Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Tigers

 

On June 29th, the Detroit Tigers were 37-46, fourth place in the AL Central, completely out of the conversation. Within a month they would trade Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin, Carson Kelly and Mark Canha to competitors. Of the four, only one would make the playoffs, and would ultimately win a World Series. 

After getting somewhat hot before the ASG break, the Tigers were 52-59 on August 2nd. And then the inevitable happened. Not only did this team start winning, but this team outlasted all but one division rival in playoff competition. The Tigers lapped the Twins and kept the series tighter than the Royals did. The Guardians would ultimately end the Tigers' season, but they would do so a month and a half later than anyone thought. With some rookie reinforcements, a Cy Young candidate, a stellar bullpen and some seasons that got going at the exact right time, the Detroit Tigers were competitors for the first time in about a decade, and they finally had something they could build on.

It's important to note that this ALDS-qualifying season from the Tigers came with no help from former MVP Candidate Javier Baez, who once again seemed to want nothing more than to take the contract and run. In 80 injury-limited games, Baez hit .184 with 6 homers and 37 RBIs. It's becoming so much clearer how Baez's 2018-2019 run was his peak, and how he's failed to recapture any of the magic from it.

2025 Prediction: Something closer to his 2022 premier year with the Tigers, but nothing team-lifting.

Also only a minor figure in the story of this competitive Tigers team, former #1 overall pick Casey Mize. Mize has long been thought to be the savior of this organization, and was on pace to be an ace for them til his 2022 injury. 2024 was thought to be a comeback year for the 27-year-old, but Mize could only muster so much, appearing in 22 games and leaving with a 4.49 ERA, a 2-6 record and 78 Ks.

2025 Prediction: I think since the pressure is officially off of him, and on people like Tarik Skubal, he'll be able to deliver a better season. Unfortunately I think 2024 killed any chance of him being THE GUY for the Tigers going forward. 

Jason Foley has remained a primary choice for closing options for the Tigers, and because this bullpen is so good he's just a great all-around reliever who occasionally can get the big game saves. Foley notched 28 saves this year, and had a 3.15 ERA despite a 3-6 record. Obviously a bit shakier [hence more opportunities for Tyler Holton later on], but I think Foley's still well respected in this 'pen.

2025 Prediction: Doesn't hold the ninth all year but still has another excellent full season of relief work.

Zach McKinstry didn't have as many starry moments as his surprise spike in usage during 2023, but he remained a handy, versatile infield bat for these guys. McKinstry hit .215 in 118 games, with 4 homers, 23 RBIs and a team-leading 16 steals. He even had himself a big postseason home run this year.

2025 Prediction: I think Colt Keith and Trey Sweeney are gonna ensure he doesn't start, but he'll be a valuable utility piece for the Tigers.

Wenceel Perez used some outfield vacancies and some brief injuries to work his way into a starting outfield spot as a rookie, and it honestly went pretty well for him. In 112 games he hit .242 with 9 home runs and 37 RBIs. He was also very handy in the postseason, with 5 hits and an RBI. 

2025 Prediction: Starts in right and becomes the underrated third to Meadows and Greene in that outfield.

Similarly, rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy got some starting time at both OF and DH this year, and he made the most of the opportunity. Malloy came over from Atlanta in exchange for Joe Jimenez, and while Jimenez has been excellent with the Braves, the Tigers may have something with Malloy as a power bat. In 71 games, Malloy had 8 homers and 21 RBIs, and was starting at DH everyday pretty much by the end of the year. He also went 5 for 8 in postseason at-bats with a double and run.

2025 Prediction: 30 homers. The pieces are beginning to come together, people.

Another intriguing piece of this team's future that debuted this year? Starter Keider Montero, who took advantage of the many open rotation spots during the last two months to make 16 starts. He'd finish the season with a 4.76 ERA, 6 wins and 77 Ks. He's 23, sturdy, came just short of 100 innings as a rookie, and looks like a great building block for this team.

2025 Prediction: Makes the rotation out of camp and holds down a 3.50 ERA all year.

And very late in the season, the Tigers brought up two different organizational prospect pieces, and even got to use them in October. Jackson Jobe was picked 3rd overall back in 2021, and smoked through Erie in 2024 to wind up in the bigs by September. He was merely there as a depth pitching option, and was scoreless in 4 innings during the regular season. In the postseason, the 21-year-old was facing some of the most powerful hitters in the bigs, and gave up 3 runs in 1.2 innings. Welcome to the bigs, kid. Meanwhile, 3rd base prospect Jace Jung, brother of Texas' corner infielder Josh Jung, was a 2022 first-rounder that was also powering through the minors at a nice pace. Jung was brought up around Trey Sweeney's call-up, and Sweeney was a bit more MLB-ready. Jung hit .241 in 34 games with 19 hits and 3 RBIs, and was hitless in 2 postseason at-bats.

