Justin Verlander Joins Elite Group of Detroit Tigers
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Around since 1901, the Detroit Tigers are one of the oldest and most decorated franchises in baseball history. Despite Miguel Cabrera and Tarik Skubal being the most recent stars, the top of the Tigers' bWAR list is populated by players who played before 1970.
From Ty Cobb and Charlie Gehringer to Hank Greenberg and Al Kaline, the best Tigers' players were around before color television. The same goes for their historically good pitchers, save for Justin Verlander.
That is the result of being around for so long, but it also means that a lot of Detroit's stars are high up in the record books. With a current Hall of Famer at the top of the list and another future Hall of Famer on it, the Tigers top starters by bWAR played all across baseball history.
1. Hal Newhouser, 58.8 bWAR
Newhouser, a Hall of Famer, is one of the most decorated and accomplished players in Detroit Tigers history. A 15 year career with the team, he made six All-Star teams, won the 1945 World Series, a Triple Crown and two MVP awards.
Newhouser appeared in one game in 1939 as an 18-year-old, but his earnest debut was in 1940, when he threw 133.1 innings with a 4.38 ERA. He was essentially the same pitcher the following season and the became the pitcher of legend as a 21-year-old in 1942.
He made his first All-Star team that year while accumulating 4.1 bWAR and a 2.45 ERA in 183.2 innings. He made an All-Star team the following season despite regressing to 1.5 bWAR, but began his peak in 1944.
The left-hander won his first MVP as a 23-year-old, winning a league-best 29 games and striking out 187 batters. He had a 2.22 ERA and threw 312.1 innings that season. Even though he won an MVP, he got even better over the next two seasons.
In 1945, he had a career year, winning the Triple Crown with 25 wins, a 1.81 ERA, 212 strikeouts and league bests in innings (313.1) and bWAR (11.3). His second MVP was followed up by an MVP runner-up with 9.7 bWAR and a career high 275 strikeouts.
Newhouser led the league in bWAR the next two seasons as well. From 1944-1948, Newhouser led all of baseball with a 2.35 ERA, 1,475.2 innings and 118 wins. In an era with plenty of Hall of Famers, Newhouser stood out above the rest.
2. Justin Verlander, 56.6 bWAR
Verlander, still an active player looking to pitch at 43 years old in his 21st year, is a future Hall of Fame pitcher and gives Newhouser a run for his money for best pitcher in franchise history. Over his 13-year career, he put himself all over the franchise's leaderboards.
The right-hander took the league by storm, winning Rookie of the Year and making the All-Star team in his first two seasons while accumulating 8.2 bWAR over that stretch. After a down year in 2008, Verlander came back in 2009 and began his decade-long stretch of dominance.
He made the All-Star team in five straight seasons beginning in 2009, throwing over 220 innings in each year. He led the league in strikeouts in three of the five years, as well.
In 2011, he became the third pitcher in Tigers' history to win the MVP. He threw a career high 251 innings and had an 8.6 bWAR, also a career high. The right-hander won the Triple Crown, leading the league with 24 wins, a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts. He won the MVP and Cy Young that season.
Verlander then followed that season with an 8.1 bWAR and 2.64 ERA and league best 239 strikeouts. During his time with Detroit, Verlander led the league in strikeouts four times.
From 2009-2012, Verlander was second in the league in innings with 953.2, third in ERA with a mark of 2.93, and a league best 977.
He finished his Tigers career second in strikeouts (2,373), eighth in innings (2,511) and ERA+ (123).
3. Tommy Bridges, 51.6 bWAR
While Bridges didn't have as accomplished or decorated of a career as the prior two pitchers, he had a nice career in his own right. His career began as a 23-year-old in 1930 and he stayed with the team for 16 seasons, despite missing all of 1944 for military service.
His first great season came in 1932, in his third season, when he posted a 3.36 ERA and 4.5 bWAR in more than 200 innings for the first time in his career. He threw over 200 from 1932 until 1937.
In that same stretch, he had at least 3.1 bWAR in each season, including his two best with 5.4 in 1937 and 6.4 in 1936. The latter season saw a career high 23 wins and 175 strikeouts for Bridges. He made four straight All-Star games in the final four years.
Despite that being the peak of his career, Bridges was still a great pitcher for another six seasons. He was named to two more All-Star teams in 1939 and 1940 and had 9.8 bWAR during those two years. After missing 1944 for the war, he was never quite the same in his final two seasons.
Bridges has the sixth most innings in franchise history, as well as the fifth most strikeouts and third most wins.
4. Mickey Lolich, 46.7 bWAR
Lolich was a staple in the Tigers' rotation for 13 years from 1963 to 1975 and was a workhorse the entire time. As a rookie, he threw 144.1 innings and posted a 3.55 ERA and was essentially the solid, 3.00 ERA pitcher for the rest of his career in Detroit.
From his second season in 1964 until his final season in Detroit in 1975, Lolich threw at least 200 innings every season and even led the league in 1971 with 376.
The best stretch of his career began in 1969 until 1973, a time in which he made three All-Star teams and had two top-three Cy Young finishes. He had at least 4.5 bWAR each season, and in his two Cy Young-worthy seasons, he had 8.5 and 7.4, respectively.
1971 was his best season, with a career high in BWAR, wins (25), innings (376), and strikeouts (308). He led the league in each category as well and finished second in Cy Young and fifth in MVP voting. The following season, he had a career-best 2.50 ERA in 327.1 innings.
Lolich didn't win any awards and had a shorter career with the team than Bridges, but ultimately still deserves his flowers as one of the best pitchers in franchise history. He's third in wins (207), first in strikeouts (2,679), third in innings (3,361.2) and games started (459).
5. Dizzy Trout, 44.3 bWAR
Trout was a teammate of Bridges and was a member of the rotation that won the 1945 World Series. During his 14-year career in Detroit, he made two All-Star teams and even finished as an MVP runner-up one season.
While he had a couple of great seasons, Trout didn't have the high floor of the other pitchers. Although he was very good in his own right, he was closer to a sub-3.0 bWAR pitcher for the majority of his career.
His best season came in 1944, when he led the league with a 9.3 bWAR, 2.12 ERA and 352.1 innings. That year, he was the runner-up in MVP voting. Two years later, in 1946, he had a 2.34 ERA and 7.6 bWAR.
In 10 of Trout's 14 years as a Tiger, he had at least 2.0 bWAR. Although he wasn't up to the level of the Hall of Fame level pitchers ahead of him, Trout was still seventh in franchise history in innings (2,591.2), ninth in strikeouts (1,199) and eighth in wins (161).
