Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers still learning who they are. Especially the newest one, Manuel Margot
Detroit Tigers signed Manuel Margot. Scott Harris explains why
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris talks to reporters March 24, 2025, about signing outfielder Manuel Margot.
LOS ANGELES — Manuel Margot still doesn’t know all of his teammate’s names on the Detroit Tigers.
Still doesn’t know all the coaches and support staff.
And he doesn’t even have a Tigers bat bag.
His old Milwaukee Brewers bag was on a cart outside the clubhouse, stacked with all the Tigers ones.
Sunday marks Margot’s time on the Tigers at a week — he signed with the Tigers on their last day of Grapefruit League play in Florida — but he has already made a strong first impression.
“I feel good,” he said Saturday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers finished a three-game sweep of the Tigers with a 7-3 victory Saturday night.
Margot has been one of the bright spots in a Tigers offense that struggled to produce in clutch moments against the defending World Series champions. Margot played in two games in this series, going 3-for-5, while knocking in a pair of runs.
“Try to see the ball and swing at strikes,” he said. “I try not to chase.”
OK, so he might not know everybody, but he’s already speaking the Tigers’ language.
Unfortunately, here’s the harsh truth about this three-game series: Far too many of his teammates were not able to follow his lead.
The good news: The Tigers put runners in scoring position 32 times against the Dodgers, setting up a ridiculous number of opportunities to do something amazing against the team with five wins already this season.
The bad news: The Tigers came through in the clutch just four times. Ugh. Completely unacceptable.
“When you look back, we could have won some games because of how many opportunities we gave ourselves,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “So you want to look at it positively? Keep giving yourself as many punches as you can. If you want to be frustrated, look at the results. Because it wasn’t great with how it ended, how those at-bats ended.”
Here’s the other good news: Hinch doesn’t see any panic in his team.
But he is also realistic about what his team needs.
“We’re going to need the big hit obviously,” he said. “We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re not pressing. We’re not worked up about it. But it’s our reality.”
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Strange days indeed
In some ways, this series felt historic. It was the first time in franchise history the Tigers opened the season against the Dodgers, on a weekend they celebrated their World Series championship — gee, thanks MLB.
And it was the first time the Tigers have opened their season on the West Coast in 25 years.
Also, lost in the moment was how so many Tigers have never experienced this before. This was the first time that six Tigers have been on an Opening Day roster: right-handers Beau Brieske, Brenan Hanifee and Jackson Jobe; left-hander pitcher Brant Hurter; infielder Trey Sweeney; and catcher Dillon Dingler.
So, all of this is still so new to them. Just being part of this.
But there were some high marks.
Consider Spencer Torkelson.
On Opening Day, he reached base safely in all five plate appearances, with a solo home run and four walks. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Torkelson became the seventh player in Tigers history to walk four times and homer in the same game. (The others? J.D. Martinez, Roy Cullenbine, Jason Thompson, Rob Deer, Travis Fryman and Cecil Fielder.)
Torkelson’s four walks tied for the most by any player on Opening Day in American League history — that dates back to 1901.
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And when presented with Hinch’s good news/bad news approach to putting so many runners in scoring position, Torkelson found the positive side.
“I think that’s pretty encouraging, especially against this caliber of a team,” he said. “There’s not a single hole in their lineup. There’s not a single arm in the ‘pen or starting pitcher that you can take for granted. They’re a really good team. We had opportunities and, couple pitches every night going our way, we’re winning this series. So that’s encouraging.”
So, that’s the state of the Tigers after the first series.
Encouraging signs.
Disappointing results.
“But still,” Torkelson said, “it sucks to get swept.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
After getting absolutely annihilated in his previous start on Monday in Minnesota to the tune of 11 runs in just 1.2 innings, Garrett Crochet is set to retake the mound today and convince us all that everything will be fine as far as he and his health are concerned.
