The Tiger Beat: Can’t stop Don Kelly

The beloved former Tiger has a new role.

Happy Friday, everyone. The Tigers are coming off a sweep of the Rockies, tonight Tarik Skubal is taking the mound, and it’s mystery bobblehead weekend, so there are plenty of things to look forward to in the coming days.

There’s also plenty of news to get into, from Don Kelly’s new managerial role with the Tigers to which baseball team the new Pope is rooting for.

Let’s just jump right into it.

Detroit Tigers News:

• Tigers great Chet Lemon, a member of the 1984 World Series team, has passed away at the age of 70. Brandon wrote about Lemon’s legacy yesterday .
• The broadcast took a moment to remember Chet Lemon.

• While not officially Tigers news, Don Kelly will forever be beloved by most Tigers fans. So, today when news broke that Pirates’ manager Derek Shelton had been fired and none other than Don Kelly was stepping up as manager, it felt like Tigers news.

• Dan Szymborski is making up his own extensions and wants the Tigers to spend big money on Tarik Skubal. Of his proposed deal, he said:

The AL Central is just ripe for some team to dominate the rest, and even if the Tigers don’t spend like they did during the Mike Ilitch years, they don’t need to dish out $300 million a year to be the big dog in this division. Skubal gives Detroit a weapon that no other AL Central team can match, and at this point, he’s probably no more of an injury risk than is any other pitcher.

• David Laurila looks at the very unique pitch being thrown by Mud Hens pitcher Matt Seelinger.
• Alden Gonzalez looks at Spencer Torkelson’s start and what he’s done to get here , sharing:

Torkelson struggled so profoundly last year — a .669 OPS, 10 homers and 105 strikeouts in 92 games — that he entered 2025 without a clear path for playing time. Now, early in his age-25 season, he looks like the feared hitter so many expected to see. Through 36 games, Torkelson has already equaled last year’s home run total. He’s drawing walks at a significantly higher rate, OPS’ing .879 and ranking within the top 5% in expected slugging percentage — a stat in which he finished 211th among 252 hitters last year.

AL Central News:

• Spotlighting the Guardians’ pitching prospect who has made his way through cancer treatment and is now on the cusp of the majors . ($)

MLB News:

• Apparently the new Pope is a baseball fan! Does this give the Cubs an unfair advantage? (There are some reports that he is a White Sox fan , and honestly, they could use all the help they can get).

• Rafael Devers has turned down the Red Sox request that he move to first base .
• TV host John Oliver wants to rename a minor league baseball team. He said, “We are willing to use all of our resources and stupidity to give one Minor League Baseball team a total rebrand. We will give you a new team name. A new mascot. We will even throw you a theme night. It will be personalized and it will be bespoke.”