The Tigers already have one obvious Rookie of the Year type in Kevin McGonigle, but Eduardo Valencia has forced his way into the conversation as another young bat worth watching in 2027.
McGonigle has been the headliner in the American League rookie race, and for good reason. Since debuting in March, the 22-year-old has put together an OPS over .800, along with 18 home runs, 72 RBI, and 95 walks. He came out swinging from the start and never really let up.
Valencia, though, has turned heads in his own way. He and Max Clark have both given the Tigers a jolt since arriving in the majors, but Clark has already lost rookie status. Valencia, held at 129 at-bats, remains eligible and should be in the mix.
There were plenty of doubts when Valencia first got his call-up. The usual talk followed: small sample, likely regression, probably not sustainable.
Instead, he kept getting better. His last 15 games have been especially loud, with a .385/.448/.635 slash line and a 1.083 OPS.
He also delivered one of the more memorable moments of his stretch by launching a two-run walk-off homer on Justin Verlander day.
That kind of approach has made him tough to ignore. The 26-year-old came up to serve as Dillon Dingler’s backup behind the plate, but Dingler isn’t going anywhere. That means Valencia’s path to regular work likely comes at designated hitter when he isn’t catching.
He ended up appearing in 44 games, spending more time at DH than catcher, and the bat has looked every bit as real as the numbers suggest. Over his last 11 games, he has logged three three-hit performances, another sign that the production wasn’t a fluke.
The bottom line is simple: if a player keeps hitting, he stays in the lineup. Valencia has done exactly that, and the Tigers have every reason to keep finding room for him when 2027 rolls around.
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Framber Valdez Just Reopened A Debate Tigers Fans Hated All Year
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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 🡒]