The Detroit Tigers look like a team that is ready to cement their status as playoff contenders in the American League, ascending toward being legitimate World Series contenders.
Coming into the season, the biggest question mark for the team was their offense.
In 2024, consistently generating runs was a struggle for the team. Their unprecedented stretch over the summer was mostly due to their elite pitching performance.
But, out of the gates in 2025, the team is getting contributions from up and down their roster, both at the plate and on the mound.
There are several players who would be in the running as the team’s MVP in the early going. Leading the way could be left fielder Riley Greene, whom some analysts believed could contend for the American League MVP Award at the end of the season.
Former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson looks to have figured things out as the team’s most productive hitter over the first 14 games of the year. He had a .314/.419/.647 slash line with four home runs, five doubles and 10 RBI entering Sunday; all three stats are currently pacing the team.
Some would pick Kerry Carpenter, who when healthy, is the biggest power threat on the team.
Half of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases this season, and he has recorded nine RBI, making a dynamic trio with Greene and Torkelson.
However, it isn’t a positional player who is going to be the team’s MVP in 2025 in the opinion of Tim Kelly of Blecher Report. The MLB writer believes it is going to be the team’s ace, Tarik Skubal, who will be their most valuable player.
It is hard to argue against that selection, coming off his incredible 2024 campaign that was capped off by unanimously winning the AL Cy Young Award.
He won the Triple Crown, leading the league with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. The wins, strikeouts and 6.4 WAR were the best in baseball. His 170 ERA+ and 2.49 FIP were also the best in the AL.
Skubal has gotten off to a slow start by his astronomical standards with a 3.78 ERA across his first three starts and 16.2 innings.
But he reminded everyone just how good he is when he tossed six shutout innings against the New York Yankees’ excellent offense with six strikeouts, zero walks and only four hits allowed.
His numbers were incredible in 2024, but there is a chance that he will not only replicate that in 2025 but improve upon them as his arsenal is even nastier so far this year than it was previously.
His Stuff+ is up through his first three starts as he continues to expand his game despite reaching such a high level, winning the Cy Young Award in 2024.