Unfortunately, he won’t just be battling the Tigers. Mother Nature is once again destined to play a roll in today’s match up, and here’s how the radar looks inside of an hour from first pitch:
The good news is the initial batch of heavier precipitation has moved out and east of Boston, but more unsettled weather still lurks to the west ahead of a slow moving front. That mess will push through eastern Massachusetts over the next several hours, filling in the current dry slot. While this incoming precipitation won’t be as heavy as what fell at times earlier today, it will come attached with colder and windier conditions, so a miserable weather game lies ahead (if they even try and play through it at all — The Yankees did not and waited around for three hours before starting their game against the Royals at 4:20pm). The other option will be to just wait until after sunset when it will be dryer, but still very cold and windy.
When they do get started, today’s lineup includes Roman Anthony leading off in leftfield, Andruw Monasterio at first base, and Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, and Marcelo Mayer all starting on the bench with an opposing left-handed starter on the mound in Framber Valdez for Detroit.
OTM’s own pitching guru Jacob Roy will be around later to handle the postgame wrap and tell us if we should should be freaking out or breathing a sigh a relief when it comes to Crochet.
The Pistons have made recent moves to add more shooting, but still don’t have anyone quite as lethal as former Detroit guard Luke Kennard. On Saturday night, Kennard had a brilliant start to his postseason with 27 uber-efficient points for the Lakers in a win against the Rockets. His level of 3-point accuracy is something the Pistons have desperately been seeking all season long to bolster their offense.
Luke Kennard’s shooting makes him a dangerous playoff performer
Kennard was originally drafted to Detroit with the 17th pick of the 2017 Draft. The Pistons have plenty of draft regrets from that general era of team history, but picking Kennard has never been one of them. Despite any other weaknesses he may have, his strength as a shooter has always been enough to offset them.
In terms of pure 3-point percentage, Kennard is one of the best shooters in NBA history. He averages 44% behind the arc for his career, and shot a blistering 48% this season – the best mark in the league. Given his incredible track record, it’s not exactly a shocker to see him shoot 5-of-5 from three en route to 27 points in Game 1.
Not only is Kennard obviously an excellent standstill shooter, but he’s also a master of getting himself open with his movement. On Saturday night, he was able to play off LeBron James perfectly for a few easy looks. After that, he caught enough of a rhythm to create 3-point looks for himself, even in transition.
A player like Kennard is easily capable of turning an entire playoff game when he gets hot. In a close series, that one game where Kennard hits several threes can be all the difference his team needs to advance. If the Lakers do manage to win this series, even without Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves, Kennard’s shooting will be a major reason why.
The Pistons could use someone like Kennard
Kennard would be a perfect marginal addition for the Pistons that only makes them better without taking anything away from the team. To be fair, the Pistons do have two shooters who have been hot recently in Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter. But having more than one respected shooter on the court at a time is often necessary to maintain a solid offense in today’s NBA.
Given the Pistons’ current lack of shooting, any additional shooters are welcome. And Kennard is understandably one of the most feared shooters in the league, capable of bending defenses just by the threat of him taking a three. Rolling him out on the Pistons would surely open up more lanes for Detroit’s stars to attack the paint and score easier points.
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A Detroit woman was arrested in the aftermath of a hit-and-run collision and shooting on Interstate 94, Michigan State Police reported.
Emergency dispatchers were called shortly after midnight Saturday about the altercation. Troopers reported the caller said while they were driving eastbound on I-94, near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a black Jeep sideswiped them and sped off.
The caller then decided to follow the Jeep.
In response, police said, the driver of the Jeep fired several gunshots in the caller’s direction.
None of the gunshots struck the vehicle.
Troopers were able to use license plate reader camera technology to locate the Jeep while it was on the Lodge Freeway, made a traffic stop. The driver and two passengers were taken into custody without incident.
The passengers were released shortly afterwards; troopers believe that the 19-year-old driver was the shooter. She has been lodged pending further review by the prosecutor’s office.
In addition, a firearm was recovered from the vehicle.
The above video originally aired on Aug. 19, 2025.
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