2026 DETROIT TIGERS REGULAR SEASON THREAD

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I certainly do no wish the worst for Meadows...he is a quality ballplayer and, from what I hear, an even better person.

But, I like what his absence has opened for this Tigers team. McGonigle can stick at SS...Keith can stick at 3B...DH can still rotate as needed. I really like the IF stability for your young hitters. CF now flexes more rather than the infield. Baez and Vierling and Perez as mix-and-match options in CF are fine options (even if they aren't as good defensively as Meadows).

That said, I'm still wishing Meadows a very quick recovery.

[Sports_Freak]

Today's Free Press trolling Chas;

On Saturday, I asked Toledo manager Gabe Alvarez who could move up and help the Tigers?

He answered without pause: Gage Workman, a versatile infielder who is hitting .375 with a 1.090 OPS.

“Gage Workman's playing really well, really swinging the bat,” Alvarez said in Toledo.

“He's a great baserunner. He can steal a base for you. He's a plus defender at multiple positions - short, third or second.”

Speaking of Workman, consider the talent the Tigers found in the 2020 MLB Draft.

First round: Spencer Torkelson. Second round: Dingler. Fourth round: Workman. Fifth round: Colt Keith. Not a bad draft ... for former Tigers GM Al Avila..

[chasfh]

Already spiking the football on Gage Workman to the full credit of Al Avila, are we? 😁

[Tiger337]

5 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Already spiking the football on Gage Workman to the full credit of Al Avila, are we? 😁

The second and fifth round picks were pretty good!

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, Tiger337 said:

The second and fifth round picks were pretty good!

Once Harris got his hands on them!

[gehringer_2]

They are working Workman all across the IF now. He could be a decent utility guy if he's finally controlling his K's.  IDK what the odds of that happening at his age are, but he's still got a chance to show this year.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

They are working Workman all across the IF now. He could be a decent utility guy if he's finally controlling his K's.  IDK what the odds of that happening at his age are, but he's still got a chance to show this year.

Who knows, maybe Gage can become the LHB utility guy when McStinky stinks his way out of town. 😉 

[Sports_Freak]

15 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Who knows, maybe Gage can become the LHB utility guy when McStinky stinks his way out of town. 😉 

Im starting to wonder how many years until there are no more Avila players in the organization? 5 years? 7 years?

[RatkoVarda]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Im starting to wonder how many years until there are no more Avila players in the organization? 5 years? 7 years?

Dingler might stick around even longer than that

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, RatkoVarda said:

Dingler might stick around even longer than that

If he keeps playing like he has been...

And just think, the Jake injury last season pressed Dingler into full time duty. He took the job and ran away with it...kinda like a modern day Wally Pipp. 😆

[papalawrence]

Hard to believe the Tigers are just 1.5 games back from the best record in the AL. And I hate the Dodgers

[Tiger337]

According to FanGraphs, the Tigers are 

5th in pitching

15th in hittimg

21st in base running

28th in fielding

That feels about right.  

Their fielding was better last year and their base running was a lot better.  That's where they need to improve.  

 

[IdahoBert]

16 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

According to FanGraphs, the Tigers are 

5th in pitching

15th in hittimg

21st in base running

28th in fielding

That feels about right.  

Their fielding was better last year and their base running was a lot better.  That's where they need to improve.  

 

Those are pretty dismal metrics to contemplate. 

[Tiger337]

8 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

Those are pretty dismal metrics to contemplate. 

Except for the pitching!

 

[chasfh]

Tigers through April 9 (4-9):

19th in pitching

14th in hitting

18th in base running

25th in fielding

 

Tigers since April 9 (8-1):

1st in pitching

12th in hitting

19th in base running

30th in fielding

[chasfh]

On 4/15/2026 at 7:17 AM, Sports_Freak said:

Today's Free Press trolling Chas;

On Saturday, I asked Toledo manager Gabe Alvarez who could move up and help the Tigers?

He answered without pause: Gage Workman, a versatile infielder who is hitting .375 with a 1.090 OPS.

“Gage Workman's playing really well, really swinging the bat,” Alvarez said in Toledo.

“He's a great baserunner. He can steal a base for you. He's a plus defender at multiple positions - short, third or second.”

Speaking of Workman, consider the talent the Tigers found in the 2020 MLB Draft.

First round: Spencer Torkelson. Second round: Dingler. Fourth round: Workman. Fifth round: Colt Keith. Not a bad draft ... for former Tigers GM Al Avila..

