Detroit Tigers Starting Pitchers Pull Off Feat Not Seen in Over 40 Years
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The Detroit Tigers have dominated in their 2025 campaign, and their 19-12 start that leads the American League is their best in franchise history.
As Detroit closes out the first month of the season with a 7-4 win over the Houston Astros, they enter May with one of the strongest pitching staffs in the nation headlined by ace Tarik Skubal.
The entire pitching staff ranks No. 4 in the MLB with a 3.17 ERA, but the starters combined for a historical feat.
The Tigers' starting pitchers posted a 2.80 ERA in April, marking the team’s best in the first month since combining for a 2.45 ERA in 1984.
Tigers starting pitchers combined to post a 2.80 ERA in April, the team's best mark in the month since 1984 (2.45 ERA). pic.twitter.com/twQHaaoRnK
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) May 1, 2025
Skubal leads the rotation with an ERA of 2.34 in 34.2 innings pitched that ranks No. 14 among starting pitchers in the league, and his 40 strikeouts that lead the team are No. 16.
Skubal recently joined an elusive group of now-three starting pitchers for Detroit, as he became the third in franchise history to have an outing with zero runs allowed, zero walks, and 11 or more strikeouts in the 7-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on April 27.
The lefty allowed four hits, no runs, and no walks in six innings pitched while striking out 11 in his third victory of the season.
It comes on the heels of his Triple Crown campaign in 2024 that culminated in his first-ever Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote.
Skubal remains one of two starters with a sub-3.00 ERA, joined by righty Casey Mize with a 2.21 ERA through 29.2 innings.
Mize’s 4-1 record marks the most wins he’s posted since he went 7-9 in 2021 and illustrates the potential the franchise saw in him when they selected him No. 1 overall in the 2018 MLB draft.
Midway through April, Detroit was the only team in the MLB with four starters in that metric, adding righty Jack Flaherty and top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe to that list.
Jobe still has an impressive 3.38 ERA in 24 innings with 18 strikeouts, marking a tremendous campaign for the rookie in five starts through April. Flaherty carries a 3.34 ERA across 32.1 innings with 38 strikeouts, ranking him No. 24 in the league.
With the inclusion of righty Reese Olson, who has posted a 3.55 ERA in 33 innings, the Tigers' starting rotation has an ERA under 4.00 entering May.
The performance by the starting staff has taken pressure off the bullpen, but they've quietly posted a fourth-best 2.74 ERA as the relievers gel with the starting rotation to continue a stellar campaign.
Maddy Hudak is the deputy editor for Tulane on Sports Illustrated and the radio sideline reporter for their football team. Maddy is an alumnus of Tulane University, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She went on to obtain a Master of Legal Studies while working as a research coordinator at the VA Hospital, and in jury consulting. During this time, Maddy began covering the New Orleans Saints with SB Nation, and USA Today. She moved to New Orleans in 2021 to pursue a career in sports and became Tulane's sideline reporter that season. She enters her fourth year with the team now covering the program on Sports Illustrated, and will use insights from features and interviews in the live radio broadcast. You can follow her on X at @MaddyHudak_94, or if you have any questions or comments, she can be reached via email at maddy.hudak1@gmail.com