The Detroit Tigers are in a quiet stretch, but there’s still a little to sort through as the league championship series get rolling. The biggest organizational news of late has come on the staff front: the Tigers parted ways with first base coach Anthony Sanders and assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves, and those moves followed the earlier change involving Joey Cora, who was replaced by new third base Billy Boyer in the middle of the season.
That coaching shuffle matters because AJ Hinch made it clear at his end-of-season press conference that he wants a different style of baseball with all the young talent that arrived this year. With the roster getting younger and quicker, the staff decisions feel tied directly to how the Tigers want to play.
Detroit finally started running more in September, and there’s reason to think that could become part of the identity going forward. Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, Ben Malgeri, Brett Callahan, and John Peck all give the Tigers more speed and contact ability to work with.
The question now is whether the new coaching group, especially at first base, can help turn that into a real weapon.
The most notable on-field development belongs to Zyhir Hope in the Arizona Fall League. The 21-year-old left-handed hitting right fielder has opened the season well, even if the power hasn’t shown up yet.
Through 22 plate appearances, he’s hitting .294 with five walks and six strikeouts, and the early read is that he looks comfortable at the plate. He just hasn’t driven the ball with authority so far.
Not every Tigers prospect has found the same early success. John Peck is off to a rough start, hitting only .059 through 19 plate appearances with seven strikeouts.
It’s a tiny sample, and Peck is one of the more experienced hitters in the league, so the expectation is that he should settle in with time. Bryce Rainer has been limited to three games and hasn’t done much yet, though he does have a double and a walk and has avoided striking out.
That last part is the encouraging piece, because cutting down the strikeouts is the big hurdle between Rainer and a fast move toward the majors in the next year or two.
There was also some work on the mound from Jalen Evans, an unaffiliated free agent reliever the Tigers signed this year to a minor league deal. The 28-year-old right-hander struck out two in his lone inning.
Evans has a high-90s fastball and a quality breaking ball, and Detroit has clearly been fishing for power arms through the waiver wire and minor league free agency in hopes of building more relief options. He’s a longshot, though, just like fellow hard throwing right-handers Yilber Diaz, Moises Rodriguez, and Yuniel Curet.
Outside the Tigers’ own orbit, the rumor mill kept spinning. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported that the Atlanta Braves were interested in Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, but refused to consider 21-year-old right-hander Didier Fuentes in a deal. In other words, we wanted to pretend we were involved to our fans, but weren’t remotely serious.
There was also no shortage of trade ideas floating around with the Tigers attached to them. Katrina Stebbins at Motor City Bengals examined a proposed deal for Bryce Harper and came down firmly against it, with Bryce Rainer, Kash Mayfield, and Cameron Flukey heading out in the mock package to absorb that contract. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com also mentioned Detroit as a possible landing spot for second baseman Jazz Chisholm, but that idea doesn’t make much sense either if the goal is to avoid adding another left-handed hitter or another second baseman.
Elsewhere around baseball, Adam Zimmer at Brew Crew Ball put together a Haters Guide to the Los Angeles Dodgers, David Laurila’s Sunday Notes at FanGraphs didn’t include any Tigers items this time, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. underwent laser corrective surgery on his vision, Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports looked at MLB’s new proposals to the MLBPA, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times examined candidates to replace the Seattle Mariners’ manager, Just Baseball released year-end MLB awards, and Justin Turner weighed in on the growing trend of hitting gurus selling one specific move or pattern, stressing timing and the importance of optimizing your own swing instead of chasing whatever is fashionable.
In Other News...
Tigers Face One Pitching Decision That Could Define Their Winter
The Tigers are heading into the winter with a pitching puzzle that goes well beyond the usual roster housekeeping. Club options and free agents are part of the equation, and there are already signs Detroit expects to keep Kenley Jansen and Drew Anderson in the bullpen despite some rough moments late in games. The bigger concern is on the mound behind them, where the rotation picture is still unsettled after a year of churn.
Jack Flaherty sits at the center of that uncertainty, and the front office has reason to weigh every angle before deciding whether to bring him back. Detroits depth has been thinned by the departures of Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, even with Skubal still a possible return, and the organization is also weighing whether Anderson might be stretched back into a starting role. Troy Melton and Jackson Jobe flashed enough to give the Tigers hope, but the winter could still come down to whether they add one more reliable arm to steady a staff that needs it. [Read more 🡒]
Tarik Skubal Is Reviving A Tigers Frustration Fans Know Too Well
Tarik Skubals latest October turn came in a different uniform, but the rhythm was familiar to anyone who has watched him carry a staff deep into the postseason. Starting Game 1 of the NLCS for the Dodgers against the Brewers, he worked five innings and allowed two runs, a brief enough outing to stand out for a pitcher who had gone six innings in his previous postseason start with the Tigers in the 2025 ALDS.
The larger frustration for Detroit fans was the same one they know too well, even if it landed elsewhere: a dominant arm leaving the game and the rest of the night hanging in the balance. The Dodgers bullpen stranded six men after Skubal exited, and with another chance to pitch later in the series still ahead, the story of his October run is far from finished. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Face A Big Max Clark Decision Before His Price Climbs
The Tigers have spent the season leaning into a young core that already includes Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler, Spencer Torkelson, Kevin McGonigle and Hao-Yu Lee, and the front office has made it clear it wants to keep as much of that group together as it can. McGonigles eight-year deal gave the organization a blueprint, and it has naturally pushed the conversation toward the next wave of potential extensions, with Colt Keith and Max Clark both sitting near the front of the line.
Clark is the name that feels especially intriguing because he has already given Detroit enough on both sides of the ball to imagine a long-term fit before his price climbs any further. The Tigers do not have to decide everything right now, but the logic is obvious: lock in a premium young talent early, or wait and risk paying a much steeper price later. [Read more 🡒]