two years, just three last year.

“I’m just using this time for certain things that we were working on in the offseason, trying to continue improving,” Flaherty said, not wanting to get into specifics. “Just things that I could’ve done better last year. We made a lot of adjustments before last year and there are still smaller adjustments that can be made coming into this year.”

His commitment to his craft, though, continues to impress the coaching staff.

“He’s relentless with wanting feedback and working with Fett (pitching coach Chris Fetter) to get better,” Hinch said. “I love his mindset: He came to spring wanting to accomplish something and not just build endurance. That’s the biggest trap that veteran players fall into.

“Non-specific endurance goals are missed opportunities. Jack is very focused on not only getting ready but getting better.”

Meadows update

Center fielder Parker Meadows was not expected to play Monday, even before the spring game against the Blue Jays was canceled, and he is not going to travel to Sarasota on Tuesday.

“He’s day to day,” Hinch said.

Meadows felt soreness in his right biceps after making a strong throw from right-center to second base on Saturday. He had tests run on Sunday.

“We’re giving him a couple of days just to settle things down,” Hinch said. “And then we will run another set of tests.”

The Tigers’ twice-weekly medical report will be released Tuesday.

Never give up

Watching right-hander Brendan White pitching healthy and effectively again had a lot of people in the Tigers’ organization smiling.

After missing most of last season battling a hard-to-diagnose nerve issue in his elbow, White pitched a scoreless inning in his spring debut Saturday, striking out two and flashing the 95-mph heater and 2,900-rpm sweeper that got him to the big leagues in 2023.

“To see him pound the zone with pretty good stuff, the spin on the breaking ball, I was really encouraged for him,” Hinch said. “When he can do that over and over, he can be an option for us, and a very versatile option for us.”

White, 26, was designated for assignment last year and re-signed back on a minor-league deal with an invitation to camp.

“That felt good,” White said after the game. “It was not a fun year last year.”

He didn’t intend to be all four-seam, sweeper. He has a useful cutter in his repertoire. But, if something isn’t broken …

“Before the game throwing (the sweeper), I felt like I was getting a little bit extra on it,” he said. “I could see it and feel it. I was getting more on it. Then in warmups in the ‘pen, it was the same thing. I was like, ‘I’m using this today.’”

White likely will start the season at Triple-A Toledo, just a phone call and 56-mile ride away.

“He’s done a lot in a short period of time,” Hinch said. “He can be tough on hitters. I was pumped for him. He’s put a lot of work in to get back to this level already, even before we get to the season.”