Last season, the Detroit Tigers finished 78-84, good for second place in the ailing American League Central Division, and we have enough evidence to make bold Detroit Tigers predictions. The Tigers’ 78 victories would have put them last in the crowded American League East, emphasizing the team’s need for a stronger performance in 2024 as Spring Training begins in Lakeland, Florida.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch recently spoke candidly about Javier Baez’s potential comeback season in 2024. Pitcher Jack Flaherty revealed the genuine reason he signed with the Tigers this offseason.
With the Tigers’ pitchers and catchers reporting on Valentine’s Day (Wednesday, February 14), it’s time to make three bold predictions for GM Jeff Greenberg’s squad in 2024.
The Detroit Tigers will finish with a winning record.
The Tigers have been acquiring young talent over the last five seasons while waiting for their own young talent to remain healthy and mature on time.
Detroit now has a powerful second through fourth batting order and a varied group of position players, which should help them improve on their below-average hitting statistics from previous season.
Manager AJ Hinch has been with the Tigers since October 2020, giving them a sense of stability that other clubs lack.
Hinch put the brakes on the Tigers’ expectations, especially division championship hopes heaped on the team by first baseman Spencer Torkelson.
“We’ll have plenty of time to talk about that as we build this team,” Hinch said. “We are at 58 players. We’ll whittle it down to 26 [by the conclusion of camp], and the messaging about how we’ll approach the first series will become increasingly consolidated. But we know where we want to be and what we want to do. We aren’t afraid to talk about winning games. We clearly want to have a winning record, but I’ll give you the [expected] answer: we haven’t earned it yet. We haven’t played any games, and I’m not obsessed with them.”
The Tigers will finish with at least 83 wins, securing their first winning season since 2016.
The Tigers pitching staff struggles to carry the team.
Detroit got Flaherty in the offseason and has some pitching talent, but the Tigers’ pitching staff has a long way to go before it can be considered one of the best in the American League.
Tarik Skubal could deliver ace-level production and skill for Detroit this season, but Flaherty is not a viable number two option at this juncture in his career.
A cursory look at the Tigers’ 2023 pitching statistics reveals a pitching staff that is more akin to Randy Smith-era catastrophes than Dave Dombrowski-era successes.
Unless Matt Manning, Flaherty, or Kenta Maeda show significant improvements in their pitching abilities this season, the Tigers’ starting rotation will put a lot of pressure on a bullpen that is not entirely prepared to handle it.
The Tigers’ pitching staff will let the team down and become a weakness this season unless two or three players suddenly take a significant step forward.
The Tigers won’t win the American League Central.
Despite Hinch’s success as a manager with the Astros and the Tigers’ desire to return to the postseason, the team will fall short of winning the AL Central this season.
Detroit simply has the track record and consistency required to forecast long-term, championship-level success over a full season.
Last season, Torkelson led the Tigers with 31 home runs, while Jake Rogers added 21 and Kerry Carpenter had 20.
The Tigers are still near the bottom of the league in several offensive metrics, and they appear unlikely to improve until Carpenter and Torkelson improve their production, clutch hitting, and efficiency significantly.
It’s not just about statistics, either. The Tigers were battered in several of their most critical games last season and must quickly develop a ‘clutch gene’ to outperform their Central Division opponents.
The prediction here is that they will be more consistent and productive, yet fall short of their goals.
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