I love baseball. Closely behind basketball and football, it’s my third favorite sport. The MLB playoffs are my favorite professional playoff experience over the NBA and NFL.
Thankfully, it’s finally time to throw out the first pitch of the 2024 season. Let’s take a look at how our Tigers will do.
Starting Pitching
The starting rotation features a lot of homegrown Tigers draft picks as well as seasoned MLB veterans. Lefty Tarik Skubal will take the mound on Opening Day against the White Sox, rightfully pegged as the Tigers’ ace after a brilliant 2023 campaign. The biggest question mark around him will be health concerns (a common feature for young Tigers’ stars). Skubal had flexor tendon surgery in 2022, but it didn’t seem to hamper him after his return. He will be on a shortlist of Cy Young favorites this season.
Off-season addition Kenta Maeda will play his eighth MLB season, providing an experienced arm to augment the rotation. Jack Flaherty also joins the staff. The 28-year-old had a Cy Young-caliber season in 2019 but has since struggled with injury concerns. If these two veterans can provide stability and valuable innings, the Tigers can make a lot of noise.
Rounding out the rotation are Casey Mize and Reese Olson, two former Tigers prospects. Mize is coming off of Tommy John surgery, while Olson made his debut last season for the Tigers with some really quality starts.
Matt Manning along with Beau Brieske was left out of the starting rotation, showing some serious organizational depth. Manning especially will compete for innings.
Relievers
One of the bright spots for Detroit last year was its relief pitching. Taken totally, the relief corp. was league average, yet pitched the fifth most innings of any relief group in the league.
Will Vest was exceptional in the olde English D with a sub-3.00 ERA over 48 innings. He is joined by Jason Foley, himself with a 2.61 ERA over 69 innings pitched. Alex Lange is the third stud the Tigers can call on, followed by Andrew Chafin, who is rejoining the team after a stint in 2022 with Detroit. Shelby Miller, Tyler Holton, Alex Faedo and Joey Wentz road out the bullpen.
Infielders
First baseman Spencer Torkelson is looking to build off his best season yet as a pro. He had the most homeruns on the team with 31 and seemed to really find his groove in the second half of the season.
At second base, Colt Keith will be the future of the franchise. The rookie broke camp with the Tigers this spring and figures to be a cornerstone of Tigers baseball for years to come. Andy Ibáñez will get more matchups against lefties, but it’s Keith’s spot to lose.
Shortstop is a spot of contention for Tigers fans. Just as Miguel Cabrera’s contract was coming to an end, the front office dumped more money on Javier Báez, the former second-place MVP with the Cubs. He had an OPS (a stat that adds a player’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage) of .593, a horrendous mark. His OPS+ was just 62 (100 is the league average). If Báez can even be a league-average shortstop, the Tigers will benefit greatly.
Finally, at third, the Tigers signed Gio Urshela. The veteran has been a dependable big-league player for many years now and offers a steady, consistent option.
Catching duties will be split between Jake Rogers and Carson Kelly (acquired from the Diamondbacks). Rogers has some decent pop in his bat, hitting 21 homers in 2023. Kelly has been a big leaguer for quite some time now and offers yet another reliable bat.
The hard-hitting Kerry Carpenter will get the most spots at designated hitter. He was one of the best hitters for Detroit last season and hopefully can stay healthy enough this season to put together a possible all-star campaign.
Outfielders and Bench
The Tigers’ outfield begins and ends with the success of Riley Greene. Greene has all the raw tools and skills to be an all-star left-fielder for years to come, but he has to put together a whole season of production first.
The rest of the outfield will be split up and platooned. Detroit returns utility man Matt Vierling (who can play in the outfield or third base) and Parker Meadows, who had a pretty solid rookie season with the team. Meadows was an excellent prospect and had a great spring training. Mark Canha, acquired from the New York Mets, can play in the outfield or infield but played DH in the opener on Thursday. Finally, Zach McKinstry completes the 26-man lineup. He can spot in the corner outfield or infield.
Overall, the Tigers will look to improve on a 2023 season that started quite poorly but ended on a high note. Manager A.J. Hinch plays matchups quite often and will do everything in his power to will the team to a division title in a weak AL Central.