Motor City Bengals

When the Detroit Tigers signed free agent shortstop Javier Baez to a six-year, $140 million contract in the offseason, many fans were skeptical. His high strikeout rate and low walk rate, combined with his ultra-aggressive plate approach left fans concerned about his long-term viability.

The Detroit Tigers announced that RHP Wilmer Flores was being promoted from High-A West Michigan to Double-A Erie, and in turn that RHP Garrett Hill would be promoted from Erie to Triple-A Toledo Wednesday afternoon.

Coming into this year, we knew the Detroit Tigers would be without Spencer Turnbull, Jake Rogers, Kyle Funkhouser, and Jose Cisnero as they have been dealing with pre-existing injuries. Right before the season kicked off, Riley Greene went down with a foot fracture after reports that he was going to break camp with the big…

Detroit Tigers’ starting pitcher Tarik Skubal is blossoming into an ace right before our very eyes. The Detroit Tigers’ three-headed monster of pitching prospects that was headlined by Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Tarik Skubal has every “head” in the majors now. Most people thought Mize would be the best of the three simply due…

The Detroit Tigers’ pitching staff has needed all of their depth already this season; with Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tyler Alexander, Andrew Chafin, Kyle Funkhouser, Jose Cisnero, and now Michael Pineda all finding their way to the injured list through the first six weeks of the season. That same plague, unfortunately, has now found the…

The Detroit Tigers swept the Baltimore Orioles this weekend, where they started to play much better baseball. It was their first series sweep of the season. The Tigers have needed a stretch where they looked like a competent baseball team, no matter the length. While there are still plenty of things this team needs to work…

One of the great joys of writing about the Detroit Tigers, and following baseball in general, is the ability to be incredibly wrong. All sports offer some level of unpredictability, but baseball is king when it comes to making analysts and prognosticators look foolish. Last year PECOTA predicted the Twins would go 91-71 and the…

Detroit Tigers’ rookie starting pitcher Beau Brieske has developed a habit of getting off to a rocky start, only to rebound in the middle innings. Why is that? Many fans were excited when Beau Brieske was called up to take Matt Manning’s spot in the rotation after he went on the 10-day IL. He had developed…

It’s no secret that for the Detroit Tigers, the AL Central, a playoff spot, and a .500 record are all an uphill battle through the rest of the season. Heading into Friday night’s contest, the Tigers boast a 9-23 record and are nine games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins.

In the fourth and final part of this miniseries where we discuss who’s to blame for the Detroit Tigers’ disastrous start, we finally get to the man who’s the main culprit: owner Chris Ilitch. It may have taken him a bit, but Mike Ilitch wanted to win a championship, and he was willing to stop…

The Detroit Tigers, as a unit, are the proverbial pig looking to gussy up for the barnyard dance with some bright red lipstick. Unfortunately, in the unforgiving light of day this pig as still sinfully ugly as you’d expect from a team without one single qualified guy slugging .400+ to this point.

For the third time in less than three weeks, the Detroit Tigers are calling up one of their top pitching prospects. The condensed schedule and weather issues mean the Tigers are in the midst of a run of 18 games in 16 days, and an unfortunate string of injuries has led to an all-hands on…

In part 3 of this miniseries where we discuss who’s to blame for the Detroit Tigers’ disastrous start, general manager Al Avila is next up on the chopping block. Al Avila is a controversial figure amongst Tigers fans. Many fans have been clamoring for his firing for years, while others think he’s been handicapped by…

Yesterday, I highlighted three trade targets the Tigers could look at if they were to try making a push to compete this season. At the time of the creation of this article, The Tigers are sitting at a record of 8-20, losing six in a row, and eight of their last 10.

In part two of this miniseries where we discuss who’s to blame for the Detroit Tigers’ disastrous start, A.J. Hinch deserves some heat. I want to preface this article by saying that I love A.J. Hinch. I wouldn’t trade him for any other manager in the league. That being said, he is not immune to…

If the Tigers are going for it this year, here are some players to help them make the push. When baseball returned after the lockout, Tigers fans were excited to see what this new-look team would have to offer. A new head of the rotation, the first baseman of the future, and a last-minute trade…

Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila alluded to it during the 2020 season when fans were clamoring for top prospect Casey Mize to join the Detroit Tigers during the pandemic year and the club eventually announced that Isaac Paredes and Tarik Skubal would join Casey Mize in Detroit. “It’s performance-based from here on out and we…

In part 1 of this miniseries where we discuss who’s to blame for the Detroit Tigers’ disastrous start, we dive into the role that Scott Coolbaugh has played all of this. In each of the first two years of Scott Coolbaugh’s tenure as Detroit Tigers’ hitting coach, the offense has gotten off to a lethargic…

The Detroit Tigers are running out of options for Willi Castro in more ways than one. Willi Castro should not have been in the lineup last night. Austin Meadows was originally in the lineup, but was scratched due to a non-COVID related illness.

Soto has had a rough start to the season, but Chris Fetter should be able to get him back on track. Gregory Soto had another rocky outing Thursday night against the Houston Astros, walking one and giving up two hits, one of which was a walk-off single by Kyle Tucker. He did not record an…