One Incredible Stat Sums Up Tigers' Bizarre 2026 Season
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The 2026 season for the Detroit Tigers has been, in a word, bizarre. There is also a statistic that backs up that assertion.
With just three games left in the season, Detroit is sitting at 74-85 and 8.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central.
If you zoomed in on your view to just the Tigers’ run differential, it would be hard to convince anyone that the team is not preparing for the postseason. Yet, they certainly are not.
Detroit has scored 709 runs and allowed just 638, giving them a plus-71 run differential. That is easily the very best in the AL Central.
Cleveland entered Thursday at plus-2, and the Chicago White Sox were plus-44. That means the fourth-place Tigers have outscored their opponents by 27 more runs than any other team in their division.
Dig a little deeper and it gets stranger.
Based on the run differential stat, the Tigers’ expected record entering the week should be 85-71, yet the actual was 73-83.
In other words, the team has performed like an 85-win team but they have actually lost 83 games.
Tigers Couldn’t Convert Offense to Wins
The standings are not based on run differential, though.
Win. That’s what matters; finding ways to win.
And that, folks, is where things went terribly wrong for this team.
The Tigers could not find ways to close games. When the game was close, it was bad. They went 19-28 when games were decided by one run or went into extra innings.
So what was the problem? The bullpen must take some of the blame here.
Detroit has blown 32 saves this season. 32. That’s the second most only trailing the Washington Nationals.
Ranking near the bottom of the MLB, the Tigers only converted 49.2% of their save opportunities. Now, that’s not to say that the bullpen was bad from start to finish, that’s not true.
The Tigers’ overall pitching numbers actually look good. Entering the final week of the season, the team ERA was 3.65. The trouble was timing.
A team can produce a win with a 10-1 score and then lose the next two games 3-2 and 4-3. That produces a positive run differential but a losing record. That has been some of Detroit’s problem this year.
Tigers Have Major Issue to Fix Before 2027
This is not a roster that was completely overwhelmed all season.
Detroit outscored its opponents by more than 70 runs, and there are encouraging pieces to that stat, but there is also an obvious warning.
The Tigers have to find a way to win when its close and fixing the bullpen should be a top priority this offseason.
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Laura Lambert resides in Wiggins, Colo. with her husband, Ricky and two sons, Brayden and Boedy. She attended the University of Northern Colorado while studying economics. She is an accomplished rodeo athlete and barrel horse trainer along with being a life-long sports fan. Over the years, Laura has been active in journalism in a variety of roles. While continuing to cover western sports and country music, she is currently enjoying expanding her reach into multiple sports including MLB, NFL, and WNBA. Laura covers the Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Rodeo for On SI. You can reach her at lauralambertmedia@gmail.com