Detroit Tigers’ Lance Parrish tried to be switch-hitting third baseman
Detroit Tigers legend Lance Parrish joined the “Days of Roar” podcast, sharing the story of his brief stint as a switch-hitting third baseman.
Nearly six weeks into the MLB offseason, the Detroit Tigers look like the same team they were in October.
The 2026 Tigers are shaping up to be a near mirror image of the 2025 Tigers, thanks to the returns of second baseman Gleyber Torres, right-hander Jack Flaherty and right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan.
Not only did those players want to play for the Tigers, but Torres and Flaherty didn’t think any of the other 29 teams were going to pay them more than $22.025 million and $20 million, respectively, in the 2026 season.
That’s why they stuck around.
Here’s how it happened: Flaherty, 30, exercised his player option Nov. 4 to return to the Tigers for $20 million in 2026; Torres, 29, accepted the qualifying offer Nov. 18 to return to the Tigers for $22.025 million in 2026.
Both players are set to become free agents after the 2026 season.
When evaluating Torres, president of baseball operations Scott Harris suggests forgetting about the name and focusing on the key attributes, including being a right-handed bat, an on-base machine, a contact-first hitter and a top-of-the-order presence.
The Tigers plan to keep Torres exclusively at second base.
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“It’s not that sexy because it’s not a new, unfamiliar player that we haven’t seen,” Harris said, “but if you just conceal his identity and show me his skill set, it’s a perfect fit for what we need. … We need all of those things – and a good influence on some of the young guys. We’re getting all of that from Gleyber on a one-year deal.”
Do the Tigers plan to acquire a position player via free agency or trade, such as free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman? For now, the Tigers have Torres at second, Spencer Torkelson at first, Javier Báez at shortstop and Colt Keith at third.
“I wouldn’t rule out an external addition to upgrade the offense,” said Harris, who doesn’t want to block young players, “but I think we got a lot of momentum here.”
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When reflecting on Torres and Flaherty returning to the Tigers, manager A.J. Hinch wasn’t surprised Torres accepted the qualifying offer.
“I know he liked it here,” said Hinch, who has a reputation for strong relationships with players. “Obviously, I get to stay away from contracts and things like that. He confided in me that he loved it in Detroit. He wanted to come back. The business side of the game takes care of itself.”
In 2025, Torres made the All-Star Game for the third time in his eight-year MLB career.
He hit .256 with 16 home runs, 85 walks and 101 strikeouts across 145 games, posting a .745 OPS. He also posted minus-4 defensive runs saved in 1,146â…“ innings at second base.
His 113 wRC+ indicates he was 13% better than league average for his offense, but he ranked only fifth among Tigers hitters – behind Riley Greene, Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter and Zach McKinstry.
“Who doesn’t want to add the quality of the at-bat, the presence, the on-base skills, the contact skills?” Hinch said. “He is thirty to win. … This guy loves to post and play, and he loved his time in Detroit.”
Torres played through a sports hernia at the end of the regular season and into the postseason. He then underwent hernia surgery in late October, but the recovery process didn’t take long. By early December, Torres was cleared for full baseball activities.
He could’ve been placed on the injured list, but he wanted to keep playing games, especially down the stretch as the Tigers had to battle to maintain their spot in the postseason.
“The key is going to be health for him,” Hinch said. “I think the tale of the two seasons, it’s pretty easy to identify when he got hurt and how much it was bothering him through the end of the year. … I think a healthy Gleyber Torres season is an exceptional one, given that he was partially healthy and had great impact for us.”
Flaherty is gearing up to pitch for the Tigers for the third season in a row.
Hinch appreciates his return.
“He had choices,” Hinch said. “He could’ve done whatever he wanted at the end of this contract, and he chose to come back. That’s meaningful for our group and for our team.”
In 2025, Flaherty registered a 4.64 ERA with 59 walks and 188 strikeouts across 161 innings in 31 starts. His performance graded as the second-worst season of his nine-year MLB career among the six seasons in which he threw at least 41 innings.
The Tigers need Flaherty perform as the second-best starter in their rotation behind ace Tarik Skubal, just like he did before the Tigers traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2024 trade deadline, logging a 2.95 ERA over 106â…” innings in 18 starts.
“We’re not really looking in the rearview mirror to try to capture some moment in time as much as we are trying to identify what he does well and enhance it,” Hinch said. “We’re going to continue to chip away at the things that he does really well. Getting his body moving, that helps his fastball. Incorporating his spin, he’s going to work on the changeup still. This offseason is going to be very productive.”
The contrast between Flaherty’s two stints with the Tigers is concerning.
In 2024, he had a 2.95 ERA with a 4.6% walk rate and a 32% strikeout rate across 18 starts. In 2025, he had a 4.64 ERA, 8.7% walk rate and 27.6% strikeouts across 31 starts.
For Flaherty, lower-body mechanics dictate everything.
“Getting him ready faster will be key for him to get off to a good start,” said Hinch, noting that coaches are visiting Flaherty this offseason. “But it’s all hands on deck for he and all of our players to try to find a subtle way to put him in a better position in the spring.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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