2026 DETROIT TIGERS REGULAR SEASON THREAD

[Shelton]

I also know that motor city bengals is one of the worst sites out there and would never visit or read. 
 

Byb is barely tolerable. 
 

Rogelio works hard and I appreciate the coverage but I don’t need their opinions. You guys here do a much better job.  

[Tiger337]

34 minutes ago, Shelton said:

I also know that motor city bengals is one of the worst sites out there and would never visit or read. 
 

Byb is barely tolerable. 
 

Rogelio works hard and I appreciate the coverage but I don’t need their opinions. You guys here do a much better job.  

yes, this site is the best place to get news, facts, opinions about the Tigers.  It's why I come here so frequently.  

[Edman85]

56 minutes ago, Shelton said:

It sure is a tricky line to walk. There is a line between fact and authorship. There are many articles I see that are reporting a fact that I want to know about. Paywall hits and I resort to googling the fact. I’m good to go.
 

Someone doing some actual analysis and forming a theory/conclusion/opinion? Obviously that’s a work of authorship that has protection. 
 

but how do you define that acody compared the tigers to the orioles? Is it a fact that he did that? Or is it authorship that he came to that conclusion. 
 

Anyway, to answer your question. I know it when I see it. 

We are kind of at the late stage result of that, though. The aggregators, the yahoo/huffposts of the world, are poaching the ad revenue from clicks and forcing newspapers behind paywalls as a result. Those papers and outlets are being hollowed out and there is less true coverage now. 95% of the Tigers beat is just all the outlets regurgitating what the team gives them when they arrive at the park. It would have been nice if they had the ability to blow the lid off some of the frat boy activities at ISE sooner, for example.

There is still some value in news gathering and investigation. I try to subscribe to local papers both where I live and Detroit just to support them and ensure they can do their job. The cost isn't that much. Having said that, my Detroit News expires very soon... Just needed to cut some budget in the very short term (house/dog/car emergencies) and it was redundant with Freep. I went with Freep because Perzold gives some contract info I find useful that nobody else gives.

Edited yesterday at 12:54 AM by Edman85

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Edman85 said:

We are kind of at the late stage result of that, though. The aggregators, the yahoo/huffposts of the world, are poaching the ad revenue from clicks and forcing newspapers behind paywalls as a result. Those papers and outlets are being hollowed out and there is less true coverage now. 95% of the Tigers beat is just all the outlets regurgitating what the team gives them when they arrive at the park. It would have been nice if they had the ability to blow the lid off some of the frat boy activities at ISE sooner, for example.

There is still some value in news gathering and investigation. I try to subscribe to local papers both where I live and Detroit just to support them and ensure they can do their job. The cost isn't that much. Having said that, my Detroit News expires very soon... Just needed to cut some budget in the very short term (house/dog/car emergencies) and it was redundant with Freep. I went with Freep because Perzold gives some contract info I find useful that nobody else gives.

Freep and News are very negotiable. Just give them some version of, I can get the same information in a lot of other sources but I like you guys OK, so I can stay on board with you guys for $2 a month for the both of them together for the next year, will that work for you?

Edited yesterday at 02:01 AM by chasfh

[NorthWoods]

1 hour ago, Edman85 said:

We are kind of at the late stage result of that, though. The aggregators, the yahoo/huffposts of the world, are poaching the ad revenue from clicks and forcing newspapers behind paywalls as a result. Those papers and outlets are being hollowed out and there is less true coverage now. 95% of the Tigers beat is just all the outlets regurgitating what the team gives them when they arrive at the park. It would have been nice if they had the ability to blow the lid off some of the frat boy activities at ISE sooner, for example.

There is still some value in news gathering and investigation. I try to subscribe to local papers both where I live and Detroit just to support them and ensure they can do their job. The cost isn't that much. Having said that, my Detroit News expires very soon... Just needed to cut some budget in the very short term (house/dog/car emergencies) and it was redundant with Freep. I went with Freep because Perzold gives some contract info I find useful that nobody else gives.

Ask him to schedule another October honeymoon to help us out.

[Sports_Freak]

Ty Madden is going to the bullpen but the Tigers are going to have to make some decisions on which 5 starting pitchers to use soon. Montero, Mize, JV, Flaherty, Skubal, Valdez and Melton. Flaherty to the pen and Montero to Toledo? I guess much depends on how JV and his hip hold up?

[Edman85]

2 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Ty Madden is going to the bullpen but the Tigers are going to have to make some decisions on which 5 starting pitchers to use soon. Montero, Mize, JV, Flaherty, Skubal, Valdez and Melton. Flaherty to the pen and Montero to Toledo? I guess much depends on how JV and his hip hold up?

Let's not assume everybody stays healthy. Cross that bridge when we get there.

I do think Montero would be a good back-end reliever though.

 

Edited yesterday at 01:17 PM by Edman85

[gehringer_2]

Just now, Edman85 said:

Let's not assume everybody stays healthy. Cross that bridge when we get there.

Yeah - let's see if Mize can get through more than 3 start in a row.

[casimir]

8 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

Let's not assume everybody stays healthy. Cross that bridge when we get there.

I do think Montero would be a good back-end reliever though.

 

Yup.  There were “too many” starters in spring training.  And then May happened.

[Shelton]

It’s a valid question. Especially because “we” don’t have to actually do anything except for comment on the various possibilities. It does indeed happen from time to time that a roster decision needs to be made because there are too many options for a limited number of spots. 
 

We spent all spring talking about how they could possibly fit 27 guys into 26 spots and sure enough Wenceel Perez had to start the year in Toledo. 
 

Anyway, it’s ok to be optimistic about guys returning from injury when the recovery reports are positive (I’m not concerned with discussing who goes down when Javy returns).

For the starting staff, following the returns to health from JV, Skubal, and Mize, it does seem like you would go with this five:

Skubal

Framber

Mize

Melton

Flaherty

 

Whether Montero stays as a bullpen option or goes back to Toledo to stay stretched out as a starter, that’s harder to say. Hinch and co. do seem to lack faith in his ability to go deep into games.

[Tiger337]

56 minutes ago, casimir said:

Yup.  There were “too many” starters in spring training.  And then May happened.

You can never ever have too many starters.  

[monkeytargets39]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

Ty Madden is going to the bullpen but the Tigers are going to have to make some decisions on which 5 starting pitchers to use soon. Montero, Mize, JV, Flaherty, Skubal, Valdez and Melton. Flaherty to the pen and Montero to Toledo? I guess much depends on how JV and his hip hold up?

Madden should go to Toledo before Montero does.  Keider has earned his roster spot.  There’s plenty of others that should go  before him.

[Sports_Freak]

20 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Madden should go to Toledo before Montero does.  Keider has earned his roster spot.  There’s plenty of others that should go  before him.

Agreed. The ability to throw strikes coming out of the bullpen should be the most important thing. 1st inning struggles are pretty common with some starting pitchers...Madden has too small of a sample size to get a good read on him. But yeah, in Toledo he could stay stretched out and be back here to help when needed. JV and Flaherty'sh effectiveness is still questionable and Skubal and/or Mize may get dealt.

[Tigermojo]

Not sure but maybe they are limiting Madden's innings. 

[Tenacious D]

SGL is the emergency starter at Toledo.  Melton and Montero to the pen strengthens what has been a major weakness.  Ideally, I’d keep Montero in the rotation and move Flaherty to the pen, where he probably would excel for an inning or two at a time.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

You can never ever have too many starters.  

Most organizations have five on the big club, five more in AAA, and five more in AA. Theoretically, that's up to 15 they can turn to in a pinch, which is what we faced pretty quickly.

Edited 23 hours ago by chasfh

[Shelton]

2 hours ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Madden should go to Toledo before Montero does.  Keider has earned his roster spot.  There’s plenty of others that should go  before him.

Do you mean he earned it like he is owed it? Or he earned it and he is a better bullpen arm than Madden?

I honestly don’t know the answer and it probably doesn’t matter. But I sure hope they keep the guy that they think is going to help them win the most games and not out of some form of duty.

Jack has shown signs of life, and we can infer that they view Madden in the pen and Jack in the rotation as the optimal arrangement for two guys on the major league roster. But I do wonder when it comes time to decide what to do with Montero if there is a world where Montero keeps his rotation spot and Jack doesn’t. 

