Tigers Blowing Away Expectations with All-Out Roster Contribution

Heading into the 2025 MLB regular season, many people thought that the Detroit Tigers would compete for a playoff spot in the American League once again.

They hadn’t done much over the offseason to upgrade the roster, opting to keep mostly the same core with hopes of better injury luck and natural progression and development from their younger players helping push the team forward.

A lineup that lacked pop only had one Major League addition made in free agency, with Gleyber Torres signing a one-year, $15 million deal.

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Their starting rotation that needed depth behind 2024 AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal added Alex Cobb and brought back Jack Flaherty, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the deadline last year.

Veteran Tommy Kahnle was added to the bullpen as well.

No ground-breaking additions, which is part of the reason why the Tigers entered the season with a 46% chance of making the playoffs, as shared by The Athletic (subscription required).

However, what those preseason projections didn’t take into account was the emergence of some key contributors that no one could have seen coming.

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Javier Baez finally looks like the player Detroit thought they were getting when they signed him to a six-year, $140 million contract as a free agent ahead of the 2022 campaign.

He has performed so well, he was voted by the fans to be a starter for the AL All-Star Team.

Starting pitcher Casey Mize, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft who looked to have run out of chances with the Tigers in 2024, has been a reliable No. 2 behind Skubal, who remains as dominant as ever.

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First baseman Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, looked to no longer be part of the team’s plans either, with the addition of Torres pushing Colt Keith to first base.

But, Torkelson played well in spring training, forcing his way back into the mix and has not stopped providing a power boost to the lineup, hitting 20 home runs and 20 doubles with 56 RBI, all second best on the team behind Riley Greene, who has 22 home runs, 21 doubles and 72 RBI.

Detroit is receiving contributions from literally everyone on the roster, which has helped them have the best record in baseball at 58-34.

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“Sure, it helps to have a bona fide ace in Tarik Skubal pitching every fifth day, but the Tigers have seen massive contributions from up and down the roster all season. Take Sunday’s 7-2 victory over the Guardians, which saw Trey Sweeney, who had been optioned just a week prior and had never homered against a fastball in 356 plate appearances, do just that … homer against a fastball to help open the offensive floodgates against a division rival,” wrote Johnny Flores Jr. of The Athletic.

The Tigers’ success thus far has them as a near lock for the playoffs, with their new odds sitting at 99.6%.

Only the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers have a higher playoff percentage at 99.7%, as Detroit looks to be the cream of the crop in the AL and potentially all of baseball.

For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.