DETROIT – I’ll be honest: I’m not entirely sure what we’re going to get from this edition of the Detroit Tigers.
I know many of you (like me) will spend the next six months watching damn near all 162 games. And I also know that all of you (like me) are sick and tired of 140 of those games being meaningless.
It’s been a long time since the Tigers blessed the city of Detroit with competitive baseball. Their last playoff appearance was a decade ago, and their last winning season came in 2016.
Is this a perfect team? Absolutely not. I don’t really think there’s an avenue to 90 wins. But the Tigers do have two things that they haven’t in a long, long time: hope and a vision.
Many Tigers fans -- especially the old-schoolers -- are probably frustrated with Scott Harris’ offseason. Would I like to see Matt Chapman starting at third base or J.D. Martinez in the mix at designated hitter? Of course. But that’s not how this organization is going to operate.
The sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you can start enjoying what Harris has done.
In his introductory press conference, there were two prominent themes. One, Harris wants his pitchers to throw strikes and his hitters to swing at strikes. And two, he wants Detroit to be a place where players come and improve.
You can already see Part 1 of that plan coming into focus. Harris is stuck with Javier Baez, but the rest of the lineup is filling up with players who can get on base. Mark Canha is an obvious example, but you can also add Colt Keith, Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and others to that mix.
In terms of player development, no team was more impressive than the Tigers this spring. It doesn’t really matter that they went 20-9 in Grapefruit League play (although it did make them more fun to watch). But it does matter that Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Matt Manning, and Casey Mize are all throwing much harder and mixing in new, effective pitches.
Look at division rival Cleveland, an organization that always seems to churn out productive starting pitchers. That’s where the Tigers want to be, and you can already see the early fruits of that labor.
Three years ago, the Tigers were basically a Triple-A team playing an MLB schedule. Guys like Niko Goodrum, Harold Castro, and Victor Reyes were everyday players. Akil Baddoo got 450 plate appearances even though he was a 22-year-old who hadn’t spent time above Single-A.
Now Baddoo is in the middle of his prime and he can’t even make the roster. That’s how much the depth of this organization has improved.
The Tigers demoted MLB-caliber pitchers and position players to the minor leagues. Baddoo, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Ryan Kreidler will begin the season in Toledo, as will Manning, Beau Brieske, and (when healthy) Sawyer Gipson-Long.
If you don’t think that matters, you must not have watched the Tigers last year, when they used more than 50 players due to injuries.
It’s been so freaking long since the Tigers were interesting from a competitive standpoint, and right now, in this moment, it really feels like that’s a possibility. The AL Central is ripe for the taking, and the Tigers have 26 MLB-worthy players who look ready to compete for it.
They have a legitimate ace in Skubal. They have elite defense at key positions. They have hitters at almost every lineup position who are capable of delivering league average or better results.
Last season, the Tigers finished in second place and went 35-17 against their division rivals. They went 9-4 against Cleveland and 8-5 against Minnesota -- their two primary roadblocks this year.
Personally, I’m not quite ready to pick the Tigers to win the Central. But this is the first time in ages that I wouldn’t be surprised.
The Tigers have a young roster full of players with exciting upside. That creates high variance, but it also makes them way more fun than they’ve been for the better part of a decade.
Nothing beats the start of baseball season, especially when your team has a taste of real hope. That’s how I’m choosing to approach this Opening Day, and I think you should, too.