[Tigeraholic1]

 

 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, Shelton said:

Jack has shown signs of life, and we can infer that they view Madden in the pen and Jack in the rotation as the optimal arrangement for two guys on the major league roster. But I do wonder when it comes time to decide what to do with Montero if there is a world where Montero keeps his rotation spot and Jack doesn’t. 

I think if you look at K/9 (10.9 for Jack, 6.3 for Keider) that explains why they are going to have a lot more bias for keeping Jack in the rotation - he just doesn't have to be as perfect to be successful as Montero does- so it's easy to believe Montero can't come out and thread the needle he has to thread to be successful each time out. There a lot of good baseball logic to that, and I won't argue with taking that as plan  A.

Yet we know it's still no guarantee that Flaherty's control won't be so terrible the K's don't save him  and Montero actually can keep threading the needle and you end up being wrong, so best not to be too averse to plan B. 🤷‍♂️

[1984Echoes]

On 6/3/2026 at 11:25 AM, SoCalTiger said:

Has Verling been that bad of a centerfielder apart from his one bonehead play ? Has centerfield play been the main cause of May's disaster ? Serous question what do you folks think ?

May's disaster was not only injuries to half our pitchers and outfielders and infielders...

 

Of our key hitters who played in May:

Tork batted .200 with a .649 OPS in 95 at-bats.

McGonigle batted .238 with a .644 OPS in 101 at-bats.

Keith batted .217 with a .547 OPS in 69 at-bats.

Dingler batted .206 with a .743 OPS in 97 at-bats.

Jahmai batted .114 with a .387 OPS in 35 at-bats.

Vierling batted .200 with a .611 OPS in 90 at-bats.

 

... even our good hitters that played a full May slumped at the bat during the month.

[NorthWoods]

2 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

 

 

1 Start there, 2 in Detroit.  Trade him to the Dodgers for a whole new OF, move Riley to 1B/DH.   Solves our rotation glut issue and reloads the team with some dynamic young players.

 

[monkeytargets39]

5 hours ago, Shelton said:

Do you mean he earned it like he is owed it? Or he earned it and he is a better bullpen arm than Madden?

I honestly don’t know the answer and it probably doesn’t matter. But I sure hope they keep the guy that they think is going to help them win the most games and not out of some form of duty.

Jack has shown signs of life, and we can infer that they view Madden in the pen and Jack in the rotation as the optimal arrangement for two guys on the major league roster. But I do wonder when it comes time to decide what to do with Montero if there is a world where Montero keeps his rotation spot and Jack doesn’t. 

I mean his performance has been above expectations and he has bailed us out coming up from Toledo a bunch of times when others are hurt.  He isn’t “owed” anything necessarily, but he deserves to not be jerked around back and forth between Detroit and Toledo unless he’s not pitching well.  
 

Even if Madden stays up, I’d send Hanifee or DeJesus down before Montero

[chasfh]

15 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

1 Start there, 2 in Detroit.  Trade him to the Dodgers for a whole new OF, move Riley to 1B/DH.   Solves our rotation glut issue and reloads the team with some dynamic young players.

 

Man, you are setting yourself up to really, really hate Scott Harris on August 4. 😉 

Edited 2 hours ago by chasfh

[casimir]

Ok, I’ve been resistant to assuming a fully healthy pitching staff at any point this season.  It just doesn’t happen anymore, so why put any stick into it?  But what the heck, I’ll play the game.

SP in no particular order after Skubal would be Skubal, Valdez, Mize, Verlander, ….. Flaherty.  Probably not much debate with the first three.

As for Verlander and Flaherty, I’ll wouldn’t be surprised to see either bumped for Montero.  But I think SO ability is what would keep Montero out of the rotation, as well as the fact that Montero could supply long relief in a game.

I can see where folks would point to Melton.  I think he’d move to the bullpen as a way to build his season stamina back up, probably as a multiple inning RP.  I think it’s possible he’d get the opportunity to fill a rotation spot ahead of Montero going when that time comes, but I’m not putting money on it.

[NorthWoods]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

Man, you are setting yourself up to really, really hate Scott Harris on August 4. 😉 

Perhaps, though so far I've not hated what he's tried to do other than the Jansen signing.