DETROIT – Somehow, some way, the Detroit Tigers have managed to stay in the AL Central race through the first half of the season, and now, three (or four) of their best players are nearing a return from injury.
On Sunday, the Tigers blasted five home runs to beat the Colorado Rockies and finish a seven-game road trip with a winning record. Suddenly, 83 games into the season, Detroit is just four behind the co-division-leading Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians.
Nobody expected the Tigers to be in contention by the Fourth of July, and, admittedly, most still don’t believe it’ll last. Detroit would be 18 games out of first in the AL East and 12.5 back in the AL West, after all.
But there isn’t a single team with a winning record in the AL Central, and the Tigers have a chance to take advantage. Other than an ugly nine-game losing streak in early June, Detroit has played exactly .500 baseball.
And now, reinforcements are on the way. Lefty starters Tarik Skubal and Eduardo Rodriguez -- the two Tigers who have most closely resembled “aces” since Justin Verlander -- are scheduled to return this week against the Oakland Athletics.
Skubal was in the middle of a breakthrough last season when he went down with an injury, pitching to a 3.34 expected ERA (xERA), posting a 1.16 WHIP, and striking out a batter per inning. His strikeout and walk rates were excellent, and his underlying contact metrics weren’t bad, either.
Rodriguez was in the early AL Cy Young conversation before getting hurt in late May. He owns a 2.13 ERA, a 3.09 xERA, and a 0.98 WHIP while striking out a batter per inning.
Chris Fetter has managed to keep the pitching staff afloat through all these injuries. Adding the team’s two best weapons to the top of the rotation can’t hurt, right?
Meanwhile, Riley Greene is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon, which means the Tigers will get their best everyday player back in the lineup.
Greene, despite having missed more than a month, leads the team with 1.6 WAR on the season. He’s slashing .296/.362/.443 in 52 games, with 17 extra-base hits and six stolen bases.
The Tigers have missed Greene’s defense in center field and his left-handed bat at the top of the lineup.
It won’t come with as much fanfare as the trio above, but the return of Akil Baddoo will also give the Tigers a nice boost.
Baddoo quietly put together a strong couple of months before the start of June. He was batting .262 with a .760 OPS at the end of May.
A 1-for-21 stretch leading up to his injury tanked Baddoo’s overall numbers, but he’s still been one of the most productive offensive players on the team. Baddoo owns a .341 on-base percentage to go with seven doubles, three homers, and six stolen bases. He’s also played all three outfield spots.
He grades out as an elite runner, a very good outfielder (89th percentage in outs above average), and sports an excellent 14.3% walk rate to go with a very solid 20.2% strikeout rate. A.J. Hinch can’t wait to add this left-handed bat back to the lineup card.
If the Twins or Guardians go on a long winning streak, it will likely shatter the Tigers’ slim division dreams. But for the first time in years, there’s hope at the start of July.
The Tigers looked like they were going to crumble after losing Rodriguez, Greene, and Baddoo. But now they’re starting to get healthy, and the division is still within reach.
