Team Awards for Detroit Tigers Through Successful First Month of Season

Here are the best and worst performers for the Detroit Tigers through the first month of the year.

Apr 26, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers first base Spencer Torkelson (20) hits a double to left field and drives in two runs in the seventh inning during game two of a double header against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park. | David Reginek-Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers are off to a great start with a 19-12 record through the first month of the season.

Expectations coming into the year were much different than in previous campaigns for the Tigers after the shocking success in the second half of last season.

Now, Detroit is living up to the hype that they can be a contender in the American League with one of the best records in baseball early on.

While it’s early, the Tigers are showing signs of improvement both on offense and especially from their starting rotation.

A well-balanced Detroit team might not be perfect, but they are very good so far.

With the first month of the campaign in the books, here are some of the team awards for the Tigers so far.

Not Cy Young

Picking a not Cy Young was tricky for a team that has received some excellent production from both the starting rotation and the bullpen. However, perhaps the worst pitcher for them in the month was starter Keider Montero.

The 24-year-old made three starts for Detroit and totaled a 5.93 ERA before being sent down to the minors. While his production wasn’t great, he also doesn’t figure to be in the rotation plans much in 2025, which is a testament to the depth of the unit.

Cy Young

This was a tough choice between Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, but the reigning AL Cy Young will get the nod. So far this year, Skubal has totaled a 3-2 record, 2.43 ERA and 40 strikeouts. Even though the southpaw got off to a bit of a slow start by his standards, he put together a strong month.

Furthermore, credit also has to go to Mize, who has the best ERA in the rotation at 2.12 in five starts.

Least Valuable Player

While Trey Sweeney plays a good shortstop for the Tigers, the franchise is going to need him to start helping at the plate sooner rather than later. So far, he has slashed .198/.298/.275 with one home run and eight RBI.

With Javier Baez playing well in center field, it will be interesting to monitor if they end up moving him back to shortstop more full-time once they get a bit healthier.

Most Valuable Player

The start to the year for Spencer Torkelson has been exactly what the Tigers needed. Coming into the season, there was a lot of concern about whether or not the team had enough pop from the right side of the dish.

Even though Torkelson was essentially written off by the franchise, he had a great spring and has filled that need for the franchise. So far, he has slashed .241/.359/.537 with eight home runs and 24 RBI.

Shockingly it is Torkelson who leads the team in both home runs and RBI, which isn’t something anyone would have guessed a couple of months ago.