Let’s take a quick look at what you might have missed this week.
Welcome to the weekend and get yourself geared up for a big double-header today against the Orioles (thanks, April weather). So the big series this week was against the San Diego Padres. The Padres, who currently have the second-best record in all of baseball, and the Tigers did a mighty fine job keeping them in check. I think it was actually a great example of how much the Tigers have learned and developed early in the season, because we saw them open the season against the Dodgers and while they fought admirably, they were swept. Now, a team that is currently better than the Dodgers was trounced by the Tigers, and that has to feel pretty good.
Let’s see how it all went down.
Monday, April 21 vs. San Diego Padres
Tigers 6, Padres 4
Keider Montero got another shot to start for the Tigers (and since he has already been sent back to Toledo, I guess they saw enough to decide he needed a bit more time). This game also saw the debut of Javier Baez as a starting center fielder. The Tigers really worked small ball in this outing with the novel idea of getting runners on base and then also scoring them. It was vital that they followed through on the “scoring them” part, because the Padres were making their own scoring efforts in this outing so the run support was much needed, but it set the series off on the right note.
Tuesday, April 22 vs. San Diego Padres
Padres 2, Tigers 0
Jack Flaherty has been pretty solid so far this season, but the Padres got the best of him in small but essential ways in this game, and the Tigers’ bats were unable to muster any kind of run support, leading to a very low-scoring game that should have played out differently. The real bummer of the game was an early-inning home run by the Padres, that the Tigers simply never managed to get back. We watched the MLB debut of Chase Lee, and he was interesting, but I withhold judgement until we see more of the side-armer.
Wednesday, April 23 vs. San Diego Padres
Tigers 6, Padres 0
Reese Olson looked incredible, his change-up doing much of the work and doing it well. He went deep in the game and teased a potential Maddux before getting pulled in the eighth. And in this game the Tigers were swinging for the fences and getting the job done with some homers from Gleyber Torres, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Dillon Dingler, plus excellent RBI work to push the score up and protect the shutout. (Plus Javier Baez had an incredible catch in center!)
Friday, April 25 vs. Baltimore Orioles
Due to the forecast of inclement weather, tonight’s Tigers-Orioles game at Comerica Park has been postponed.
For more information, visit https://t.co/fZrMJXA8Wf . pic.twitter.com/t662ERBWXX
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 25, 2025