The AL Central is getting stronger by the year, and it’s largely due to the Detroit Tigers finding the pieces to the puzzle to build a contending team.

They’ve got the right man in charge in A.J. Hinch, they’ve got their ace pitcher they can depend on in Tarik Skubal, and a bullpen that can follow. They’re not a complete powerhouse yet, but they’re on the right track.

Detroit followed Kansas City’s lead when it came to snapping a playoff-less season streak. Detroit’s 86-76 record was good enough for the third Wild Card position, marking the first time since 2014 that Detroit was playing playoff baseball. For context, Robbie Ray and Eugenio Suárez were rookies for Detroit that year.

Making the postseason – and winning games after getting there – was impressive, but that fashion in which Detroit did so was even more noteworthy. Sitting at 55-63 after an August 10th loss to the Giants, the Tigers proceeded to close the season going 31-13, including two six-game winning streaks.

If you’re still not impressed, Detroit swept the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card series, breaking Houston’s eight-year stretch of making at least the ALCS. They fought valiantly in the Divisional Series against the Cleveland Guardians, but a Lane Thomas grand slam in the deciding Game 5 all but put a close to Detroit’s magical autumn run.

A major reason for Detroit’s success was because of the elite season they received from starting pitcher Tarik Skubal. After making only 15 starts in 2023 due to recovering from flexor tendon surgery, Skubal made a career-high 31 starts last season, owning an AL-best 2.39 ERA and an MLB-best 18-4 record and 228 strikeouts. His dominance earned him the American League Cy Young award, the sixth time a Tiger has won the award and the first time since Max Scherzer in 2013.

Skubal’s advanced metrics were just as excellent as his standard figures, if not better. With a Baseball Savant page covered with red bars, Skubal ranked in the top 9% and top 5% of strikeout rate and walk rate, respectively. His fastball averaged at 97 mph, and his mid-80s changeup generated a 46.2 whiff rate on the year. It also heavily contributed to his PitchingNinja Most Outstanding Pitcher of the Year award, for those who were wondering.

Respectively, it’s hard to single out a player or two that stood out above the rest aside from Skubal. A bullpen ERA of 3.55 that ranked fourth in all of baseball coupled with reliable options from both left and right-handed arms shortened the game for Detroit, something that came in handy in the postseason. They even went with a straight bullpen game in their Wild Card-clinching win over Houston.

The Tigers ranked in either the middle-third or bottom-third of many offensive categories. CF Riley Greene had his healthiest season of his young career aside from a three-week stint on the IL for a hamstring strain. He slashed .262/.348/.479 with a career-best .827 OPS, 24 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 27 doubles. The uptick in power was a welcome sign for Detroit, and he wound up leading the team in home runs, ahead of a struggling 1B Spencer Torkelson and a struggling and injured SS Javier Báez.

The Tigers benefitted heavily down the stretch from CF Parker Meadows posting a .296/.340/.500 slash line, a massive improvement from his minuscule first half numbers. They’re also getting productive numbers out of RF Kerry Carpenter, who led the team with a .932 OPS and 159 OPS+. Carpenter has shown steady improvement throughout his two and a half years in the league, but staying healthy has been the challenge.

For the first time in his career, 2B Gleyber Torres will wear something other than a New York Yankees jersey. Torres and the Tigers came to an agreement on a one-year, $15 million deal around the Christmas holiday, adding a right-handed bat to a lineup needing one near the top of the order. Torres spent the previous seven seasons in the Bronx, most recently hitting .257/.330/.378 with a .709 OPS, 15 home runs, 63 RBIs, and 26 doubles last season. Although Torres hasn’t quite gotten back to something like his 38-homer season in 2019, he has a career 1.000 OPS at Comerica Park, and he’s posted a 1.146 OPS in his first 31 spring training at-bats.

