By George B. Eichorn
Don’t look now but the Detroit Tigers have a stranglehold on the American League Central. A 57-34 start by the Bengals is good enough for a 13-1/2 game lead.
What started as a surprise wild card playoffs contender last August when Detroit surged past the Minnesota Twins to gain a wild card playoff spot – for the first time in 10 seasons – has led to a division race in 2025 that has not materialized.
“Go Get ‘Em Tigers” and “Sock It To ‘Em Tigers” in 1968 and “Bless You Boys” in 1984 marked the last two World Series championships in the Motor City. Now someone needs to create a new slogan for the Tigers- of 2025 with sights firmly fixed on ending Detroit’s 41 season championship drought; one of the longest in baseball.
Led by manager A.J. Hinch, the club has proven that timely hitting, superb starting pitching and a usually reliable bullpen can do wonders. Hinch and his coaching staff are aided by analytics hires under club president of baseball operations Scott Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg. Pitchers are in sync with when and what to pitch while Tigers batters capitalize on the opposition using tons of information by the numbers geeks.
It has resulted in a club running away with the AL Central in a season which was – on paper – supposed to be a war with defending division champs Cleveland Guardians, last year’s second-place Kansas City Royals and the Twins battling it out with the Tigers.
The reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal picked up where he ended as the AL Pitching Triple Crown winner. The 28-year-old crafty left-hander owns a 10-2 record with an ERA of 2.02 in 116 innings. He leads the league with 148 strikeouts and was selected to his second consecutive Al Star Game and is a possible AL starting pitcher on July 15 in Atlanta.
The Tigers started the season with Casey Mize (9-2 and 2.63 ERA), Jack Flaherty (5-9, 4.84), Reese Olson (4-3, 2.89) and Jackson Jobe (4-1, 4.22) in their starting rotation. Olson is back from a rehab stint in Toledo, Detroit’s AAA affiliate, yet Jobe is done for the season following Tommy John surgery. Clearly Harris and Greenberg need to find one new starter and maybe two more relievers. A solid third baseman would also be nice.
MLB’s All-Star is finally returning to Atlanta with the Braves as host. Besides Skubal, outfielders Riley Greene and Javier Baez and second baseman Gleyber Torres are A.L. starters after fan voting. First baseman Spencer Torkelson, catcher Dillon Dingler and relief pitchers Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest also received All-Star support but missed being picked.
Greene, an All-Star for the first time in his career last season, was second among all outfielders and Baez third. They are just the fifth and sixth Detroit outfielders to earn a fan-elected starting assignment at the Midsummer Classic, and the first since Magglio Ordoñez in 2007. Others are Ron LeFlore (1976), Rusty Staub (1976) and Chet Lemon (1984).
All-star nods are nice yet all eyes should remain on the chase to a division title. Attendance is up at Comerica Park as fans enjoy a winning team and warm temps downtown at Comerica Park. “The Beasts of the Central” has a nice ring to it. What do you think?
Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com or @Sandgsports99 on X/Twitter. His book is available at amazon.com: Detroit’s Sports Broadcasters: On the Air:
