2026 DETROIT TIGERS REGULAR SEASON THREAD

[LongLiveMaroth]

Also I'll just drop this here. 

 

[papalawrence]

Briceno is 21 and has been raking. I do have hopes he can be a 20-30 HR guy.

[TigerNation]

2 hours ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

https://prospectsavant.com/player/800522  - Consistently his Chase % has been pretty high, and same for his Whiff %. Z-swing % (measurement of how often he swings at pitches in the zone) is quite low at 62.50%. He's taking a lot of pitches which is why his OB% has been so good. But I'm really surprised that he's closer to two out of four versus three out of four that he swings at.....

I'm just wondering if he's too patient where upper level pitchers will be able to derail his success at the plate with better command...... I'm not saying I think he's a bust. But I think he's going to be closer to a .270/.320/.400 hitter than what we all hope is a .300/.370/.500 ....... Still valuable. But I'd like to see him swing and make more contact. He's already whiffing close to 30%......  

Those issues would not make him turn into a singles hitter. If he's able to hit .270 it means these weaknesses are not a flaw exposing him against ML pitching, and that means he will not struggle to hit for power. 

If those numbers indicate a weakness that will be exposed, it means he's gonna be hitting .220 and not putting enough balls in play for his power to make up for it.

Also a 27% whiff rate is above average, and not at all a red flag for a 21 year old in AA.  He's a power hitter, he's gonna whiff a lot. Since he's a 1B the bar is really high for what his offense needs to be in order to be a real impact player, and he's probably never reach that level.

[4hzglory]

33 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

Those issues would not make him turn into a singles hitter. If he's able to hit .270 it means these weaknesses are not a flaw exposing him against ML pitching, and that means he will not struggle to hit for power. 

If those numbers indicate a weakness that will be exposed, it means he's gonna be hitting .220 and not putting enough balls in play for his power to make up for it.

Also a 27% whiff rate is above average, and not at all a red flag for a 21 year old in AA.  He's a power hitter, he's gonna whiff a lot. Since he's a 1B the bar is really high for what his offense needs to be in order to be a real impact player, and he's probably never reach that level.

Yeah, if he ends up hitting .270, it's a best case scenerio and his slug is going to be well over .500.  Like you said, his slug isn't going to drop to .400.  His avg and OBP may drop considerably, but his slug is going to be high.

[Tiger337]

4 hours ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

Am I the only one not sold on Briceno? I have more faith that Ballinger will be the 1B of the future than Briceno....

I am not 100% SOLD on any prospect.  However, Briceno seems like he has a good chance to be a strong MLB hitter.  I don't have much of an opinion on Ballinger, but 30 MLB teams were not impressed enough to sign him before the 7th round (unless there was some kind of signability issue)

[AlaskanTigersFan]

I hope he turns out to be a gangster. Nothing would make me happier. 

[Tiger337]

7 hours ago, chasfh said:

No one will give us boo for Carpenter.

As for Tork, an analytics-skeptical organization such as the Angels or Marlins might give us some workable depth pieces for him.

I dont think they will get anything of significance for either one of the.  I would keep Torkelson because he hits lefties and stays healthy, two things with which the Tigers have struggled.  

[NorthWoods]

This Emerson fella should join here.

 

[NorthWoods]

All the race information you need in one place.

https://roartober.com/

[Tiger337]

The Tigers run differential is 100 runs higher than any of their third wildcard opponents.  

[monkeytargets39]

5 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

This Emerson fella should join here.

 

He has 21 doubles, 3 triples and 12 HRs and is  slugging .425 as a 21 year old rookie shortstop.  What is this dude talking about.

[SoCalTiger]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

He has 21 doubles, 3 triples and 12 HRs and is  slugging .425 as a 21 year old rookie shortstop.  What is this dude talking about.

The last 10 seconds ...tick Tok

[casimir]

On 8/14/2026 at 12:09 PM, chasfh said:

No one will give us boo for Carpenter.

As for Tork, an analytics-skeptical organization such as the Angels or Marlins might give us some workable depth pieces for him.

Carpenter will be worth something on the trade market.

[casimir]

On 8/14/2026 at 7:16 PM, Tiger337 said:

I dont think they will get anything of significance for either one of the.  I would keep Torkelson because he hits lefties and stays healthy, two things with which the Tigers have struggled.  