This is like praising the person who bought the cake ingredients at the store, instead of the person who baked the cake.

[Sports_Freak]

1 minute ago, chasfh said:

This is like praising the person who bought the cake ingredients at the store, instead of the person who baked the cake.

I think Harris re-acquired Workman? I may be wrong because I don't really keep track of how we get talent, just that we do get talent.

But, in case anyone was wondering why we didnt bring him up, he's another LH bat. And we've been desperate for RH bats since last summer. The need was ignored all winter.

[gehringer_2]

11 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

I think Harris re-acquired Workman? I may be wrong because I don't really keep track of how we get talent, just that we do get talent.

But, in case anyone was wondering why we didnt bring him up, he's another LH bat. And we've been desperate for RH bats since last summer. The need was ignored all winter.

IRRC, Workman was lost to the Cubs via Rule V last off season. Played a few game for the Cubs, they traded him the White Sox but apparently that doesn't change the Rule's requirement that if he falls off the major league roster he comes back to Detroit, so when the Sox Cut him, he ended up back in Toledo. 

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Tigers through April 9 (4-9):

 

19th in pitching

14th in hitting

18th in base running

25th in fielding

 

Tigers since April 9 (8-1):

 

1st in pitching

12th in hitting

19th in base running

30th in fielding

They've had some dumb sends home, which is a reflection on Cora rather than the team's base running ability.

[Sports_Freak]

15 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

IRRC, Workman was lost to the Cubs via Rule V last off season. Played a few game for the Cubs, they traded him the White Sox but apparently that doesn't change the Rule's requirement that if he falls off the major league roster he comes back to Detroit, so when the Sox Cut him, he ended up back in Toledo. 

But doesn't the original team have to pay to get him back? I really dont know that rule...in any event, Harris did bring him back?

[Sports_Freak]

14 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

They've had some dumb sends home, which is a reflection on Cora rather than the team's base running ability.

Base running shouldn't be ranked by stolen bases. I'm not sure what all is included with a general statement like a team is ranked 19th in base running.

[Tiger337]

1 minute ago, Sports_Freak said:

Base running shouldn't be ranked by stolen bases. I'm not sure what all is included with a general statement like a team is ranked 19th in base running.

It's not ranked by stolen bases.  The statistic includes all base running plays such as taking the extra base and being thrown out trying to do so as well as stolen bases.  They are good at taking the extra base on hits, but they get thrown out a lot too.  The baserunning sample is probably too small to be meaningful now.  

[Sports_Freak]

13 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

It's not ranked by stolen bases.  The statistic includes all base running plays such as taking the extra base and being thrown out trying to do so as well as stolen bases.  They are good at taking the extra base on hits, but they get thrown out a lot too.  The baserunning sample is probably too small to be meaningful now.  

True, too soon. Where did they end up last season? I would think they would end up better this season with McGonigle taking extra bases. The temporary loss of McKinstry kinda hurts.

[gehringer_2]

18 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

but they get thrown out a lot too. 

I'd prefer a grading system which broke out coach decisions from player decisions. I get its all put together as a matter of team performance, but being sent into sure outs is a fundamentally different problem for a team to solve than than having runners who don't run the bases well, so as a diagnostic metric I would prefer that cases be spilt.

[Tiger337]

20 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'd prefer a grading system which broke out coach decisions from player decisions. I get its all put together as a matter of team performance, but being sent into sure outs is a fundamentally different problem for a team to solve than than having runners who don't run the bases well, so as a diagnostic metric I would prefer that cases be spilt.

So, it would be like an official scorer making decisions on fielding errors.  It's a good idea, but I can also see the same kind of judgement call problems you get with errors.  Teams make a lot of errors in part because they are able to get close enough to making plays because of good range.  So, is it a good thing or a bad thing?   With baserunning, the Tigers have a generally aggressive philosophy where they get more wins on the bases than other teams, but also more losses.  So, is it a good thing or bad thing that they get thrown out more than other teams? 

I know there are times where obvious "mistakes" are made by coaches, but sometimes a coach can take a big risk and the player ends up being safe.  How does the scorer decide?  I can see where they might give coaches all the blame and players all the credit.  I suppose you could have a statcast type thing where cameras inform how much of a risk/reward there is on every play and reward the coach/player according.  But that is hard too because sometimes players make decisions on their own.