Remember when the Detroit Tigers were the best team in baseball for a good portion of the first half of the season? At several points, they were on pace for one of the best records in franchise history.
Remember when these same Tigers fell apart for a brief stretch? Wrapped around the All-Star break, the Tigers lost 12 of 13. When they won four in a row right after that, it seemed like they were fixing themselves, but then they went 5-6 in their next 11 games. In total, between July 8 and August 9, the Tigers went 10-18. That’s a rough month and there certainly had to be concern that this was a course correction — that is, the Tigers in the first half were playing way over their heads and now just didn’t look like a very good team.
They sure seem fixed now. Since that Aug. 9 loss, the Tigers have gone 11-3. They beat up on bad teams — which is exactly what elite teams are supposed to do — before sweeping the first-place Astros and taking a series over the wild card-contending Royals.
Riley Greene has hit for power, of course, while Tarik Skubal looked like his best self last time out. Where the Tigers thrive, however, is when the supporting cast is humming. Jahmai Jones and Andy Ibañez have been great. Spencer Torkelson is swinging a hot bat and Dillon Dingler continues to have one of more the under-the-radar great seasons in baseball.
Jack Flaherty was terrible on Sunday again, and that’s certainly a concern, but Charlie Morton has thrown the ball really well since joining the Tigers and Skubal, well, he’s still the best pitcher in baseball.
The Tigers again look like the class of the American League, sitting with the best record. They trail only the Brewers in all of baseball, but having the best record in MLB is again a possibility for the Detroit Tigers.
This is yet another reminder of the travails of the Major League Baseball season. A team can look amazing for months, look like they’ll never string together three straight wins the rest of the season and then get awesome again. I would say we as fans shouldn’t get so caught up in hating life on a day-to-day basis, but what would be the fun in that? The Tigers fans who were heartbroken just a month ago are so much more excited since they went through that atrocious period.
Biggest Movers
3
Tigers
5
Angels
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
 Brewers |
They built themselves enough of a cushion to stay put here at the top, but the Brewers have now lost six of nine. | — | 81-50 |
2 |
 Tigers |
Greene hit his 31st home run of the season on Sunday. Does he have nine more in him? The Tigers have only had six players ever reach 40 home runs (Hank Greenberg four times, Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito, Darrell Evans, Cecil Fielder twice and Miguel Cabrera twice). | 3 | 78-54 |
3 |
 Phillies |
OK, maybe Aaron Nola’s start on Saturday gets him on track while Ranger Suàrez and especially Cristopher Sànchez are capable of throwing like frontline starters in the playoffs. Still, that Zack Wheeler injury is a monster blow to the Phillies’ World Series hopes. | 1 | 76-54 |
4 |
 Blue Jays |
Bo Bichette leads the majors with 164 hits. The Blue Jays haven’t had the MLB hits leader in a season since 2003, when Vernon Wells did it. Bichette has led the AL twice, but never the majors. | 2 | 76-55 |
5 |
 Cubs |
It’s pretty funny how Kyle Tucker looked just totally unplayable for upwards of six weeks but all of a sudden morphed into his old self on Friday. Sometimes it just takes one swing with the studs. | 1 | 76-55 |
6 |
 Dodgers |
The Dodgers are now on pace to win 92 games. If that seems bad for them it’s because it would mark their lowest full-season win total since 2018. If they dip down to 90, that would be their lowest since 2012. | 3 | 74-57 |
7 |
 Padres |
Much better this time around against the Dodgers and now the NL West is a dead heat with five weeks to play. That’s incredibly fun. | — | 74-57 |
