When I Am King..

 

It is looking like, as we near the official midway point of the 2025 season, that the most important, and most dominant, team in the AL is the Detroit Tigers. And MAN does it feel refreshing to say that. There have been so many mediocre Tigers teams, so many teams with absolutely nothing going on, and so many completely mailed-in attempts at a rebuild, that hitting upon one that actually works feels legitimately satisfying. And I'm not even a Tigers fan. I just got really sick of seeing this organization not try, and now they've built a competitor. I wish all teams could get there.

But something that also feels like a shifting of tides is that this year, the team with the most all-star starters in the AL is not the Yankees, or the Astros, or even the Mariners. It is the Detroit Tigers. Three players wound up in the voting finals, and all three got their positions handily. Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres and Javier Baez's ASG nods were the result of successful campaigning by the Detroit Tigers' fanbase, a fanbase that hasn't gotten anybody from this team on a roster since roughly Miguel Cabrera. 

The Tigers' 3 starters is more than any other team that isn't the Dodgers. And from an angle that seems not as good, because of course the Dodgers are the best, and everyone expects them to do well, and of course they have the most starters. Well...the Dodgers have 3 guys starting the ASG. There were more up for it. Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez were all nominees in the final round of voting, and none of them got it. They could have had 7 starters, and the voters weren't very compelled to rep all of them. They could do it for Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, and of course they rallied for Ohtani, but that's four people that even the most die-hard Dodger fans were alright not seeing in this all-star game. So they're only sending three, which at the moment is as many as the Tigers, though the Tigers might have another rep start the game at this rate. 

I used to get mad at people campaigning for ASG spots when their players didn't deserve it. There was one year the Cardinals had like 5 starters and it really wasn't warranted. The Royals did this around the same period. The Rangers a couple years ago had this even before they were a World Series team. And, like...if they deserve it, it's alright. The 2016 Cubs had their entire infield start the All-Star Game, and this is when all four of Rizzo, Russell, Zobrist and Bryant were having excellent years. This Tigers thing I can't be mad at, because not only is the team terrific, but I would file these players as the best at their position. Baez is somewhat marginal because he's a multi-position guy, but I'm glad he was able to get back here and savor the moment. Greene is having a phenomenal year, with 21 homers and 69 RBIs already. Gleyber's come into his own outside of the smoke of New York, he's hitting .279 with 9 homers and 42 RBIs. And Skubal is well on the way to a 20-win year, and deserves to start. 

The Tigers have built something great, and they just need it to last. What's beginning to worry me is the back half of the rotation, as there are so many injured starters that they're resorting to an opener game every fifth day. Hopefully Gipson-Long or Olson comes back soon, but for now Sku-Flaherty-Mize-Montero is working pretty well. The bullpen is strong as ever, the whole lineup has substantial answers everywhere [except shortstop honestly], and even this Kerry Carpenter injury isn't scaring me too much.

The Tigers have made great progress, but they need to be aware that now the eyes are on them. They're the 2015 Royals. They went from a fluke Wild Card team to a league giant. That team, however, went all the way. Can the Tigers?

Coming Tomorrow- He came just short of an ASG gig himself, but honestly just getting to start games again is enough of a win.