I guess it depends on what “significance” means.  Neither would be a blockbuster move, no question.  But I like the Harris regime’s ability to scratch out some talent in a deal like this.

I agree with you about keeping Torkelson for right now as he addresses a specific need.

I have been not as much of a fan of Carpenter as many others.  I’ve always preferred defense in the Tiger OF and his bat doesn’t make up for his defensive inadequacies.  Plus he can’t stay healthy.  Despite that, I think some team would acquire him for his power at cheap salary.

[Edman85]

On 8/14/2026 at 9:48 AM, Sports_Freak said:

Google AI insists Melton is healthy and starting Saturday;

 

 

Maybe don't use Google AI? Or at least use it with a shred of skepticism?

[chasfh]

15 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

This Emerson fella should join here.

 

Maybe he did four years ago.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, NorthWoods said:

All the race information you need in one place.

https://roartober.com/

Nice! Maybe I’ll do my own AI website along these lines.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

I have been not as much of a fan of Carpenter as many others.  I’ve always preferred defense in the Tiger OF and his bat doesn’t make up for his defensive inadequacies.  Plus he can’t stay healthy.  Despite that, I think some team would acquire him for his power at cheap salary.

I just think expecting someone to give us a valuable asset in exchange for a guy who can’t field, can’t run, can’t hit left-handers, is below replacement level, is going to be 29, and is trying to work through one the worst foot injuries known to ballplayers that takes months to recover from might be a tall order.

[1984Echoes]

15 hours ago, monkeytargets39 said:

... slugging .425 as a 21 year old rookie shortstop.  What is this dude ...

... smoking?

FTFY.

 

 

Edited Sunday at 07:52 PM by 1984Echoes

[1984Echoes]

5 hours ago, chasfh said:

I just think expecting someone to give us a valuable asset in exchange for ...

I wouldn't call it a valuable asset...

But if Scott Harris can turn either Carpenter or Tork, once they get pushed out of a job, into a lottery ticket... Isn't that still better than nothing? If they just end up leaving as non-QO free agents when the time comes?

And if I'm not mistaken, Harris is betting that he can take an arm, almost any arm, with promise, but with lots of development still required, and put them through the Tigers Pitching Developmental team and turn them into something useful or better. It appears to me that he's fully bought into our ability to make pitchers better in our system.

I approve of that message/ strategy. And pitching is what is needed to get a team into the playoffs, so I hope he's successful with this.

Which includes getting low/high-A lottery tickets for Tork & Carpenter versus nothing. Which I would be perfectly fine with... I don't really expect "valuable assets" for either, and don't need that level of return... Just a good eye for a lower-level pitcher that they think they can do something with.

Just my 2 cents.

[NorthWoods]

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, NorthWoods said:

We were 21-12 in one-run games last year. Remember how great our bullpen was? 😏

[SeattleMike]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

We were 21-12 in one-run games last year. Remember how great our bullpen was? 😏

19-33 in one and two run games. Losing close games has been the signature feature of the 2026 Tigers. I thought maybe this has improved since June 1 but not really. 12-19 since then. And it's not just the bullpen. Seems they have won few games when trailing by a run or two after 7 innings. Way fewer than the average, I bet. 

Edited Tuesday at 06:06 PM by SeattleMike

[chasfh]

24 minutes ago, SeattleMike said:

19-33 in one and two run games. Losing close games has been the signature feature of the 2026 Tigers. I thought maybe this has improved since June 1 but not really. 12-19 since then. And it's not just the bullpen. Seems they have won few games when trailing by a run or two after 7 innings. Way fewer than the average, I bet. 

Yes, it is many things, and not just a “terrible” bullpen. I know people are uncomfortable with this idea, but I believe a lot of it is attributable to luck. 

[Sports_Freak]

7 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Yes, it is many things, and not just a “terrible” bullpen. I know people are uncomfortable with this idea, but I believe a lot of it is attributable to luck. 

It sure seems like the Tigers have had leads late in many, many games that the bullpen couldn't hold. And yes, if they scored 8 runs a game, I bet their record would be better. But the 2-1 or 3-2 wins seem few and far between.