Pair of Detroit Tigers Stars Listed on All-MLB Team Fan Ballot
Two Detroit Tigers stars — Riley Greene and Tarik Skubal — are on the All-MLB ballot, with fan balloting set to end on Oct. 11.
In the short history of the All-MLB Awards, the Tigers have never had a first- or second-team selection. The selections are regardless of which league the team plays in, unlike the MVP and Cy Young awards, which are selected by league.
Players are selected based on their regular-season play. The Tigers, who at one point were well out of the playoff race, put together one of the best finishes in Major League history to claim an American League Wild Card berth, the first playoff berth for the franchise in a decade.
The Tigers swept the Houston Astros in the ALWC series and lost to the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the ALDS. Game 2 is set for Monday.
Greene, the 24-year-old outfielder who was the Tigers’ first-round pick in 2019, put together the best power numbers of his three-year Major League career. He finished the season with a slash line of .262/.348/.479/.827 with career-highs in home runs (24) and RBI (74). He also set career-highs in doubles (27) and triples (six).
He made his MLB debut in 2022 and finished that season with a slash line of .253/.321/.362/.683 with five home runs and 42 RBI. Last season he improved on it, finishing with a slash line of .288/.349/.447/.796 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI.
So far this postseason Greene is batting .167 (2-for-12).
Skubal recently won the Baseball Digest MLB Pitcher of the Year award and is considered by many to be the front-runner for the American League Cy Young award. Last year’s Cy Young winner, Gerrit Cole, was also a first-team All-MLB selection.
The 27-year-old won the AL pitching triple crown, as he led the lead in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
He finished the season 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. Atlanta’s Chris Sale did the same thing in the National League, as he went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts.
Skubal is expected to start Game 2 against Cleveland. In his first postseason start against the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series, he threw six innings and earned the victory. He struck out six.
The Tigers drafted him out of Seattle University in 2018. The ninth-round selection moved quickly through the system and made his Majors debut in 2020. He hadn’t won more than eight games in a season before, which came in 2021.
The All-MLB team started in 2019. There are first and second teams, and voters were asked only to consider performance during the regular season when casting their ballots. Fans accounted for 50% of the voting for the All-MLB Team, with a panel of experts handling the other 50%.
