Meet the 2024 Detroit Tigers

STARTING PITCHERS: No. 29 Tarik Skubal – LHP, 6-3, 240, Age in season: 27 Health permitting, the Tigers have drafted (in the ninth round) and developed a potential Cy Young Award candidate. That's not hyperbole. He checks every box, from the tangibles (overpowering fastball, a terrorizing array of secondary weapons, precise command) to the intangibles (driven, insanely competitive, nobody will outwork him). He hit 99.5 mph in his first live bullpen session this spring — that’s how ready he was coming into camp. The only caution is that he made only 15 starts last season after coming back from flexor tendon surgery. There will be no restrictions early, but the Tigers will keep a wary eye on his workload.   2024 salary: $2.65 million

No. 18 Kenta Maeda – RHP, 6-1 ,185, Age in season: 36 When he’s right, he is a master. He can make his slider dance at varying tempos, faster with a tighter break, slower with a sweepier break. Off of that, he will mix curveballs and splitters, which, along with an 89-90 mph four-seam fastball, allows him to x-off all quadrants of the plate. When his command is imprecise, though, and he is forced to pitch too much in hitter-favorable counts, he can be vulnerable. He’s going to turn 36 on April 11, but he’s as healthy as he’s been in at least two years. Healthy enough for the Tigers to commit two years and $24 million to him. He’s taken well to the role of mentor to a mostly young staff, as well.

No. 45 Jack Flaherty – RHP, 6-4, 225, Age in season: 28 Working with the Tigers’ pitching department, Flaherty has reworked his body mechanics and pitching mechanics to regain his athletic fluidity. His movements are freer and his delivery cleaner, which has led to not only an uptick in his fastball velocity and better vertical ride through the zone, but also the ability to more consistently repeat his mechanics. Applying all qualifiers about spring results, but Flaherty had a 37% strikeout rate, a sub-3 ERA (2.98) and a sub-1 WHIP (0.98). That’s 2019 vintage Flaherty. He’s Cali-cool on the outside, but he’s intense about his craft. 2024 salary: $14 million

No. 40 Reese Olson – RHP, 6-1, 185, Age in season: 24 Don’t be fooled by his cherubic face and quiet demeanor — he’s a warrior on the mound with a lot of different ways to hurt you. He showed that in his 18 starts last season, especially in his last six: 1.51 ERA, .151 opponent batting average with almost no slug (.261), 35 strikeouts in 35.2 innings. He can move his four-seam and two-seam fastballs to all quadrants between 94 and 97 mph. His slider has close to a 3,000-rpm spin rate and had a 41.6% whiff rate last season. His changeup is his fourth-used and maybe most effective secondary pitch (36% whiff rate) and he will flip a curveball at you to steal a strike. If he’s in the zone (and he threw 60% strikes last season) he can be as creative as he is nasty. When he’s not, he can struggle. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 12 Casey Mize – RHP, 6-3, 230, Age in season: 27 Maybe the best story of spring. Out for close to two years recovering from two major surgeries (back and elbow), Mize was the mystery candidate in the club’s rotation battle. But he stormed into spring 20 pounds stronger with a much more athletic and fluid delivery and a revved up (94-97 mph) four-seam fastball that he challenged hitters with and won all spring. Being able to attack at the top and at the bottom of the zone with a fastball is a game-changer for Mize, who pitched more down in the zone off his slider and splitter before the surgery. He'll tell you, too, it’s been the back surgery more than the elbow surgery that’s allowed him to both improve his quality of life and revitalize himself as a pitcher. 2024 salary: $830,000

BULLPEN: No. 55 Alex Lange – RHP, 6-3, 202, Age in season: 28 It’s as simple, and at times, as difficult as this: When he gets ahead in the count, especially when he wins the race to two strikes, he dominates hitters. When he doesn’t, it can get messy. When he goes 1-0, hitters slash .350/.407/.750. When he gets ahead 0-1, hitters slash .227/217/.409. When he gets to two strikes, it’s over: .098/.226/.158. His curveball is an elite pitch, getting a 48.4% whiff rate last season. Overall, he got hitters to chase 32% of the time. That number increases proportionally to how often he’s ahead in the count. What will also increase proportionate to his strike-throwing are the leverage innings he pitches.    2024 salary: $760,600

