Projections and expectations for the Detroit Tigers are mixed heading into the 2025 regular season.Their staff is anchored by reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Unlike down the stretch last year, he is backed by a strong group of pitchers: Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Casey Mize and star prospect Jackson Jobe.What is […]
Projections and expectations for the Detroit Tigers are mixed heading into the 2025 regular season.Their staff is anchored by reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Unlike down the stretch last year, he is backed by a strong group of pitchers: Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Casey Mize and star prospect Jackson Jobe.What is going to determine their level of success is how productive the offense is.Prior to a down 2024 campaign that was marred by injuries with only 81 games played, Bichette was cementing himself as one of the best young shortstops in the game. He was on the MVP ballot in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and led the AL in hits twice.Lacking power and run producers, Detroit is a team to keep an eye on as the season moves along that will be on the lookout for upgrades offensively. There are some intriguing pieces, such as left fielder Riley Greene, right fielder Kerry Carpenter, Keith and Torkelson.In a recent piece, a bold prediction was shared for each team during the 2025 season. For the Tigers, Stavenhagen offered an incredibly bold one, saying they will push to make a move for Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette.With Keith at the corner infield spot, Spencer Torkelson looked to be the odd man out, but a stellar spring led to earning a spot on the Opening Day roster. He made it count right away with a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But, the team is lacking established producers and the left side of their infield is a mess. If they are going to start Javier Baez regularly, they aren’t going to be taken seriously as contenders in the AL.“The Tigers will hover around the .500 mark for most of the first half. If they can remain within striking distance in the AL Central race, they will be aggressive buyers at the trade deadline, making a serious run at an infielder such as Bo Bichette from the Blue Jays,” he wrote.Coming off an incredible second half in 2024, there are some people who believe that they are going to build upon that positive momentum and ride the wave. They certainly look to have the pitching capable of doing it.There would be a risk trading for him given that he is set to hit free agency after the year, but he would provide the team with a massive boost for another late season playoff push.Despite having some needs in the lineup, the only Major League addition that was made by the Tigers was Gleyber Torres. He didn’t fill a weakness either, taking over at second base which moved Colt Keith to first base after a successful rookie campaign.In depserate need of some help offensively, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic (paid subscription required) believes they are going to do everything in their power to find an upgrade ahead of the deadline.The bullpen looks solid as well with emerging stars such as Tyler Holton, Will Vest and Beau Brieske and the veteran addition.A two-time All-Star, he offers legitimate pop from the position, hitting at least 20 home runs and 30 doubles in all three of those campaigns. He regularly hits the ball hard with an average exit velocity of 90.7 mph and hard-hit rate of 46.9% for his career.