8 |
 Astros |
Taking three of four in Baltimore should have ended the tailspin. The Astros now go home to host the Rockies and Angels this week. | 1 | 72-59 |
9 |
 Red Sox |
I love how quickly Roman Anthony has made himself such an important part of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. His HR and bat flip in Yankee Stadium could definitely be the start of serious Bronx hatred for years. | 1 | 71-60 |
10 |
 Yankees |
Giancarlo Stanton’s race to 500 home runs is back on! After a recent surge, Stanton has 445 career bombs. | 1 | 70-60 |
11 |
 Mariners |
Cal Raleigh is now the single-season record holder for home runs by a catcher. We aren’t yet in September. That’s pretty cool. Now go get to 60, Cal. | 3 | 70-61 |
12 |
 Mets |
A 3-3 week against the Nationals and Braves isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, but at least they aren’t losing on a daily basis anymore. | — | 69-61 |
13 |
 Reds |
The Mets really tried to hand the Reds the final NL wild card spot, but the Reds lost three straight through Saturday. | — | 68-63 |
14 |
 Royals |
In their last 13 games, the Royals — once offensively challenged this season — have averaged 5.53 runs per game. They’ve gone 9-4. | — | 67-64 |
15 |
 Rangers |
Wyatt Langford now has 19 homers and 18 stolen bases. At age 23, he would be the youngest 20-20 guy in franchise history (Toby Harrah at 26 is currently the youngest). | 1 | 66-66 |
16 |
 Rays |
Young speedster Chandler Simpson is now just two stolen bases off the MLB lead despite having only played in 81 games. | 1 | 63-67 |
17 |
 Cardinals |
Where’s the power? Only the Padres and Pirates have fewer home runs than the Cardinals this season. | 1 | 64-67 |
18 |
 Diamondbacks |
Zac Gallen is having a disaster of a contract year. He threw well on Sunday, but prior to that, he had a 5.28 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. This is a dude who finished in the top five of Cy Young voting in both 2022 and 2023. | 1 | 64-67 |
19 |
 Guardians |
The Guardians have lost five in a row, eight of nine and are back below .500. | 4 | 64-65 |
20 |
 Giants |
The Giants had lost 11 of 13, but then beat the best team in MLB twice in a row. Baseball! | 1 | 63-68 |
21 |
 Marlins |
Quite a start to the career for Jakob Marsee. The rookie has now played in 23 games and he’s posted 1.5 WAR with a .346/.416/.705 slash line. | 1 | 61-69 |
22 |
 Orioles |
What a total bummer the Félix Bautista news is. | 2 | 60-70 |
23 |
 Braves |
Matt Olson’s slugging percentages the last four seasons: .477, .604, .457, .447 (this season so far). It’s looking more and more like that 2023 season was an outlier. | — | 59-71 |
24 |
 Athletics |
He’s still only 24, but it’s too bad how much Lawrence Butler has regressed this season. He was so good and fun last year. | 1 | 60-72 |
25 |
 Angels |
The last time the Angels had a 30-homer guy not named Trout or Ohtani was 2019 and it was Kole Calhoun. Jo Adell has 29 homers right now. | 5 | 61-69 |
26 |
 Pirates |
The only pitcher to ever win a Cy Young with a losing record was Eric Gagne (2-3 in 2003), but he was a closer. Paul Skenes is 8-9 as a starter, but the path to him winning sure seems clear. | 1 | 57-74 |
27 |
 Twins |
Mick Abel gave up six runs on seven hits in three innings in his Twins debut. Taj Bradley gave up seven runs on nine hits in five innings in his Twins debut. Rough deadline so far. | 1 | 59-71 |
28 |
 Nationals |
Credit the Nats for fighting recently. They’ve only played the Phillies and Mets for their past 10 games and went 5-5. | — | 53-77 |
29 |
 White Sox |
Luis Robert Jr. has 33 steals this season. No White Sox player has hit the 40-steal mark since Scott Podsednik did it in 2006. | — | 47-83 |
30 |
 Rockies |
Through Wednesday’s win over the Dodgers, the Rockies had won seven of their last nine. They’re actually 28-44 since June 1, which is bad but not historically terrible like they were before that. | — | 37-94 |
