Five Reasons the Tigers Have Been One of the Worst Teams in Baseball

Widespread injuries and weak production have turned a promising year into a nightmare.

Justin Verlander's return to Detroit has been marred by an injury, a common problem for a team that's plummeted to the basement of the AL Central. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Tigers authored a storybook run to the 2024 postseason. They survived a complete meltdown down the stretch in '25 and came within a single clutch hit of playing in the American League Championship Series. After much consideration they kept Tarik Skubal, potentially the best pitcher in baseball, in order to go all-in this year.

And it has been an utter disaster.

Detroit was once again entirely non-competitive in an 8-2 loss to the AL Central-leading Guardians on Monday night at Comerica Park. Framber Valdez, the big free agent arm brought in to provide a nasty 1-2 southpaw punch with Skubal, was ineffective and saw his ERA balloon to 4.58. Riley Greene, one of the better hitters in the American League, had two hits including an RBI double but no other player in a Quadruple A-ish lineup produced much. Less than 19,000 fans had to make a decision about sticking through a brief weather delay to view the home team's ninth loss in 11 games.

The Tigers are George Constanza right now, thinking they were embarking on a hedonistic Summer of George, only to slip on a wedding invitation and crash down the stairs into a full body cast. Actually, that's not entirely hyperbole considering just how many players have been bitten by the injury bug.

Here are five reasons the Tigers find themselves in a deep hole at 20-28, the third worst record in Major League Baseball.

Everyone is injured

This isn't so much an excuse as it is a reality. Skubal is the highest-profile of the health concerns but Detroit was already in serious trouble before loose bodies floated into his elbow. Javy Baez, Kerry Carpenter, Zack McKinstry, Gleyber Torres, Trey Sweeney and Parker Meadows have all spent time away from the lineup. The pitchers' room is a MASH unit with starters Justin Verlander and Reese Olsen still out. They've been joined by relievers Beau Breiske and Will Vest, as well as Ty Madden, who promptly got hurt after being called up from Triple-A. Young budding stars Jackson Jobe and Troy Melton have also not been healthy enough to serve as options. It's bleak.

Too many easy outs in the lineup

As mentioned, Greene is having the best season of his career. Kevin McGonigle looks like everything that was promised and more. Dillon Dingler has been productive as he takes another leap. Outside of those guys, though, is pretty bad. Wenceel Perez is slashing .162/.212/.467. Zach McKinstry, an All-Star last season, is at .173/.239/.247. Jake Rogers, Jahmai Jones and Hao-Yu Lee are all below .582 in the OPS department. Again, there are a lot of at-bats being given to less-than-ideal options right now out of necessity, but it's not as though a single person has taken the opportunity and run with it.

Not enough arms

Even before Skubal, there was a real problem. The fan-approved signing of Verlander quickly morphed into a stint on the IL. Casey Mize, a true bright spot, just returned from his own sidelining. The Jack Flaherty return has been brutal, as he is now 0-5 with a 5.77 ERA. A patchwork quilt of a rotation has had all kinds of holes. Pair that with relatively pedestrian showings from bullpen stalwarts Tyler Holton and Vest and yeah, one can see how things have gone off the rails.

Young talent behind schedule

Colt Kieth is having a strong year fueled by a .293 batting average. Yet he hasn't homered the entire year and has six RBIs in 43 games. Spencer Torkelson, already sent down to the minors once in his career, is carrying a .191 average with 61 strikeouts. Meadows, though injured, hasn't matured into the player the organization thought he could be and Carpenter has taken a step back from solid production last season.

Human nature

There is bad luck and then there's what's happened to Detroit out of the gates this year. Manager A.J. Hinch has an established résumé and seems like the right guy for the job but there really are no easy answers for him to pass along. High expectations mean that everyone is freaking out about what's shaping up to be a tremendous missed opportunity. It gets harder and harder to see the bright side after each loss. It's not time to panic quite yet, but it might not be time to remain chill either.

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