Detroit Tigers Need Ace To Have Another Cy Young Season To Replicate Success

Do the Detroit Tigers need their ace to have another amazing year in order to be successful?

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws at batting practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the start of the regular season coming up for the Detroit Tigers, expectations will be high for the franchise.

After an amazing year in 2024, the Tigers will be heading into a new campaign where making the postseason is a realistic goal for the first time in a long time.

Last year, Detroit shocked the league with an amazing six-week stretch where they became one of the hottest teams in baseball and snuck their way into the postseason.

In the playoffs, they were able to defeat the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card round, and came just one win shy of making the American League Championship Series.

It was an incredible close to the campaign for the Tigers, but their route there was unconventional.

Detroit pieced together their pitching plan in games when their ace wasn't on the mound, relying heavily on their bullpen to get them through a matchup.

Due to the offense being lackluster at times, there wasn’t much room for error.

As the franchise prepares for the 2025 season, they will once again be relying on their pitching staff and their ace to be great.

Jeff Passan of ESPN (subscription required) stated the most important thing for Detroit to replicate the success they had last year is for Tarik Skubal to have another Cy Young-caliber performance.

“With Detroit whiffing on its pursuit of Alex Bregman, the offense will remain a matchup-oriented play for manager AJ Hinch and the lion's share of the team's success will fall on a pitching staff Skubal is ready to lead.”

Much of the attention and improvements went to the pitching staff this winter.

The signings of Jack Flaherty, Tommy Kahnle and Alex Cobb have provided talent and depth for both the relief staff and starting rotation.

While the bullpen was strong last year, the rotation was shaky when Skubal wasn't on the bump down the stretch. That has certainly been fixed this coming season due to the reunion with Flaherty.

But, the only notable upgrade to the offense was signing Gleyber Torres to a one-year deal.

While he is a fine, player, he doesn’t move the needle as much as they needed.

Due to the offense still being a bit of a question mark, especially now with injuries in the outfield, the margin for error again is going to be slim.

Fortunately, even if Skubal does see a little regression after winning the triple crown last year, they have some talent behind him in the rotation they should be able to lean on.