No. 68 Jason Foley – RHP, 6-4. 220, Age in season: 28 His run value of 20 on his power sinker, with which he hit 100 mph in his first spring game, ranks in the top-5 percentile in baseball. Fifty-seven percent of the balls put in play against him last year were ground balls, and he induced 14 double-play balls. He hit 100 mph with his sinker in his first live bullpen session this spring. He’s also a workhorse, throwing 69 innings in 70 games last season. Two things keeping him from being the closer: left-handed hitters hit .299 with an .844 OPS against him and he doesn’t generate enough swing-and-miss (18%) or strikeouts (19.9%). He continues to work on adding a changeup and a four-seamer to supplement his sinker and slider. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 7 Shelby Miller – RHP, 6-3 225, Age in season: 33 Developing the splitter last year with the Dodgers revitalized his career. Hitters averaged just .136 against it with a 31% whiff rate. This offseason, he’s added a bullet slider to his mix, a harder (87-89 mph), tighter breaking pitch that plays well off both his four-seamer and splitter. But his most important and effective weapon is still his four-seam fastball. Because he has an elite, 7-foot, 3-inch extension, it gets on hitters quicker than the 93-94 mph radar gun reading might suggest. He has virtually the same extension on his secondary pitches, as well, which creates havoc on a hitter when they all come out of the same arm slot and break off in different directions. He is expected to be in the mix for leverage innings. 2024 salary: $3 million

No. 19 Will Vest – RHP, 6-0, 200, Age in season: 29 It doesn’t work this way, but from where Vest was last spring to where he ended up in September, he could’ve been a Comeback Player of the Year candidate. He didn’t make the team out of camp last year and ended up posting a 2.98 ERA and 1.097 WHIP. He allowed just two earned runs in 13.2 innings in September, with 20 strikeouts and just one walk. His 95-mph four-seamer is a weapon when he locates it at the top of the zone. Opponents hit just .209 off it last year. That elevated heater is the unique ingredient Vest brings to this bullpen mix. It’s been a valuable matchup tool for manager AJ Hinch. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 17 – Andrew Chafin – LHP, 6-2, 235, Age in season: 34 He opted out of the second year of his contract with the Tigers last year and ended up struggling, first with Arizona and then with Milwaukee. He was dealing with some issues away from the field (being away from his family during the birth of his son) which he admitted impacted his performance. His 12.5% walk rate was the highest of his career. But he’s back and he seems healthy and happy. He had a productive spring, even implementing a new changeup to augment his sinker-slider repertoire.   2024 salary: $4.25 million

No. 87 – Tyler Holton – LHP, 6-2, 220, Age in season: 28 What a revelation he turned out to be. He was the last pitcher cut last season, but he was called up in April and posted one of the best rookie seasons of any pitcher in Tigers history: 2.11 ERA, 0.867 WHIP. Five of his six pitches held hitters under .200 — how crazy is that? He had positive run values on his four-seamer (9), sinker (6), slider (4), cutter (2) and changeup (2). He was used in multiple-innings stints for the most part (85.1 innings pitched). It remains to be seen how the Tigers use him and fellow lefty Andrew Chafin. Holton started getting more leverage innings last season. Expect that to continue, as manager AJ Hinch plans to mix and match potentially six different relievers to finish off victories. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 49 Alex Faedo – RHP, 6-5, 225, Age in season: 28 Few pitched better than he did this spring. He made good use of his first healthy offseason in three years. His command was sharp. He was commanding the top and bottom of the zone with his four-seamer (sitting 95-96 mph — up from 93 last season) and pairing his elite-level slider off that. He also, at last, found a changeup grip that didn’t shred his fingertips. He calls it a kick-change. He spikes the middle finger into the seam and lets it fly. He’s throwing it 89-90 mph and he’s used it against lefties and righties. The expectation is he will work in a three- to four-inning bridge role, though he could also be an option if there’s some attrition in the rotation. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 43 Joey Wentz – LHP, 6-5, 220, Age in season: 26 Moving to the bullpen has helped bring out the best version of Wentz more often. The work he did to change the metrics on his four-seamer to create more ride at the top of the zone and more vertical separation between his secondary pitches was massive, as well. He looked like a much more confident pitcher this spring. He posted a 1.04 WHIP and limited hitters to a .204 average with 19 strikeouts in 15 innings. The only blemish was four solo homers, which, in context of how well he pitched, seemed almost flukey. 2024 salary: $770,000

CATCHERS: No. 34 Jake Rogers – R-R, 6-1, 215, Age in season: 29 Uniquely talented. That’s a good way to describe Rogers’ blend of traditional catcher skills and superior athleticism. With his quickness and instincts, he makes plays that many other catchers can’t or don’t. He had a rough time throwing, coming off Tommy John surgery last year, but he’s been firing darts this spring, from multiple arm angles. His game-calling has steadily improved. And he’s found his identity at the plate. He’s not going to hit for a high average, but he can slug, as he showed with his career-best 21 homers last season. This will be (knock on wood) the first time he’s been healthy and played consecutive seasons since he came to Detroit. He didn’t play in 2020 or 2022.    2024 salary: $1.7 million

No. 15 Carson Kelly – R-R, 6-2, 220, Age in season: 29 The way he sets up behind the plate is different (one knee down). The way he sets up in the batter’s box is different (hands held lower, less steep through the hitting zone). And the way he’s produced this spring on both sides of the ball was different. Kelly, eight seasons deep into his big-league career and coming off season-killing broken bones in his right forearm and wrist the two previous years, has impressively revamped himself. And the results, from the way he was picking runners off and throwing out base-stealers this spring to his .925 OPS, have followed. What hasn’t changed is his ability to lead a pitching staff. That’s always been his forte. 2024 salary: $3.5 million

INFIELDERS/UTILITY: No. 20 Spencer Torkelson, first base – R-R, 6-1, 220, Age in season: 24 The scoreboard stats will tell you he’s coming off a breakout season (31 homers, 94 RBI). But the underlying numbers indicate he may only have scratched the surface of what he’s capable of offensively. Fifty-one percent of the balls he put in play were considered hard-hit (95-mph exit velocity or better) by Statcast. That ranked in the top-6 percentile in baseball. His average exit velocity was 92 mph, top-13 percentile. His expected slugging percentage was nearly 100 points higher than his actual slugging percentage. He hit 20 homers and slugged .500 in 80 games after July 1 last year. Imagine his numbers had he not scuffled out of the gate. Just FYI, no Tiger has hit 40 homers in a season since Miguel Cabrera in 2013. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 33 Colt Keith, second base – L-R, 6-2, 220, Age in season: 22 It’s not all going to go smoothly. It never does for rookie hitters, especially those who are 22 and carry the added weight of signing a lengthy and lucrative contract extension before his first big-league at-bat. But there is nothing in Keith’s makeup that suggests he won’t be able to handle it. There’s nothing in his professional history, albeit short, that would suggest he won’t make the necessary adjustments. A consensus of coaches, scouts and player development people in and outside the Tigers’ organization believe he will be able to hit at this level. A longer-term question might be his range at second base. For now, though, all he’s being asked to do is make the routine plays — catch the ones you can get to. 2024 salary: $2.5 million

No. 28 Javier Báez – R-R, 6-0, 190, Age in season: 31 Even though his at-bats got progressively better and more competitive, his .128 spring with 14 strikeouts didn’t help assuage the fears and angst of the fanbase. Báez is four years past his prime seasons with the Cubs. He’s coming off the least productive offensive season of his career. He’s 31. None of that inspires confidence that he will return to that All-Star level. Not offensively. And, frankly, that’s probably not a realistic expectation. But he’s put in the work. He’s made — and is making — adjustments. He can contribute and help win games, especially if his defense stays elite. He’s probably going to hit down in the order. And if he continues to struggle at last year’s pace, he could find himself playing mostly against left-handed pitching. That would be a tough pill for everyone — Báez and the organization — but the goal is to win games. 2024 salary:  $25 million.

No. 13 Gio Urshela, third base – R-R, 6-0, 215, Age in season: 32 After signing late and coming off an injury-plagued season in 2023, he started looking more like himself in the final week of camp. He seemed to be moving better in the field and he started hitting the ball with some authority. The jury is still out on whether he will be able to fully return to form after suffering a fractured pelvis. Going into the season, the plan was to rotate players at third base based on matchups. Urshela can certainly play his way into being the primary option at third base. 2024 salary: $1.5 million

No. 39 Zach McKinstry, utility – L-R, 6-0, 190, Age in season: 29 The term “utility” understates McKinstry’s value. He’s going to be an almost-everyday player in a variety of roles. If the Tigers face a lefty starter, he will be an option off the bench when the other team goes to the bullpen for a right-hander. He will start, possibly at third, some at shortstop or second, against a lot of right-handed starters. He could even get some outfield reps. He’s altered his hitting mechanics, using a modified hover technique with his front foot that he believes will help him be on time for fastballs and keep his bat in the zone longer, to adjust to spin and offspeed. The other dimension he brings, along with his grit, is speed. He stole a career-best 16 bases and was caught six times. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 77 Andy Ibanez, utility – R-R, 5-10, 210, Age in season: 31 Very rarely does a player’s skill set match so perfectly with a manager’s vision for how to maximize that player’s value. AJ Hinch knows exactly how and when to use Ibanez and he’s consistently been able to put him in favorable matchup situations. It’s not just putting him up against left-handed pitchers. It’s more about matching Ibanez’s hot zones with pitchers’ location and pitch-usage tendencies. It’s at least part of the reason Ibanez, a part-time player (383 plate appearances) was worth two wins above replacement last year. He’s a valuable card to have in hand when you know how to play it. 2024 salary: $770,000

