Tigers Starting Rotation Grades Out Above Average After 2025 Season
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The Detroit Tigers' season came to a close on Friday after the Seattle Mariners won a dog fight of a winner-take-all elimination game that went 15 innings. They fought to the wire, but are now sitting at home. Now, the team will analyze their strengths and weaknesses so hopefully this time next year they are playing for the American League pennant.
The starting rotation was highlighted all year by last year's Cy Young Award winner, Tarik Skubal. Skubal along with Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize were the go-to guys all year for the Tigers with a few others sprinkled in here and there. While there was plenty of turnover in the final two spots in the rotation, the focus of this grade will be on the three pitchers that made nearly all of their turns in the rortation.
Overall Grade for Skubal, Flaherty, Mize: B+
Skubal: This was the third consecutive season that Skubal posted an ERA under 3.00 and it continues to go down each year. He finished the year with a 2.21 ERA (career-best) and 241 strikeouts (career-high). That makes back-to-back seasons with more than 225 strikeouts so it isn't surprising that he followed suit when the playoffs came around.
Skubal made three starts in October — one against the Cleveland Guardians and two against the Seattle Mariners. He was able to finish nearly 21 innings and struck out 36 batters by the end of the playoffs and 14 came in the opener against the Guardians which tied a franchise record.
Mize: The former No.1 pick is coming off the best season of his young career. He made three less starts than both Skubal and Flaherty, but had the most wins as he finished the season 14-6, one more win than Skubal. His 3.87 ERA complemented well with 139 strikeouts and he was Mr. Reliable in his pair of starts in the playoffs with only two earned runs.
Flaherty: The 29-year-old just finished his first full season with the Tigers and he finished the year 8-15 in 31 starts with a 4.64 ERA and 188 strikeouts (second-most on the team). Like Skubal he also made three appearances in the postseason, but didn't have a Skubal-like performance and his overall season dragged down the grade for the trio.
Flaherty was used in that 15-inning matchup and walked three Mariners in two innings of work. Both games he was used in against the Mariners, they lost. Prior to the final elimination game he was the starter in the 8-4 loss in Game 3. Despite striking out six, there were four runs scored in just over three innings. That was his M.O. all year — lots of strikeouts and lots of earned runs.
When you think about the Tigers, specifically the starting pitchers, you think Tarik Skubal. Grading Skubal alone he gets an A+. There is uncertainty surrounding his future with the Tigers as he will hit free agency after the '26 season, but signing him should be the team's biggest priority. Between him and Mize, the Tigers could have a pair of lethal pitchers.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.