Two years ago, the Tigers punted at the deadline, giving away Carson Kelly and Jack Flaherty, two very impressive rental pieces. And then a funny thing happened: they caught fire, made the playoffs and chased some great teams, eventually becoming a 1st place contender last year. This year, for the majority of the season the Tigers were a 4th place mainstay with a snakebitten rotation and no real direction, so at the deadline, they punted once again, trading their #1 piece, Tarik Skubal, to the Dodgers, as well as dealing Casey Mize and Jake Rogers. It was an admission that the early-2020s rebuild had failed, and that focusing on the new class of characters [like Kevin McGonigle, Hao-Yu Lee and Troy Melton], would tide them over until their next opportunity.
Then, once again...something very funny happened. They took off.
Since July 28th, around when they dealt Skubal, the Tigers are 10-4. A hair under .500, nearly lapping the Twins for 2nd place...and looking absolutely revitalized, even without Skubal.
The key might have been calling up Max Clark, an organizational darling thought to be the future of the Tigers. Since McGonigle worked so well [a 5.6 WAR as a rookie so far], Clark was a no-brainer, and fit right into center due to Matt Vierling's injury. Since this, they've also lost Riley Greene, meaning the outfield right now is Clark, Ben Malgeri and Zach McKinstry, which is NOT IDEAL. Clark's numbers have softened the blow though, as he's hitting .289 with 1 homer and 7 RBIs, plus some terrific stuff in center. He's a natural with a high ceiling, and his contact game is already pretty nice. If him and McGonigle stick around, the Tigers will be just fine, especially considering that Dillon Dingler also seems to be in it for the long haul, with 26 homers and 80 RBIs. The lack of a pure star like Greene is worrying, but McGonigle, Gleyber Torres, and the suddenly awakening bat of Spencer Torkelson are doing everything they can.
Obviously the area of concern is gonna be the rotation without Mize or Skubal, but Jackson Jobe just got activated and his first start went really well. Beyond that, Troy Melton's still looking like a star with a 7-1 record and a 1.46 ERA, Keider Montero's got a 3.38 ERA and a 1.104 WHIP, and Framber Valdez, though clearly not Astros dominant, has been piling together some decent starts lately, and has a 4.26 ERA with 106 Ks. Hopefully Flaherty returns soon and the worst of this is over. I'm also very hopeful that Verlander can come back at some point, even if he doesn't see October. At the very least, Kenley Jansen hitting 500 saves is a storyline that could tide people over for the rest of the season if JV doesn't come back.
Clearly there's flaws, and clearly some big pieces are now missing, but the spark is there in Detroit, and the Tigers now want it more than they ever did, arguably, with Skubal. I'd love to see them shock the world and wind up in the playoffs, even if the White Sox winning would be equally as exciting.
Coming Tonight: A Cardinals reliever-turned-starter keeping the ship steady as the team heads for uncertain waters.
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