Detroit Tigers left-hander Nate Robertson hasn't won more than nine games since 2006 and hasn't had a winning record since 2004. Now that he's 32 and coming off elbow surgery and a tendon repaired in his groin, he's changing his pitching style, MLive.com reports.

Robertson had his third consecutive strong spring training outing Wednesday in a 6-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He credits former Tigers Kenny Rogers and Frank Tanana with his new approach to pitching.

From the MLive.com article:

Robertson fanned three Pirates and has a team-high 10 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings. His good stuff has returned, and batters no longer can sit on his fastball. And he’s doing it with a fastball that now tops out at 89-90 mph - about 4 mph off what he had a few years ago.

That’s where Rogers and Tanana, both good friends, entered the picture.

“Like they say, ‘You’ve got to fake it until you make it,’ “ Robertson said. “They had to learn to pitch without their hard stuff. It’s pitching; it’s fun. It’s a chess match. It’s my move, then your move. It’s your adjustment, then my adjustment.”

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