Roar restored: Detroit Tigers boast best record in American League with hot start to regular season

DENVER – The roar is back in the Motor City, as manager A.J. Hinch has his Detroit Tigers sitting atop the American League.

Through 36 games, Detroit has been one of the best teams in Major League Baseball.

They surged to a 23-13 record and established themselves as one of the game’s teams to be reckoned with after defeating the Colorado Rockies 8-6 in extra innings on Wednesday (May 7) inside Coors Field.

It wasn’t a good outing for young gun Jackson Jobe, who took the mound, giving up all six runs, including two homers, through four innings, but his offense, led by Javier Baez and his bullpen, held him up in extras.

Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson was all over the diamond, making plays as his clutchness in the field of play and in the batter’s box was a sight to see.

He delivered a go-ahead double in the top of the 10th inning, followed by shortstop Trey Sweeney, who hit a blooper to left field out of the grasp of Rockies outfielder Jordan Beck, leading to a two-base error allowing a much-needed insurance run to seal the deal.

But Baez has reached another level, as he’s beginning to look like “El Mago” has returned.

Through his first two at-bats, Baez knocked in four runs and scored another to assist the Tigers, accounting for five of their first six runs.

If his bat stays hot, he can also return to the All-Star game for the third time in his championship career, which will be held inside Truist Park on July 15.

With the victory, the Tigers have won five of their last six games and will look to continue rolling as they’ll finish up the three-game series and their 10-game road trip with a doubleheader against the Rockies (6-29) on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

To assist with the Tigers’ hot start has been the Tiger King, Tarik Skubal.

Coming off a historical season, Skubal is proving that his triple-championship

Skubal has become one of the league’s best pitchers by striking fear into opposing hitters when he takes the mound.

Adding a returning Jack Flaherty, who went on to win the World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has not only brought championship experience, but the formation of a dynamic duo seems to be striking fear into batters’ faces with the formidable one-two punch at the top of the Tigers’ lineup.

With a healthy Casey Mize and a youthful arm in Jobe, to go along with the veteran presence of Flaherty and Skubal roaming around Comerica Park and the other 29 stadiums, although it’s very early in the season, the way they’re playing, they could all be named All-Stars before blazing a potential trail into another magical postseason run.

If you’re thinking hyperbole, Jobe, although he struggles and is the Tigers’ fifth starter, is hitting 99 miles per hour on the radar gun.

Mize, a former No. 1 overall draft pick, is now returning to form, and their bullpen has been phenomenal after two months into the season.

They’ve finally found their hitting, averaging 5.1 runs per game (prior to Wednesday’s eight), which is second among American League teams.

They’re +63 in run differential as they’ve scored more runs than they allowed, meaning their scoring efficiency overall, which can be used to predict future wins and losses, and from the looks of it, everything is pointing in the right direction.

Their bullpen earned run average is 2.57, first in the American League; their starter earned run average is 3.19, ranked third, and they are second in slugging percentage at .423.

As far as hitting, the Tigers are grooving as Torkelson has been chopping wood thus far with his .233 batting average. But he made numerous plays with his glove on first base vs. Colorado as he dug some balls out of the dirt to save extra bases, including securing an incredible double-play.

With his bat returning to form, alongside his power and RBI potential, as the great DJ Khaled would say, “Major key alert,” he has been one of the most routine bats in the American League.

Kerry Carpenter has eight home runs through 36 games, but he’s clutch in the postseason.

But once Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, and Jake Rogers return from their injuries and Gleyber Torres finds his footing in the infield, the red-hot Tigers could make some noise in the postseason.