2025 Prediction: At the current moment there seems to be more space for Jobe than for Jung. Jobe could very easily hang out in the bullpen and wait for a rotation opening to emerge [assuming he doesn't make the rotation out of camp]. Jung, meanwhile, is blocked by both Trey Sweeney and Zach McKinstry depth-wise, and will need surer MLB stats to stand a chance, which may not happen til midyear next year.

Coming Tomorrow- The Twins definitely thought they had something this year, which made it all the more heartbreaking when the rug got swept out from beneath them. 

While I Was Out..

 

Usually I catch wind of a no-hitter, or prospective no-hitter, as it's happening. I check the score around the 6th, check back later and it's been broken up. Something like that. 

I had no idea the Tigers had pitched a combined no-hitter yesterday til after it happened. I was already intent on getting out of New York City and onto the train headed home, and so I just didn't check the scores. So by the time I'm seated on the train, decompressing, the game's already ended. The no-hitter's already in the books. I was caught a little off-guard.

The Tigers this year are a bad team that have enough moments of being defiantly good that they can't quite be predictable. They can be crushed by the A's and then they can crush the A's. They can get off to a hot stretch to end May and then flatten again through June. You can't call a team whose only ASG rep is Michael Lorenzen predictable. So the Tigers being able to no-hit the Blue Jays is something I never would have predicted. 

Matt Manning going 7 strong, maybe. Jason Foley and Alex Lange being lights out, sure. But this very mediocre team overpowering a team that should still be a figure in the playoff race this year? That astounded me, and I'm kinda glad we can produce a baseball climate where something like that can happen. 

The Tigers have Manning back, and they now have Tarik Skubal back, and with Reese Olson joining them to back Rodriguez and Lorenzen, they have a relatively good rotation heading into the second half. This no-no may be a fluke, but they may get a little better now that we know what the pitching can do.

Foley Artist

 

...I'm sorry, I still don't get it.

Like, I get if you have a list, and you keep knocking off the guys at the top of the list because they're injured. Like 'Eduardo Rodriguez won't make the All-Star Game, he's injured...Riley Greene can't make the All-Star Game, he's injured'...and, like, you've gotta go far enough down the list to find someone relevant but not too far down to find someone who isn't playing well. 

And as I've figured out with many years of analyzing ASG ballots, different managers have different opinions on middle relievers. Ned Yost, when he'd manage the AL team, he'd put up like 4 or 5 middle relievers. People like Brad Brach, Darren O'Day, Kelvin Herrera and Chris Devenski were All-Stars because of Yost. Dellin Betances was like a 4-time All-Star because of Yost. Meanwhile, Dusty Baker only has 1 true middle reliever on this ASG team right now, and it's Yennier Cano, because Yennier Cano is THE middle-reliever of the moment. 

So to me, the logical choice for a Tigers ASG nominee was Jason Foley. On one hand, Foley is a middle reliever who nobody's heard of, didn't do much til this season and doesn't look the same as many of his contemporaries. Neither does Yennier Cano. Foley is one of the few things the Tigers can take away from their current season that isn't injured right now. In 37 innings, Foley has a 2.17 ERA, 33 Ks and only 9 earned runs. And it's not like AL managers haven't gone to the middle-relief well for the Tigers before. Most of the time, in the last few seasons, the Tigers will only get one ASG nod, and it will be a middle reliever. Joe Jimenez, Gregory Soto, Shane Greene even if he was closing games. For several years running, this has been the gig for the Tigers. So it's not unheard of.

Therefore I surmise that the reason Dusty Baker went with Michael Lorenzen over Jason Foley was out of a necessity to confuse the shit out of everyone in the league.

I have no problem with Lorenzen. He's a fun player with a lot of range that's been used in several roles for several different people. He was an excellent relief piece for the Reds, he proved he could start with the Angels last year, and so far in Detroit he's been one of the few healthy starting options remaining. But that can't be your only criteria. Not 'we wanted a Tigers starter but all the good ones were injured'. Lorenzen is doing fine this year, his ERA's 4.28 and he's 2-6, but 'fine' is basically all he's been. This isn't really befitting of an ASG nod to me. If Lorenzen was gonna make an ASG team, it honestly should have been as a member of the 2019 Reds. I'm glad he's getting this honor finally, as he's a great player, but it just seems a little short-sighted when better Tigers choices like Foley are right there.

I will give Dusty Baker credit. He's done this inexplicably while also still doing things I could have guessed he was gonna do, like slide Kyle Tucker into an open slot despite the fact that he's only alright this year. I think for the most part he knows what he's doing, but I've just accepted that there's some stuff I'm not gonna understand. I appreciate him putting up 2 more players from the city the game will be played in, that tends to help.

Coming Tonight: Was it really just a simple change of scenery that could bring this guy back?