Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers waste Reese Olson’s run support in 6-5 loss to Angels in extra innings
Jake Rogers ducked out of the way.
A wild slider from Los Angeles Angels right-hander Griffin Canning nearly hit Rogers in the face, but the Detroit Tigers’ catcher — batting in the nine-hole — leaned back at the last second to avoid getting hit by the pitch. Rogers responded by crushing the next pitch for a two-run home run with two outs in the sixth inning.
It was a cool moment, but the Tigers lost to the Angels, 6-5, on Saturday in the third of four games at Angel Stadium, marking their fourth loss in a row and their 16th loss in 22 games. In the latest loss, Kevin Pillar hit a walk-off single off right-handed reliever Jason Foley in the bottom of the 10th inning.
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Rogers has a .444 batting average with three home runs in 10 plate appearances against Canning in his MLB career. In Saturday’s game, Rogers smoked Canning’s middle-middle fastball for a 443-foot home run to left-center field.
His homer extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-2 in the sixth.
But the Tigers (37-46) — falling nine games below .500 and 16 games behind first place in the American League Central — couldn’t stop a comeback from the Angels.
After Rogers’ home run, the Angels scored two runs in the seventh inning and one run in the eighth to tie the game at five runs apiece before Pillar’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
The Angels trimmed their deficit to 5-4 with a two-run double from Taylor Ward off right-handed reliever Beau Brieske’s first-pitch fastball with one out in the seventh inning. In the eighth, Logan O’Hoppe, who blasted a clutch home run in Friday’s game, smoked a first-pitch slider from right-handed reliever Will Vest for a solo home run to left-center field, making it 5-5.
The game went into extra innings, but the Tigers — despite the free runner on second base — failed to score in the top of the 10th against flame-throwing right-handed reliever Ben Joyce, whose fastball averaged 100.4 mph.
The Angels, of course, scored in the bottom of the 10th.
Facing Foley, Luis Guillorme dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the free runner to third base. After that, the Tigers called Matt Vierling from center field to create a five-man infield in search of a ground out to keep the runner at third base, but Pillar smacked Foley’s first-pitch sinker into left field for a line-drive single to end the game.
The Tigers have a 1-5 record in extra innings since winning three times in extra innings during their first five games of the season.
Reese’s piece
Right-hander Reese Olson, who flashed the best version of his slider, allowed two runs on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts across six innings, throwing 98 pitches.
The Angels, though, had at least one runner on base in five of their six innings against Olson.
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The leadoff hitter reached safely in all five of those innings: Nolan Schanuel’s single in the first, Willie Calhoun’s double in the second, Schanuel’s walk in the third, Schanuel’s double in the fifth and Calhoun’s walk in the sixth.
The Angels scored both runs in the third for a 2-1 lead. The first run scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, and the second run scored on a groundout with two runners in scoring position.
Otherwise, Olson worked his way out of trouble.
Olson struck out three batters in a row — Zach Neto (swinging strike, slider), Mickey Moniak (swinging strike, slider), Jo Adell (called strike, fastball) — to strand runners on the corners in the second. After Calhoun’s walk, O’Hoppe struck out swinging, Neto flew out and Moniak struck out swinging to end the sixth.
That’s how Olson ended his 16th start.
He owns a 3.32 ERA in 89⅓ innings.
The early runs
The Tigers scored one run in the first inning and two runs in the fourth inning.
The first run scored as a result of singles from Wenceel Pérez and Vierling, along with Riley Greene reaching safely on a fielding error. With one out, Colt Keith grounded into a force out with the bases loaded for a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Colt Keith and Gio Urshela collected back-to-back singles. Thanks to those hits, the Tigers ended up taking a 3-2 lead when the runs scored on Zach McKinstry’s groundout and Rogers’ sacrifice fly.
Canning allowed five runs (four earned runs) on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in six innings, throwing 102 pitches. He has a 4.71 ERA in 17 starts.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.
Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.
McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.
On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.
Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.
You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”
You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:
Will Tigers trade Tarik Skubal before free agency? MLB insider speaks
USA TODAY Sports baseball insider Bob Nightengale joins “Days of Roar” podcast to answer several questions about Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, who can become a free agent after the 2026 season.
The Detroit Tigers and left-hander Tarik Skubal did not agree to terms on a one-year contract for the 2026 season before the 8 p.m. deadline Thursday, Jan. 8, to exchange salary figures in the arbitration process.
Skubal filed at $32 million; the Tigers filed at $19 million.
It’s a difference of $13 million.
