The Detroit Tigers will start their season in 16 days when they take on the Chicago White Sox at 4:10 in Chicago, their home opener is April 5th against the Oakland A’s. The Tigers made some additions as well as lost some solid players here’s what they did
Additions:
- OF Mark Canha acquired via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers
- RHP Jack Flaherty signed a one-year contract
- RHP Kenta Maeda signed a two-year contract
- RHP Andrew Chafin signed a one-year contract
- RHP Shelby Miller signed a one-year contract
- 3B Gio Urshela signed a one-year contract
Subtractions:
- DH Miguel Cabrera Retired
- RHP Matthew Boyd still a free agent
- RHP Jose Cisnero signed with Los Angeles Angels
- LHP Eduardo Rodriguez signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks
- INF Nick Maton purchased by Baltimore Orioles
- INF/OF Tyler Nevin purchased by Baltimore Orioles
- RHP Spencer Turnbull signed with the Philadelphia Phillies
The Detroit Tigers finished last season 78-84 and nine games back of the Minnesota Twins for first place in the Central; they also finished 11 games back of the final Wild Card spot, so why is this the season they win the American League Central for the first time since 2014.
Why the Tigers will win the American League Central
Pitching
The Tigers have the most pitching depth in the American League Central having ten arms who could start, Tarik Skubal will take the ball on Opening Day and has a chance to win the American League Cy Young in 2024, he will likely be backed by Jack Flaherty, Kenta Maeda, Matt Manning, and Reese Olson. With that, it means Joey Wentz, Casey Mize, Wilmer Flores, Sawyer Gipson-Long, and Alex Faedo who either be in the bullpen or in Triple-A. It’s a nice problem to have arms that could be in the rotation with the history of injuries as of last the Tigers have had to go through.
The rest of the Central doesn’t have the pitching the Tigers do, in fact aside from the Royals who added Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha the other three teams have not made their rotation better from last season. The Twins who won the division lost Maeda from their rotation as he joined the Tigers, the White Sox added Erick Fedde, Michael Soroka, and Chris Flexen this offseason, decent arms but not eye-popping to take out the Tigers. The Guardians didn’t add any arms to their rotation but do have some decent arms that are all homegrown from within their system.
Overall, the Tigers have the best starting rotation in the division even if they sustain an injury. As for the bullpen with the surplus of arms, the Tigers have it will allow them more depth and gives them one of the best bullpens in the division, however, the one issue they currently have is who will be the closer in 2024 Alex Lange held the job last season but right now there is a competition between Lange and four other arms in Jason Foley, Shelby Miller, Andrew Chafin, and Will Vest.
Hitting
The Tigers lineup seems much more put together entering 2024 the first six spots should excite fans with the expectation of the lineup being Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter, Mark Canha, and Colt Keith. The only other team in the division who can matchup with the Tigers top six is the Twins who will trot out a lineup of Edouard Julien, Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa, Max Kepler, and Carlos Santana. The Royals have some question marks in their lineup, the White Sox made some additions but they are all bottom-of-the-order bats, the Guardians only new addition will be a rookie first baseman Kyle Manzardo otherwise their lineup is similar to 2023, and the Royals only addition is Hunter Renfore, they very well could surprise but on paper none of the team’s lineups has the potential the Tigers do and can put up the numbers the Tigers lineup can put up.
Schedule
The Tigers finished 35-17 against the Central and even finished 8-5 against the Twins, this Tigers team is much better, and they will face their division 13 times each and they will have 13 games against them in the first month of the season. The Tigers team is much better than last year’s team and like mentioned above the pitching is better the one thing they need to fix from last year is to play better against the American League East which ultimately hurt them all of 2023 when they went 7-25 if they can turn those 32 games to .500 baseball they will win the division in 2024 and return to the playoffs.
