Gleyber Torres Proving Doubters Wrong With Strong Start to Detroit Tigers Tenure

The Detroit Tigers were questioned to no end about their signing of Gleyber Torres over the offseason, and to this point, it has worked well for all involved.

Apr 26, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers second base Gleyber Torres (25) walks around in the dugout before the game against the Baltimore Orioles during game one of a double header at Comerica Park. | David Reginek-Imagn Images

Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Detroit Tigers shocked the world when they forced their way into the playoffs in 2024.

Taking the third American League Wild Card spot, they then took it a step even farther by sweeping the dynastic Houston Astros before falling in five games to the Cleveland Guardians.

After an exciting season that saw the team reach a level of success they have not experienced for the better part of the last decade, the front office didn't do much this past offseason.

Their biggest signings were pitcher Alex Cobb and infielder Gleyber Torres, two aging veterans who not many expected to do anything of note for the club.

While that does remain the case for Cobb, who has yet to make his debut with the Tigers due to injury, that has been far from the case for Torres, who suffered an injury of his own early in the year but has been nothing short of outstanding ever since.

Through his first 18 games with Detroit, Torres, has batted .292/.350/.444 with three home runs, 14 RBI and a 128 OPS+ across 80 plate appearances.

His OPS+ ranks third on the team behind Zach McKinstry (162) and Spencer Torkelson (157).

Should that number hold for the rest of the year, or even improve, it would mark Torres's best season since 2019 with the New York Yankees, his sophomore campaign. That year saw the infielder bat .278/.337/.535 with 38 home runs, 90 RBI and a 128 OPS+ across 604 plate appearances in 144 games.

The rest of his tenure with the Yankees would not go as well.

From 2020 through 2024, Torres batted only .261/.332/.411 with 76 home runs, 274 RBI and a 107 OPS+ across 2,585 plate appearances in 621 games.

The Tigers and manager A.J. Hinch saw something in the veteran, however, and it was more than enough to give the infielder a one-year, $15 million deal to try and help the club return to the postseason.

To this point, Torres has delivered.

Detroit is tied with Torres's former team for the best record in the American League at 18-12, and the veteran has been a major part of that success.

If he can continue to produce at this level across the whole campaign, the Tigers could shock the world and return to the postseason for the second time in as many years.