An arbitration panel will review the case during a hearing scheduled for late January or early to mid-February. The arbitrators must determine whether Skubal is worth more or less than the $25.5 million midpoint. If he’s worth more, they will select his $32 million proposal; if less, they will select the Tigers’ $19 million proposal. The panel isn’t allowed to choose a salary in between $19 million and $32 million.
The Tigers operate as a file-and-trial club in salary arbitration under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, meaning there won’t be further negotiations with Skubal regarding a one-year contract. A multi-year contract could still be negotiated, but it’s highly unlikely.
Skubal – represented by agent Scott Boras – reaches free agency after the 2026 season. The 29-year-old is positioned to become the first pitcher in MLB history to receive a $400 million contract.
If the two sides were to reach an agreement before a hearing, it would likely be a one-year contract with a player option, thus maintaining Skubal’s path to free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.
The reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young winner was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to receive $17.8 million in his third and final year of salary arbitration. He previously earned $2.65 million in 2024, then $10.15 million in 2025.
Why couldn’t the Tigers and Skubal agree on a salary for 2026?
The arbitration case for Skubal is unusually complex, thanks to a rarely used provision highlighted by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Because Skubal has more than five years of MLB service time, he isn’t limited to comparing himself only to past arbitration-eligible players. Instead, he can compare himself to any player in baseball.
Those unique rights allow Skubal – who has five years, 114 days of service time – to point to MLB’s highest-paid pitchers (such as Max Scherzer’s $43.3 million per year from 2022-24 or Zack Wheeler’s $42 million per year from 2025-27), arguing that his elite performance warrants a salary in that range – not in the $17.8 million range, as projected by MLB Trade Rumors.
That’s what pushed the Tigers and Skubal to an arbitration hearing.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
The current record for the largest one-year arbitration contract belongs to outfielder Juan Soto, who agreed to $31 million with the New York Yankees for the 2024 season.
If Skubal wins the arbitration hearing, he will surpass Soto and claim the new record with his proposed $32 million salary. If Skubal loses, then he will earn the $19 million salary proposed by the Tigers.
There are two other arbitration records on the line.
The highest-paid arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander David Price, who earned $19.75 million with the Tigers in 2015 – his fourth year in the arbitration process as a Super Two qualifier. The largest raise for an arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander Jacob deGrom, who surged from $7.4 million to $17 million – an increase of $9.6 million – with the New York Mets in 2019.
Those records for pitchers will belong to Skubal – but only if his proposed $32 million salary is selected by the arbitration panel. He will fall just short of the records if the panel selects the Tigers’ proposed $19 million.
Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball.
More notably, he is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
In 2025, Skubal registered a 2.21 ERA with 33 walks (4.4% walk rate) and 241 strikeouts (32.2% strikeout rate) across 195⅓ innings in 31 starts. He made the All-Star Game for the second time in his six-year MLB career.
Skubal became the first back-to-back AL Cy Young winner since right-hander Pedro Martínez in 1999-2000, leading the AL with a 2.39 ERA in 2024 and a 2.21 ERA in 2025.
The Tigers haven’t been to an arbitration hearing since right-hander Michael Fulmer in 2019.
Fulmer lost the case, receiving the Tigers’ proposed $2.8 million salary rather than his requested $3.4 million. Before that hearing, the Tigers hadn’t participated in an arbitration hearing since 2001 – and the Tigers haven’t lost a case since 2000.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon during the season and Tuesday afternoon during the offseason on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
DETROIT — Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen has signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Colorado Rockies.
It’s the first signing of the offseason for the Rockies under new president Paul DePodesta. The deal includes a $9 million club option for 2027.
It’s the fifth straight winter that Lorenzen has signed a one-year deal following a seven-season tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.
Lorenzen, who turned 34 this week, signed a free-agent deal with the Tigers before the 2023 season. He made 18 starts and was selected for his first appearance in the All-Star Game before being dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline for infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee.
After a strong start with his new team that included a no-hitter, Lorenzen was moved to the bullpen and pitched sparingly in the postseason.
He found a quiet reception on the free-agent market, agreeing to a discounted one-year deal with the Texas Rangers before the 2024 season. He was traded to the Royals at the deadline and pitched well down the stretch, going 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with his new team.
He re-signed with the Royals in 2025 and put together another solid season, posting a 4.64 ERA in 141 innings with 127 strikeouts and 39 walks.
Colorado is known as an unforgiving home for pitchers, and the Rockies lost a league-worst 119 games in 2025.
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