Tigers Can Win World Series if These Three Players Take Huge Next Step
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The Detroit Tigers went into the offseason with fans hoping to see some major moves made in free agency in order to put themselves in the best spot possible next October after being eliminated in the same spot two straight years.
During what seemed like a quiet winter, Detroit made a massive splash by signing Framber Valdez to a three-year deal worth nine figures, and all of the sudden the excitement is back with spring training set to get started.
While signing Valdez was a tremendous move which most fans were all about, as is the case for every team in baseball, internal improvements will determine the ceiling. Here are three players who, whether they take the next step or not, could dictate this team's realistic championship chances.
Riley Greene, LF
Of all the Tigers' offensive players, Greene taking the next step might just be the most important one of all for this lineup to reach its full potential. Coming off a 5.4 bWAR 2024 season and his first All-Star appearance, the hope was that the 25-year-old was on the cusp of establishing himself as a superstar in 2025.
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It's hard to say he had a bad year with 36 home runs and 111 RBI, but he led the American League in strikeouts with 201 K's and went through multiple brutal slumps as he could not stop getting fanned, dropping his bWAR to 2.2 in 20 more games played than the year prior.
Scott Harris has been fairly clear that the team needs to cut down on the K's, and that conversation starts with Greene, because he has the ceiling of one of the best power hitters in baseball. If he can establish some more consistency, it could be the most significant improvement the lineup takes.
Colt Keith, INF
Keith is another player who certainly did not have a bad year, finally showing the early signs of a breakout while also being a critically versatile defensive piece by being willing to shift to third base when the team needed him.
He showed some serious flashes of a breakout and started displaying more power with contact and exit velocity rates that are extremely encouraging, so him putting it all together would be an absolutely massive development for the offense.
Players like Parker Meadows, Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry getting back to the best version of themselves are obvious, but Keith feels like someone who is knocking on the door of a great year. If he can do just that, the sky could be the limit for Detroit.
Jack Flaherty, RHP
Flaherty's 2025 return to the Tigers can be evaluated in a couple of different ways, but he did check the most important box in being the only other arm besides Tarik Skubal who was available for the entire year.
He would be the first to tell you, though, that the consistency from him that the team saw over the first half of 2024 just was not there, and it showed with a 4.64 ERA and American League-leading 15 credited losses.
With Valdez in the fold though, the pressure on Flaherty to be the team's defined No. 2 is gone, and if he can just focus on what has made him great in the past, it could lead to a huge year for him. Should the right-hander be able to do that, this rotation goes from having potential to be great to possibly being the undisputed best in all of baseball.
Flaherty's hopeful resurgence could be the X-factor for Detroit as a pitching staff.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.