Should Detroit Tigers let Tarik Skubal pitch deeper into games?
The Days of Roar podcast breaks down the caution around Tarik Skubal’s pitch count, plus thoughts from Justin Verlander on pitching deep into games.
The Detroit Tigers hold the best record in MLB at 46-27, leading the AL Central by nine games.Most major outlets rank the Tigers as the No. 1 team in baseball, including USA TODAY, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and CBS Sports.Despite dropping their recent series against the Reds, the Tigers are on pace for 102 wins this season.
Despite dropping their most recent series to the Cincinnati Reds, the Detroit Tigers maintain MLB’s best record at 46-27 entering Monday’s play.
The Tigers also got love from the national media last week, ranking as the No. 1 team in baseball in most major power rankings. And even though the Tigers are 5-5 in their last 10 games, that distinction hasn’t changed this week.
Detroit has extended its lead in the American League Central standings to nine games over the second-place Minnesota Twins as it prepares for a midweek home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s the largest lead any first-place team has in any division in baseball, followed by the Chicago Cubs at 5½ games in the National League Central.
Here’s how the major outlets currently rank the Tigers in their respective power rankings:
For the second week in a row, the USA TODAY has listed the Tigers as the No. 1 team in baseball, though it also notes how a big an impact the Jackson Jobe injury could have in 2025 and 2026.
Though FanGraphs listed the Tigers as the No. 2 team in baseball, it also put Detroit in its “The Best of the Best” tier along with the Los Angeles Dodgers:
“There were some pretty lopsided scores in the Tigers-Reds series last weekend, with an 11-5 victory for Detroit on Friday followed by 11-1 and 8-4 defeats on Saturday and Sunday. It’s probably nothing more than a hiccup for the team with the best record in baseball.”
Though ESPN’s most recent ranking is from Thursday, June 12, it has the Tigers atop the list with a special shoutout to utility player Zach McKinstry:
“Zach McKinstry has been a crucial part of Detroit’s improved offense, hitting .275/.362/.436 while leading the team’s position players with 1.6 WAR (and tied for the AL lead with seven triples). He has started games at five different positions (3B, RF, LF, SS, 2B) and hit well in high-leverage situations (around .400).”
After ranking the Tigers at No. 2 last week, Bleacher Report dropped them down to No. 3 this week, though it highlighted Tarik Skubal’s All-Star worthy performance:
“Tarik Skubal(14 GS, 1.99 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 111 K, 90.1 IP) has been every bit as good this season as he was a year ago, and he might be the pick to start for the AL if the game was today.”
Two of the five SI voters put the Tigers as their No. 2 team behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Detroit maintains its top spot in SI’s MLB power rankings:
“For a third straight week, the Detroit Tigers hold the top spot in the Fastball On SI MLB power rankings poll. It wasn’t their best week, going 3-3 against the Orioles and Reds, but it was enough to maintain the best record in baseball after other top teams stumbled.”
Lastly, CBS is keeping the Tigers in its top spot this week:
“The Tigers have had the best record in baseball a decent number of days at this point. They started with three losses in Dodger Stadium, but went 18-9 in April and 19-9 in May. They did just lose a series this weekend, but it was the first one they lost since May 22-24. They only lost two series in April, two in May and just the one so far this month. It’s just a consistently great team on pace to top 100 wins.”
With a .630 winning percentage, the Tigers are currently on pace for 102 wins, the most since the 1984 championship team (104 wins).
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com