Breaking down why Detroit Tigers pitcher Troy Melton features ‘elite stuff’
On “Days of Roar,” Nick Pollack — founder of “Pitcher List” — evaluates Detroit Tigers rookie Troy Melton, who misses bats with his fastball.
The Detroit Tigers are back in the postseason. But even though Tigers baseball will be continuing in 2025, is it going to sound like Tigers baseball?
The Tigers are taking on the Cleveland Guardians in one of the two American League wild-card series, set to start on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1:08 p.m. ET. And although they spent much of the 2025 season in first place in the AL Central, the Tigers are probably happy just to be in the playoffs at all after a September collapse that kept them from winning their first division title since 2014.
Both the National League and AL wild-card series will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and ABC, meaning there will be no local TV broadcast for this series (or any other playoff series) for the Tigers for the rest of the year.
But does that mean that Tigers fans won’t get to hear Jason Benetti and Dan Dickerson call Tigers games any more this year? We have the answers below.
Will Jason Benetti and Dan Dickerson call Tigers playoff games?
Regarding Tigers radio announcer Dan Dickerson, the answer is probably yes.
MLB allows local radio broadcasters to call playoff games, which means fans should be able to hear Dickerson call the Tigers’ wild-card series on the radio. And though he is expected to be the Tigers’ radio play-by-play announcer for the duration of their playoff run, this has not yet been confirmed.
The answer for Tigers’ primary TV announcer Jason Benetti is a little more complicated.
Fans almost certainly won’t hear Benetti call the Tigers’ wild-card series, as local TV broadcasters such as FanDuel Sports Network are barred from airing any MLB playoff rounds. However, that doesn’t mean Benetti can’t possibly call a Tigers postseason series in 2025.
Since Benetti often works national MLB broadcasts for Fox, and since Fox has the rights to the ALDS, ALCS and World Series in 2025, it’s possible that Benetti will call a Tigers postseason series should Detroit advance past the first round. There is no rule in MLB barring a team’s local announcer from calling a nationally televised series with their team involved — for example, Fox’s Joe Davis, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ primary play-by-play announcer, was the play-by-play announcer for the team’s win over the New York Yankees during the 2024 World Series.
At this point, however, it is unclear what role Benetti will take in Fox’s MLB postseason coverage.
Who will announce the Tigers-Guardians series for ESPN?
ESPN has assigned to call the Tigers-Guardians series Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Todd Frazier (analyst) and Taylor McGregor (sideline reporter). They are scheduled to work all three games of the series.
Detroit Tigers channel vs Cleveland Guardians
The Tigers kick off their wild card series against the Guardians on Tuesday, Sept. 30. It will air on ESPN.
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Time: 1:08 p.m..
Channel: ESPN.
Streaming: Fubo.
Watch Tigers wild card series on Fubo
Detroit Tigers playoff schedule
The Tigers will be playing a three-game series against the Guardians to kick off what they hope to be a deep 2025 playoff run.
Game 1: Tigers at Guardians, Tuesday, Sept. 30 (ESPN).
Game 2: Tigers at Guardians, Wednesday, Oct. 1 (ESPN).
Game 3: Tigers at Guardians , Thursday, Oct. 2 (ESPN).*
*if necessary
You can reach Christian Romo at cromo@freepress.com