OUTFIELDERS: No. 31 Riley Greene, corner outfield – L-L, 6-3, 220, Age in season: 23 There’s no better way to explain his value than this: When he’s healthy and producing, the Tigers win. When he’s not, they don’t. Case in point: May 3 through Aug. 20, Greene slashed .335/.393/.545 with a .939 OPS. The club went 34-27 over that stretch. He’s yet to play 100 games in either of his first two seasons because of in-the-line-of-duty injuries. He’s back now after Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing elbow and, by his and the coaches’ accounts, his swing is unchanged. His one frustration, other than the injuries, is his career 53% ground-ball rate. Fixing that can be dangerous. Greene’s left-handed swing is almost textbook beautiful, but it’s level (6.6-degree launch angle). The angle is lower on fastballs (4 degrees). He has an 11-degree angle when he swings at offspeed pitches. Steepening launch angles can create holes in swings. Ultimately, it comes down to pitch selection for Greene, attacking pitches that he can drive foul line to foul line. 2024 salary: $770,000

No. 22 – Parker Meadows, center field – L-L, 6-5, 210, Age in season: 24 There is an intriguing blend of speed and power here. He showed just a hint of it in his 37-game audition late last season. He has elite sub-30-feet-per-second sprint speed that he makes look effortless with his long, loping strides. He can cover gap to gap in center, even in spacious Comerica Park. The Tigers moved Riley Greene to a corner to make room for Meadows — that’s how well he plays center field. He also projects to hit, conservatively, 20-25 home runs and steal 20-30 bases. But he is also still developing, understanding how pitchers are setting him up and exploiting his high whiff rates on changeups (40.5%) and sliders (36.4%) and learning to defend himself against left-handed pitching. It’s why he’s worked on his bunt game. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s an exciting one.    2024 salary: $770,000

No. 21 – Mark Canha, corner outfield – R-R, 6-2, 210, Age in season: 35 The Tigers had a dual purpose for this acquisition. One, they needed a right-handed-hitting outfielder to balance out lefties Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Parker Meadows. Two, since they will be trotting out one of the youngest groups of hitters in the sport, they wanted to stabilize it with a proven veteran. And in Canha, they got one of the most professional hitters in the game. His .349 career on-base percentage over nine seasons speaks to the quality of his at-bats. As does the career 115 OPS-plus. He helped spearhead the Brewers’ charge into the playoffs last year, hitting .278 with a .373 on-base, .800 OPS, five homers and 33 RBI in 50 games. Canha will move between the two corner-outfield spots, DH and first base. And, as long as he’s healthy and productive, he’s expected to be mostly platoon-proof.   2024 salary: $11.5 million

No. 8 – Matt Vierling, outfield, third base – R-R, 6-3, 210, Age in season: 27 Winning teams always have players like this. Selfless, gritty, willing to do whatever is needed to win the game that day, able to contribute in multiple ways and in multiple positions. He’ll be in the rotation at third base. He will likely be the first backup center fielder. He will play both corner-outfield spots at a high level. And he will grind out at-bats and run the bases aggressively and productively. And he will deliver timely hits. There was a reason the Phillies found room for him in various spots during their World Series run in 2022. He’s a gamer.   2024 salary: $770,000

No. 30 Kerry Carpenter, corner outfield, designated hitter – L-R, 6-2, 220, Age in season: 26 This will be just his second full season in the big leagues, so it’s fair to wonder about what his ceiling might be. Because even though they call him Kerry Bonds, he’s not just a slugger. He has power to all fields, for sure, and he crushes fastballs (.339 average, .590 slug). But he also gets on base a ton (.340), had a 7% walk rate, scored 57 runs and knocked in 64. He’s been Kerry Clutch, too, hitting .303 with an .879 OPS with runners in scoring position. Most of that production has come against right-handed pitching, though. And from the looks of things this year, his opportunities against lefties might be limited again. It’s his own personal Catch-22 — can’t get reps against lefties unless he proves he can hit them; can’t prove he can hit them if he doesn’t get consistent reps against them. 2024 salary: $770,000