Against all odds, a young, hungry Tigers team broke a decade-long postseason drought. Detroit stormed to October thanks to a hot stretch in September that gave the Tigers 86 wins. Then, the Tigers upset the Astros in the AL Wild Card and gave the Guardians a run in the ALDS. Here’s our recap of the 2024 Detroit Tigers’ season.
The Offense
| Stat | Number | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs Scored | 682 | t-19th |
| Home Runs | 162 | 24th |
| OPS | .685 | 24th |
| Whiff% | 26.0% | 20th |
| Hard Hit% | 38.0% | 22nd |
The Pitching
| Stat | Number | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Starters’ ERA | 3.69 | 4th |
| Relievers’ ERA | 3.55 | 5th |
| Strikeouts | 1,354 | 19th |
| Whiff% | 26.4% | 7th |
| Chase% | 30.0% | 4th |
The Good
The Tigers’ best player last season — and it wasn’t particularly close — was their ace, Tarik Skubal.
Skubal returned with a vengeance after missing nearly a full calendar year in 2023, when he was statistically a top-15 pitcher in baseball. Last season, one could argue he was the best starter in baseball on 2024. Skubal led baseball in bWAR (6.2) in what was a season that established him as one of MLB’s best.
The power of Skubal’s arsenal lies within his ability to give different looks. Sure, Skubal can dial up to 100 MPH with both his four-seamer and two-seamer. However, his ability to work the zone with both makes it very difficult for hitters to figure out what’s coming. Especially, when taking into account his plus-plus changeup.
Between his pure stuff and tunneling ability — his four-seamer, sinker, changeup, and slider come within 3° apart of one another — Skubal diced up hitters in 2024. The lefty led baseball in strikeouts (228) and ERA+ (170). He won the AL pitching triple crown, en route to his first AL Cy Young Award.
Skubal tandemed with Jack Flaherty, signed to a one-year deal last winter, to form a dominant 1-2 punch for much of last season. Flaherty leaned more on his slider with great results. However, the Tigers didn’t have him for the postseason, as Detroit traded him at the deadline.
Now, why did the Tigers trade Flaherty? Detroit entered deadline day seven and a half games out of a Wild Card spot. Then, something happened. The Tigers got hot and other teams, including division rival Minnesota, slipped. Detroit was 52-57 on July 30, then went 34-19 to storm to a playoff spot in September.
Detroit leaned heavily on Skubal in August and September, as he pitched 62 innings in that stretch and allowed 3+ runs in just two of 10 starts. But, he had help. The Tigers’ bullpen was excellent, thanks largely to the craftiness of Tyler Holton and depth arms like Will Vest and Brenan Hanifee, among others.
Holton, in particular, was a revelation. The Tigers reliever slotted in as a late-inning reliever, opener, or whatever Detroit needed. Holton finished with a 2.19 ERA, 77 strikeouts, and a 1.6 BB/9 over 94.1 IP. He finished 15th in AL MVP voting.
Offensively, Riley Greene was the team’s offensive MVP. Greene hit a team-high 24 home rums, one of several key Tigers bat.
Matt Vierling was a wrecking ball for Detroit, playing multiple positions, using his speed to cause chaos, and hit 16 home rurns in his second season with the Tigers. Kerry Carpenter hit 18 home runs in a platoon role, and his arguably the biggest home run of his career in the ALDS against Emmanuel Clase.
The Bad
It was a struggle, overall, for the Tigers to scrape together runs. Much of that was due to the fact Detroit had issues getting runners on base. Tigers hitters posted a combined .300 OBP in 2024, second-worst in baseball.
The fact is that while the Tigers got clutch hitting late — Detroit finished 16th in runs scored (101) over the last month of the regular season and playoffs — that wasn’t the case for much of 2024.
Spencer Torkelson hit .219/.295/.374 for the Tigers last season and spent part of it in Triple-A. For Torkelson, it was less of a strikeout issue and more of a pop-up issue. He popped up 13.4% of the time in 2024 and failed to square up the baseball much. Which, led to a decline in production after a 31-home run season in 2023.
Then, there was Javier Baez. Baez showed his uber-aggressive tendencies — which worked in the early part of his career — again in 2024, and failed to produce offensively yet again. The Tigers shortstop hit .184/.221/.294 over 80 games in 2024. Lumbar spine and hip problems shut Baez down in August.
Luckily for the Tigers, there’s plenty of exciting, young bats who could solve some of those problems. Parker Meadows has been an exciting power bat when healthy. Colt Keith looked very good in spurts over his rookie campaign. Plus, the Tigers got contributions from Trey Sweeney, a shortstop with pop. Sweeney hit four home runs and nine extra-base hits late last season.
The Tigers also have Jace Jung, a former first-round pick who made his MLB debut late last year. Jung hit .241/.362/.304 with Detroit last season. Jace is known for being more patient than his older brother, and can hit for power.
Early Projected Lineup for 2025
- C: Jake Rogers/Dillon Dingler
- 1B: Spencer Torkelson
- 2B: Colt Keith
- 3B: Jace Jung/Matt Vierling
- SS: Javier Baez/Trey Sweeney
- OF: Riley Greene (LF), Parker Meadows/Matt Vierling (CF), Kerry Carpenter/Wenceel Perez (RF)
- DH: Justyn-Henry Malloy
- SP: Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Keider Montero, Jackson Jobe, Kenta Maeda/Casey Mize
- RP: Jason Foley, Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter, Will Vest, Beau Brieske, Brenan Hanifee, Alex Faedo, Ty Madden
The Tigers’ needs this winter aren’t that subtle.
Detroit cycled through their bullpen regularly during the playoffs, as Tarik Skubal was manager AJ Hinch’s lone reliable starter. That’s not to say the Tigers don’t have pitching depth. Reese Olson was very good before a shoulder strain that sidelined him in July. Not to mention, youngster Keider Montero gave the Tigers needed innings down the stretch.
Still, a veteran starter wouldn’t hurt, especially if Detroit wants to be careful with budding ace Jackson Jobe.
As for their lineup, another bat — preferably one with pop — would be ideal, to provide protection for Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, etc. Detroit has bats who are versatile, like utilityman Zack McKinstry and Matt Vierling, the latter of whom played at five different positions (1B, 3B, LF, CF, RF) last year.