Saturday brought an ending for Justin Verlander, but it also turned into a curtain call for Laz Díaz.
Pirates reliever Kirby Yates made the first start of his 12-year career, worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings, then left the mound to a tip of the cap and a warm ovation from the Tigers fans in the building. He later announced his retirement after the game.
Behind the plate, Díaz was working his final game, after accepting a buyout from MLB in July. And for a man who has spent years drawing plenty of criticism, he picked a memorable night to go out on top.
Díaz has long been a lightning rod for players, managers and fans, and he leaned into that reputation when he spoke to Bob Nightengale: " [The climate for umpires] is nasty. We don't get the recognition.
Everybody is putting us down. Like with Angel (Hernandez) and C.B.
(Bucknor), they got so much criticism, and they're great umpires. But everything is just so (expletive) negative."
Most fans would probably see it differently, but that kind of bluntness has always fit Díaz. Saturday, though, he was sharp in the way that matters most to an umpire.
Both the Pirates and Tigers had burned through their challenges by the end of the fourth inning, and Díaz had gone 4-for-4 on his calls. When the Pirates lost the final challenge of the day and Díaz was confirmed correct, he showed real emotion behind the plate.
Still on a hot mic, he could be heard calling out to Max Clark: "Come on Max, come on Maxy!"
He also seemed to know exactly what the day meant. After the challenges were gone, Díaz gave Verlander a little extra on the strike zone, ringing up his fifth strikeout of the afternoon on a 3-2 pitch that was well outside the edge. Tigers fans weren’t about to complain.
Verlander later walked off the mound with his daughter, and Díaz gave him a salute. The two had already spoken after Verlander’s 1-2-3 first inning.
With the ABS system now in place, it would hardly be a surprise if that nudged Díaz toward calling it a career, too. Bucknor, another umpire who has taken plenty of heat, also accepted a buyout.
And if Díaz spent years making people yell at their televisions, Saturday at least gave him one last day where everything broke his way.
In Other News...
Tigers Have Another Young Bat Forcing Its Way Into 2027 Plans
Kevin McGonigles first taste of the American League has already given the Tigers another reason to think beyond the present. The rookie has been a steady force at the plate since his debut, pairing an OPS above .800 with 18 home runs, 72 RBIs and 95 walks, production that has only strengthened the sense that Detroit is building real depth from within.
Eduardo Valencia has made it even harder to ignore the next wave. Still a rookie by eligibility rules, the backup catcher and designated hitter has been productive in 44 games and caught fire over his last 15, hitting .385/.448/.635 with a walk-off homer mixed in. For a Tigers lineup trying to keep its long-term core in order, Valencias emergence gives the front office another young bat to factor into 2027 planning, even if the final shape of that picture is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Jack Flaherty's Tigers Return Brings One More Big Question
Jack Flaherty is back with the Tigers for the final game of the season, and the move gives Detroit one more look at a familiar arm before the offseason begins. The right-hander had been on the 15-day injured list with right flexor inflammation, then worked his way through two rehab appearances at Triple-A Toledo before being activated to replace lefty Brant Hurter, who was optioned to the Florida Complex League affiliate.
The timing makes the return feel more like a sendoff than a fresh start, with Flaherty set to head into free agency after finishing out the two-year deal he signed with Detroit. For the Tigers, it is a chance to close the year with one more evaluation point on a pitcher who spent part of the season sidelined and now has one final turn in the uniform before his next contract becomes the bigger question. [Read more 🡒]
Framber Valdez Just Reopened A Debate Tigers Fans Hated All Year
Framber Valdezs first season in Detroit has done little to quiet the discussion that followed him all year. The Tigers handed him a three-year, $115 million deal, a move that immediately put his workload and upside under the microscope, and the numbers have kept the conversation going. A 4.03 ERA and 1.36 WHIP are not the kind of totals that make a marquee contract feel comfortable, even if his final month offered a cleaner look.
Valdez did close with some better results, posting a 1.93 ERA over four starts to finish the season on a sharper note. Even so, the larger debate around Detroits approach never really went away, especially with the club having passed on extending Tarik Skubal before the season and drawing plenty of criticism for how it chose to allocate its money. In that sense, Valdezs year has become part performance review and part referendum on the Tigers spending priorities, which is not a place any front office wants to be in when the questions keep coming. [Read more 🡒]