Detroit Tigers Not Caught Up in Outside Expectations

Getty Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal.

The Detroit Tigers haven’t had a winning season since 2016 or been to the postseason since 2014.

It has been a steep fall for a franchise that won four straight American League Central titles from 2011 to 2014. The Tigers also won the AL pennant in 2012 before being swept by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

The Tigers finally face some expectations this year, though. Many pundits expect them to contend in a less-than-fearsome division that the Minnesota Twins won with a lackluster 87-75 record last season.

Though the Tigers had a 78-84 record, they finished second in the AL Central, albeit nine games behind the Twins. Detroit also finished the season by winning 19 of its last 29 games.

“I think the expectation is to win every day,” Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal told Heavy Sports. “We’ve reached a point where we feel we compete with anyone.”

Detroit Tigers Had a Busy Offseason

The Tigers are the trendy pick in some circles to unseat the Twins following an offseason in which president of baseball operations Scott Harris made a series of moves that bolstered the roster.

Right-handers Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty were signed as free agents to add veteran presence to the rotation. Harris also used free agency to deepen the bullpen with left-hander Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller while infielder Gio Urshela was signed to play third base. Left fielder Mark Canha was acquired in a trade.

They join a group of homegrown players 27 or younger that includes Skubal, right-hander Casey Mize, first baseman Spencer Torkelson, second baseman Colt Keith, center fielder Parker Meadows and right fielder Riley Greene.

A.J. Hinch Focusing on the Present

A.J. Hinch, entering his fourth season as the Tigers’ manager, knows what it takes to win in the major leagues. He led the Houston Astros to three straight AL West championships from 2017-19 and a World Series victory in 2017 that was later stained by an electronic sign-stealing scandal.

Hinch has confidence that the Tigers are ready to contend. However, he also understands the importance of focusing on the present.

Taking it one game at a time might be one of the biggest cliches in sports, but Hinch adheres to it.

“Externally, I’ve gotten a lot more questions about our team,” Hinch said. “Internally, we’ve stayed very center-focused on the game at hand, the game that we are supposed to play that night. The series we are supposed to play. We don’t look and talk the way people probably want us to talk. We want to win as many games as can.

“We’ve always tried to win every game and I think that our players believe we can win at a higher rate is a good sign. But you won’t hear a lot of us talking about expectations. One, we haven’t earned the right. Two, we really need to expend our energy on [each] game and not some abstract number or theory of what could happen in a six-month season.”

Detroit Tigers Have Guarded Optimism

Skubal certainly subscribes to that theory. Though he admits optimism is at its highest since making his major-league debut with the Tigers in 2020, Skubal says he and his teammates are not getting carried away about the idea of winning the division or even contending.

“I don’t know if we need to start thinking about playoffs or anything like that, just focus on winning today’s game and when you do that, more often than not, you’ll have a good record and have a fun finish at the end of the year,” said Skubal, who was the Tigers’ Opening Day starter this season.

Through April 14, the Tigers were off to a 9-6 start, putting them in third place in the AL Central but just one game behind the Cleveland Guardians (10-5) and Kansas City Royals (10-6). Detroit played the Twins for the first time this season over the weekend and split a four-game home series at Comerica Park that ended on April 14.

“We had a slow April last season, but I thought after that we played some pretty competitive baseball the rest of the year,” Skubal said. “We just want to build off that. We’re off to a good start this year. I like where we’re at.”