Can Detroit Tigers continue to win games as best American League team?
Detroit Tigers radio analyst Bobby Scales joins Days of Roar to break down the team’s formula for early success, plus Spencer Torkelson’s adjustments.
- The Detroit Tigers have the best record in the American League and the highest run differential in MLB.
- Spencer Torkelson, Javier Báez, and Casey Mize are having resurgent seasons for the Tigers.
- Jace Jung, Jackson Jobe, and Jake Rogers are currently underperforming.
Let’s type it out again: The Detroit Tigers have the best record in the American League.
The Tigers (26-15) enter May 12 trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres for the best record in baseball, but they lead the 14 other AL teams in the standings — by a full 2½ games — and boast the second-highest run differential (plus-72, behind only the New York Yankees’ plus-75) among the 30 MLB teams. The Tigers sit atop the AL Central, 2½ games of both the second-place Cleveland Guardians and third-place Kansas City Royals.
OF course, there are 121 games remaining this season.
Here’s how some players are trending with 25.3% of the season in the books:
Three up
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Spencer Torkelson, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, is already a candidate to win MLB Comeback Player of the Year, hitting .247 with 10 home runs, 21 walks and 43 strikeouts across 41 games — putting him on pace for 39 home runs and 130 RBIs. His career-best .881 OPS ranks 11th among 81 qualified AL players, while his .527 slugging percentage ranks eighth.
The biggest development from 2024 to 2025? An athletic Torkelson has put his swing in a position to be on time for fastballs and to do damage on contact — even against high velocity. The 25-year-old is hitting .361 against four-seam fastballs, .400 against four-seamers at 95 mph or above and .433 against four-seamers in the strike zone. To maintain his success, he has stayed focused on his approach of hitting the ball to left-center field rather than trying to pull it.
Here’s another positive: Torkelson has been worth plus-2 defensive runs saved in 290 innings at first base. His glove has taken a big step forward over the past two seasons.
I thought Torkelson was cooked.
I was wrong.
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If Torkelson isn’t Comeback Player of the Year, shortstop-turned-center fielder Javier Báez might win the award — not only because he’s one of the most popular names in baseball, but also because he’s finally producing the All-Star-caliber results we hadn’t seen at any point in the first three seasons of his Tigers tenure.
Nobody saw this coming.
The 32-year-old is hitting .300 with three home runs, four walks and 28 strikeouts across 32 games. His 1.1 fWAR puts him on pace for 4.6 fWAR over the full season, which would rank as the third-best performance of his 11-year MLB career, behind only 2018 (5.8 fWAR) and 2019 (5.6 fWAR).
The offense is the key, but Báez might be making an even bigger impact on defense, ranking as a top-10 center fielder in the majors. He has been worth plus-4 defensive runs saved across 127 innings in center field, despite not having played the position until an experiment in the final week of spring training.
If it’s not Torkelson, and if it’s not Báez, then why not starting pitcher Casey Mize for Comeback Player of the Year? The 2018 No. 1 overall pick leads MLB with six wins, all while posting a 2.53 ERA with nine walks and 35 strikeouts over 42⅔ innings in seven starts.
Everything has been earned.
Mize (who headed to the 15-day injured list on May 10, retroactive to May 9) retuned to the drawing board in the offseason, visiting Driveline Baseball to find more swings and misses. The 28-year-old implemented two new sliders, giving him a total of three. He also increased the velocity of his splitter to 89 mph to create more deception with his 94.5 mph four-seam fastball.
The underlying results? His whiff rate has improved from 22% in 2024 to 28.3% in 2025 — a rise from the 21st percentile to the 70th percentile among MLB pitchers. His strikeout rate has also improved, climbing from 17.3% last season to 21% this season. One more thing: Mize owns the second-best ERA among Tigers starters, trailing only Tarik Skubal.
Honorable mention: C Dillon Dingler, RHP Brenan Hanifee, RHP Will Vest.
Three down
The Tigers provided Jace Jung the opportunity to become their third baseman of the future.
All he had to do was hit.
But the 24-year-old is hitting just .193 with 22 walks and 42 strikeouts across 50 games in his MLB career, including what appears to be a missed opportunity in his 2025 stint: a .100 batting average with seven walks and 13 strikeouts over 16 games.
Jung — the No. 12 overall pick in 2022 — is a gritty player who draws walks at an elite rate, but he continues to struggle with too many whiffs and too many strikeouts. He needs to make more contact against fastballs if he wants to stick in the big leagues, let alone lock down third base for the Tigers.
Jackson Jobe entered the season as one of the favorites to win AL Rookie of the Year, but three others have separated from the pack: Oakland Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson, Boston Red Sox second baseman Kristian Campbell and New York Yankees left fielder Jasson Domínguez.
Meanwhile, Jobe is plummeting.
The 22-year-old has a 4.88 ERA with 15 walks and 20 strikeouts over 27⅔ innings in six starts. His 12.3% walk rate ranks in the 13th percentile, and his 16.4% strikeout rate ranks in the 16th percentile. Hitters don’t chase or whiff at his pitches enough, often putting him behind in counts. The biggest problem: His fastball has the velocity but not the effectiveness for the big leagues.
The sky is the limit for Jobe, but the 2021 No. 3 overall pick still needs to develop.
A left oblique strain has limited Jake Rogers to just six games.
In his absence, fellow catcher Dillon Dingler — who began the season as the backup — has emerged as a candidate to cut into Rogers’ playing time upon his return to full health. Rogers will likely remain ace Tarik Skubal’s personal catcher, but if Dingler keeps hitting (at least above .275 with at least a .700 OPS), the playing time could shift to a near 50-50 split — or tilt more in Dingler’s favor.
That’s nothing against Rogers.
It’s simply a testament to Dingler’s success on offense, especially as Rogers’ production has already dropped from a .730 OPS in 2023 to a .607 OPS in 2024. A strong return from the injured list — particularly at the plate — would go a long way if Rogers, a .202 hitter in his 288-game MLB career, wants to reestablish himself as the undisputed No. 1 catcher.
Honorable mention: LHP Tyler Holton, OF Manuel Margot, RHP Kenta Maeda.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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