When it came to the Detroit Tigers, seeing was disbelieving — at least in the eyes of the oddsmakers and sports bettors.
Detroit’s stunning rally to grab an American League wild-card spot and then eliminate Houston in the playoffs last year seemed like a mirage.
A typical All-Star player made more than the combined salaries of the Tigers’ entire playoff roster. In the games that Tarik Skubal didn’t start, manager A.J. Hinch pieced together bullpen games like someone trying to restore a broken vase with superglue. Their lineup, with the possible exception of outfielder Riley Greene, scared no one.
There was plenty of skepticism that the Tigers’ smoke-and-mirrors approach could work for a full season. Entering this season’s opener, the Tigers had the ninth-best odds of winning the American League pennant.
Perceptions have changed quickly during the first seven weeks of the season. The Tigers have the best record in baseball — and there’s nothing fluky about it.
Hinch continues to pull all kinds of levers, but it no longer involves patching together a rotation. Skubal, the AL’s reigning Cy Young Award winner, continues to fire 100 mph bullets and filthy changeups among other dazzling pitches.
He’s not just a one-man show anymore. The Tigers have built a stable, reliable staff.
They re-signed Jack Flaherty after dealing him to Los Angeles for two prospects at last year’s trade deadline. Highly touted rookie Jackson Jobe, Casey Mize and Reese Olson round out a formidable rotation. Free-agent acquisition Alex Cobb will eventually join that group once he recovers from a hip injury.
Mize, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, had to earn his way onto the roster — let alone the starting five — during spring training. He missed most of two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and was generally ineffective after returning last season. He’s won six of his first seven starts.
Spencer Torkelson, the top pick in the 2020 draft, was also at a career crossroads heading into the offseason. He languished in the minors for a chunk of last season rebuilding his swing. When the team signed second baseman Gleyber Torres in December, the organization also announced its intention of moving Colt Keith to first base — Torkelson’s position.
Torkelson earned his way onto the roster with a scorching spring and hasn’t stopped hitting home runs. Yet he isn’t even the biggest comeback story on the team.
That distinction belongs to Javier Báez, who had been nothing short of a bust the past three seasons after signing a six-year contract. Báez was on the injured list during much of the Tigers’ late-season rally and underwent offseason hip surgery. Many people figured the organization would eventually have to cut Báez loose and eat the remainder of his contract.
Instead of ending up on the scrap heap, the longtime shortstop wound up in center field. With Parker Meadows sidelined by an arm injury, the Tigers took the unconventional path of giving Báez a shot to play the most important outfield spot. He’s been nothing short of stellar in his new, if temporary, position.
The hip surgery has also unlocked Báez’s free-swinging bat. He hit a pair of three-run homers in the same game this past week, including an extra-inning walk-off blast.
Besides Greene and perhaps Torres, there are no true fixtures in the lineup. Instead, Hinch has masterfully mixed and matched his right-handed and left-handed hitters. The platooning and pinch-hitting options will only grow when Meadows and versatile Matt Vierling complete their injury rehabs.
The lineup could use a power right-handed hitter, and the bullpen lacks an elite closer. No matter. These Tigers are no longer cute and cuddly.
They look positively ferocious — and odds are, they’re not going to change their stripes.
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