Happy Friday, everyone. The Tigers are coming off a sweep of the Rockies, tonight Tarik Skubal is taking the mound, and it’s mystery bobblehead weekend, so there are plenty of things to look forward to in the coming days.
There’s also plenty of news to get into, from Don Kelly’s new managerial role with the Tigers to which baseball team the new Pope is rooting for.
Let’s just jump right into it.
Detroit Tigers News:
While not officially Tigers news, Don Kelly will forever be beloved by most Tigers fans. So, today when news broke that Pirates’ manager Derek Shelton had been fired and none other than Don Kelly was stepping up as manager, it felt like Tigers news.
Derek Shelton has been relieved of his duties as Pirates Manager.
Pirates Bench Coach, Don Kelly, has been named manager. pic.twitter.com/dOO9dDwf5t
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 8, 2025
The AL Central is just ripe for some team to dominate the rest, and even if the Tigers don’t spend like they did during the Mike Ilitch years, they don’t need to dish out $300 million a year to be the big dog in this division. Skubal gives Detroit a weapon that no other AL Central team can match, and at this point, he’s probably no more of an injury risk than is any other pitcher.
Torkelson struggled so profoundly last year — a .669 OPS, 10 homers and 105 strikeouts in 92 games — that he entered 2025 without a clear path for playing time. Now, early in his age-25 season, he looks like the feared hitter so many expected to see. Through 36 games, Torkelson has already equaled last year’s home run total. He’s drawing walks at a significantly higher rate, OPS’ing .879 and ranking within the top 5% in expected slugging percentage — a stat in which he finished 211th among 252 hitters last year.
AL Central News:
MLB News: