Detroit Tigers Receive Above Average Marks in Final 2024 Report Card
The Detroit Tigers were one of the best 'feel good' stories of the 2024 season and it has sent the team on a new trajectory into the future.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently did an overview of the last year for each MLB team, with New Years just a couple of days away. The Tigers were given a modest 'B' for their past 365 days.
There are two pretty obvious postives for Detroit last season. They made a shocking return to the playoffs and Tarik Skubal established himself as one of baseball's best pitchers.
Starting with Skubal, since he played a large part in the playoff push, he has been cemented as the Tigers ace for at least the rest of the time he is under team control. There were some that wanted Detroit to trade him for a haul of prospects, but the roster now looks too good to give up on.
The 28-year-old posted a 2.39 ERA en route to winning the AL Cy Young and Triple Crown last season. He led all MLB pitchers in strikeouts with 228 and wins with 18.
He pitched 19 innings in the postseason and finished with a 2.37 ERA, proving that he belongs. Despite getting tabbed for five runs in the Game 5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, fans should be happy with what he showed during that run.
It wasn't just him, though, it was the pitching staff as a whole that looked great. Despite being under .500 as late as July, something clicked in the group and they really led the run to the ALDS.
A.J. Hinch started to develop a 'pitching chaos' strategy that constantly rotated pitchers rather than keeping a starter when they ran out of reliable big-inning arms.
It proved to not be sustainable in the playoffs, but a handful of pitchers made names for themselves down the stretch.
A 'B' grade is understandable, though, because there are some things that are easy to be wary about as well.
As good as the pitching staff was, the offense struggled mightily at times. The unit ranked at No. 21 in MLB with a wRC+ of 95. That makes them a few ticks below league average. They also didn't magically get better once they started winning games.
This offseason has been fairly quiet with the Tigers potentially opting for player development rather than big spending.
Alex Cobb and Gleyber Torres are the only additions so far, but they don't seem like the players to push them over the edge.