Detroit directed a lot of their offseason to pitching, starting out with signing veteran right-hander Alex Cobb to a one-year, $15 million deal. Cobb missed a majority of last season recovering from hip surgery, and he also missed some time later in the season with a blister on his pitching hand. It’d be unfair to judge him squarely on the three starts he made last year, but he put together a solid 28 starts in 2023 with the Giants.

In that season, Cobb posted a 3.87 ERA, 1,32 WHIP, and a complete game shutout over 28 starts, including being named to his first career All-Star team. Unfortunately, Cobb suffered a hip injury last month and doesn’t appear to be ready for Opening Day, but he was scheduled to throw a bullpen this past weekend.

The Tigers also re-signed SP Jack Flaherty to a two-year, $35 million deal. Flaherty pitched in 18 games last season with the Tigers, and he found some of his best major league success in those starts since his 2019 season when he received NL Cy Young votes. Flaherty pitched to a 2.95 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 11.2 K/9 prior to his trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Had he maintained those numbers through the the rest of the season, it would’ve been his second-lowest ERA and his best WHIP and K/9 figures of his career. Flaherty posted an impressive 43.6% whiff rate on his knuckle curve last season, and he also improved the whiff rate on his slider by 9% from 2023.

Detroit added a couple of pieces to their already-formidable bullpen in veterans Tommy Kahnle and John Brebbia. both inked to one-year deals. Kahnle is coming off of a very effective season with the Yankees, holding a 2.11 ERA over 50 appearances, the lowest ERA has in his career with a season minimum of 10 innings. With Kahnle, you know you’re getting a heavy dose of his changeup, a pitch he threw 73% of the time last year. The offspeed pitch held opponents to a .264 slugging percentage and 38.9% whiff rate last season.

In what could be an under-the radar signing, Brebbia had a pair of polarizing stints last year with the White Sox and the Braves, albeit one was far longer than the other. He struggled in Chicago with batters having lots of success particularly against his slider. He wound up being released by the White Sox after holding a 6.29 ERA over 48 2/3 innings, but was signed by the Braves to a minor league deal just two days later.

In 6 2/3 innings in Atlanta, Brebbia allowed four hits, two earned runs and nine strikeouts. Brebbia has posted double-digit K/9 figures in five of his seven MLB seasons, so there’s something there that the Tigers can work with, especially given their success with their relief pitchers.

Detroit also cleared up some space in their bullpen, dealing Alex Faedo to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for 20-year-old catching prospect Enderson Deglado. Between rookie ball and single-A last season, Delgado slashed .259/.382/.400 with four home runs and 30 RBIs.

In their slew of minor league deals, the Tigers included former Blue Jays C Brian Serven and RP Matt Gage, as well as veteran RP Andrew Chafin and C Tomás Nido. They also signed long-time Astros starting pitcher José Urquidy to a one-year major league deal with a club option for 2026, although he will miss at least the first half of the season after having Tommy John surgery last June.

In my opinion, the Tigers have a rotation with a very high ceiling. Even behind Skubal and Flaherty, Reese Olson and Casey Mize (who is off to a great start in spring) are a pair of underrated arms who have breakout potential in 2025. They should also hopefully get a chance to see top prospect Jackson Jobe have a full season workload; Jobe underwent trial by fire last season, making his major league debut on September 25th and pitching in both postseason series’.

I get the feeling they’re still missing a piece or two offensively, something that could’ve been resolved had they signed Alex Bregman, someone they had reportedly been in on for a while this winter. They still have intriguing younger options in SS Trey Sweeney, C Dillon Dingler, and 2B Colt Keith, who hit a respectable .260 in his first 148 major league games last year. Regardless, if they’re contending, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them add a power bat at the trade deadline.

I do have my doubts with Detroit as they have some if’s, could’s, and hopefully’s with some of their players. However, it’s hard to ignore what they did last October. The late-season rally was one thing, but they won a series in Houston, and were one game away from getting to the ALCS. This is my “prove it” year for the Tigers, and like I said earlier, they’ve got the right pieces in place.