Detroit Tigers

We get it: Offense is down around the Majors while pitchers establish their early dominance this season. Around the American League Central, that means a lot of normally solid hitters have started off colder than the Midwestern weather. It’s tough to be a hitter in this division these days. Fear not. Much like spring flowers

DETROIT — The splitter has been Casey Mize’s marquee pitch since he became a star at Auburn, where it was a strikeout pitch for him. While Mize’s jump in fastball velocity has been an important part of his encouraging start — ranking him in the 87th percentile among Major League pitchers entering his start Friday

To the casual observer, “transition” can be a four-letter word in farm-system circles. It usually indicates that an organization needs to pull a 180-degree turn and start adding as much Minor League talent as it can, often at the cost of good players on the Major League roster. Let’s get this out of the way:

Jack Leiter unquestionably has been the most dominant college player in the first two months of the season. If he’s not the most famous prospect in the 2021 Draft, then he’s a very close second to fellow Vanderbilt right-hander Kumar Rocker. Will Leiter go No. 1 overall to the Pirates when they make that selection

DETROIT — One day after Spencer Turnbull joked that he was getting Opening Day weather for his delayed season debut, the Tigers right-hander delivered a performance worthy of a season-opening assignment. In the process, he helped the Tigers salvage a doubleheader split against the Pirates and end a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win.

Enough prognostication. Time to bake in some actual results. This is the second round of the Rookie Power Rankings, a top 10 as voted on by MLB Pipeline writers that takes a snapshot of the current favorites to win Rookie of the Year Awards in 2021. This edition allows the Pipeline team to incorporate performance

DETROIT — Snow coated the outfield at Comerica Park as Tigers players and coaches arrived Wednesday morning for their split doubleheader against the Pirates. It was still topping the shrubs beyond center field as Michael Fulmer threw the day’s first pitch in 40-degree weather, creating an interesting backdrop for hitters. Zack Short didn’t care. “He

Niko Goodrum sounded almost resigned in Spring Training when he talked about the value of defense versus hitting in his return to a super-utility role. “What it boils down to, if we’re speaking facts, is about hitting,” Goodrum said in March. “It’s not about whether I can do the defense. That’s all understood. It’s just

Spencer Turnbull might have missed the Opening Day snowstorm in Detroit while dealing with what he confirmed Tuesday was COVID-19, but Mother Nature was kind enough to save a few flurries for his season debut on Wednesday against the Pirates. “I checked the weather, and it was like [an] 80 percent chance of snow [and

The MLB Draft is still three months away, but our experts, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, are set to release an updated and expanded Draft Top 150 later this week. While they won’t give the order away in advance, they did offer a sneak preview on the latest Pipeline Podcast. Guided by host Jason Ratliff,

With rain falling, snow on the radar and a gametime temperature predicted in the low 30s, the Pirates-Tigesr series opener at Comerica Park on Tuesday was postponed. The teams will now participate in a split doubleheader on Wednesday. Michael Fulmer, Tuesday’s scheduled starter for Detroit, will now pitch Game 1, which begins at 2:10 p.m.

It’s still early in the 2021 season, but some of the numbers we’re seeing are definitely real. MLB.com’s beat reporters sat down to figure out which ones to trust. For all 30 clubs, these are the stat lines that are a real indicator of what’s to come over the course of the year. Here’s one

For one inning, Matthew Boyd — who led the American League in home runs allowed in 2019 and 2020 — was the stingiest pitcher of 2021 in keeping the ball in the park. When he sent a fastball past A’s third baseman Matt Chapman to end the seventh inning on Sunday, he had faced his

TOP 1 DET 0 OAK 0 Result of at-bat Willi Castro lines into a force out, center fielder Ramon Laureano to third baseman Matt Chapman. Robbie Grossman out at 3rd. Jeimer Candelario to 2nd. Willi Castro to 1st. Batter: Willi Castro Pitcher: Chris Bassitt

Detroit will still have six starting pitchers slated to pitch this week, but Tarik Skubal’s scheduled outing will come in relief. It’s a way for the Tigers to bring Turnbull back from the injured list and into his rightful rotation spot while watching Skubal’s innings totals as the Tigers ramp up from last year’s 60-game

A pair of former top prospects and another well on his way took their turns in the spotlight Saturday. The trio did not disappoint. Tristan McKenzie struck out seven over five innings while Dane Dunning and Dean Kremer — squaring off against each other — combined to allow a run over 10 2/3 innings with

The look on Casey Mize‘s face as he watched Matt Olson’s first-inning home run soar 438 feet out to right field summed up the pitch as well as his outing Saturday. The Tigers’ right-hander had the A’s slugger in an 0-2 count, couldn’t get him to chase splitters out of the zone, then left a

Nobody in American League history had a higher OPS through his first eight Major League games than Akil Baddoo. Nobody expected the Tigers rookie and Rule 5 revelation to keep up that record pace. Baddoo’s season is going to be a series of adjustments as he experiences his first extended stretch of baseball since Class

José Ureña held his own against Frankie Montas in an unexpected pitchers’ duel that consisted of two righties who entered the game with ERAs above 8.00.  Ureña’s first quality start of the season — and first since June 2019 — was spoiled by a Detroit offense that mustered only four hits in its 3-0 loss

Niko Goodrum has filled in holes for Detroit, both defensively and offensively, and is making it harder for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to leave him out of the lineup. Regardless of whether Goodrum is in the starting lineup, he’s making sure that his skipper notices the work that he’s putting in to be a player