Are Tigers Not Receiving Proper Respect as World Series Contender?

 It has been a fantastic start to the season for the Detroit Tigers, who might be the team to beat in the American League.

After a great run in the second half of last year and into the playoffs, the outlook completely changed for the Tigers heading into 2025.

This was a team that seemingly came out of nowhere last year. At the trade deadline, Detroit were sellers, moving key players like Jack Flaherty, who went on to help the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series.

With hindsight always being 20/20, the Tigers might have been able to win the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians had they elected to hold on to the talented right-hander.

While Detroit might have been ultimately been eliminated by the Guardians, they proved that they were a team to be reckoned with. However, despite a nice offseason, the Tigers haven’t seemed to quite get the recognition that they deserve just yet.

Detroit has one of the best records in baseball but still doesn’t have everyone convinced.

Are Tigers Team To Beat In American League?

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about some reluctance to believe that the Tigers are as good as their record indicates so far this season.

“But between this success coming as a bit of a surprise and the fact that the Tigers haven't won a World Series since 1984, there has been a serious reluctance to believe/accept that this might be the best team in baseball," he wrote.

Due to a long stretch of ineffectiveness, it is easy to be pessimistic about Detroit. However, this is a group that had success last year and is arguably much better on paper than in 2024.

While the postseason run was an impressive one by the Tigers last campaign, they had to have some things go right for them and their manager A.J. Hinch really did an excellent job getting the most out of the roster.

This season, Detroit has one of the best starting rotations in baseball led by Tarik Skubal. Furthermore, the depth of the unit is far better than last year with some of the young arms developing.

In addition to the rotation being strong, the bullpen has also been excellent for the Tigers.

If there is one area that could still cause some concern it is the lineup. This is a unit that has done extremely well, but they have also received some shocking performances from players that didn’t even project to make the team in 2025.

Overall, with talent all over the place, Detroit deserves the respect as one of the best teams in baseball and a true contender.