Krieger: What went wrong for the Tigers
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. From the thawing of winter to the now-crisping autumn, the Detroit Tigers have had a very disappointing yet slightly beautiful 2026 season.
I love the Tigers with all my heart, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more enraged with them than this year. I pride myself on being a patient fan during the 162-game marathon that is baseball season, and these Tigers pushed me into bouts of pain and suffering unlike any year prior.
Outside of the pure frustration of losing, it was a very weird season. To me, it seemed like there were at least six phases of the 2026 campaign: the preseason hype, the impossibly horrible May, a hopeful light during summer, losing Skubal, getting to a playoff spot for a few August days, and then falling off the face of the Earth.
But who’s to blame? Scott Harris? AJ Hinch? Chris Ilitch? The players? Obviously, it’s a sorry culmination of them all. Missing the postseason in what has been one of the weakest years the American League has ever seen is unacceptable, given the lofty expectations.
I think we can all agree that Ilitch’s reputation is now lower than ever for his handling of the Tarik Skubal situation and the way he’s botched the Detroit Red Wings as a whole.
But I was actually in favor of trading Skubal unless the team had a real shot at a title. I didn’t want to extend him for the astronomical price his agent, Scott Boras, will be demanding this offseason, but it was still sad that his incredible tenure came to an end.
If you can think back to February, when Framber Valdez was signed, it was a marquee moment for the fanbase because it showed the front office really went all in for the season. And just a few weeks before that, they signed Justin Verlander. They were the two cherries on top of the offseason moves.
The preliminary additions were those of Kenley Jansen and Drew Anderson, along with re-signings of Kyle Finnegan and Gleyber Torres. Most assessments had it as a good offseason.
I was over the moon when Spring Training began. On paper, this was the best roster that the Tigers have had this decade, and I’d convinced myself they’d break through and make the American League Championship Series with a decent shot at winning the pennant.
Oh, what young naivety. If only I knew what horrors were ahead of me, specifically in the month of May.
Detroit won only 6 games in May. The team entered the month 16-16 and exited 22-38. It was a complete implosion, pretty similar to the last 31 games of the 2025 season, which was 9-22.
That ineptness dug a hole too deep for any rescue rope to drop down. The Chicago White Sox grabbed the final Wild Card spot with only 84 wins, so to match that, Detroit would’ve needed to go 60-42 to end the year.
Perhaps the biggest downfall of this roster is the streakiness of how they perform.
Players like Spencer Torkelson, Dillon Dingler, Kerry Carpenter, Flaherty, and Valdez were players this year with expectations who sometimes did or didn’t show up throughout the year.
One veteran who impressed me with a new approach at the plate was Riley Greene. He may have taken a step back in pure run-producing numbers, but he cut down on the strikeouts and upped the walks.
Greene’s defense is a question, and his probable decline in athletic abilities is slightly concerning, but there’s no question he can hit. An extension should be on the docket in the next calendar year.
From a managerial perspective, it was a disaster season for Hinch. The once-successful strategy of maximizing platoon advantages via pinch hits and pitching matchups was quite sickening, and even Harris mentioned in his end-of-year press conference that he wants to move toward consistent everyday players regardless of matchups.
If Hinch can’t get this team to the playoffs in 2027, I’ll be clamoring for his replacement, but he has bought himself time to stay, for now.
As for Harris, I’m in support of the job he’s done in his role as President of Baseball Operations, but he hasn’t shown the ability to build a steady, modern bullpen. This season’s showing of relief pitching made me weep.
What we all thought was going to be a good back-end trio of Finnegan, Will Vest and Jansen was an absolute disaster.
Finnegan was one of the worst relievers I’ve ever seen. He had a 17% save rate and 10 blown saves, tied for the most in MLB. Vest was terrible until he had season-ending surgery.
Jansen’s overall season numbers look pretty good on paper, but he was personally responsible for giving up four walk-off home runs. He rarely pitched well when he was needed most, when the leads were small. For the majority of the games he pitched, I was terrified.
In total, Detroit’s bullpen had 32 blown saves, placing it in second place behind the Nationals with 42. Just cutting that down to 20 most likely would’ve put the team in the postseason easily.
It was torturous to watch this bullpen destroy what should’ve been a great season, and somehow, it still ranked eleventh in the league in bullpen earned run average. They just couldn’t pitch when it mattered most in high-leverage moments.
On a more positive note, there was a special someone this season who thankfully never gave me turmoil.
Two words: Kevin. McGonigle.
He was a godsend for this franchise. In none of my most vivid, optimistic daydreams could I have predicted him playing like he did this season.
With no Triple-A at-bats and at just 21 years old, he made the All-Star team, putting him in a rare category, as he is now one of 32 rookies to ever do that in Major League Baseball history.
McGonigle amassed 7.1 Wins Above Replacement according to Baseball-Reference, which places him fourth in all of MLB. He will almost certainly win the AL Rookie of the Year Award and might receive some AL Most Valuable Player votes.
He truly was a phenom, and I was lucky enough to see him walk-off the Dodgers in late August. I shudder, wondering what the Tigers would’ve looked like without this absolute champ.
Detroit fielded some other impressive rookies this year, giving me some confidence going into next year.
Max Clark emerged as the center fielder Tiger fans had been hoping for since he was drafted. Albeit with just over 200 plate appearances, he looked comfortable in the Majors at 21 years of age. He and McGonigle slugging in the Old English D brought immense joy to me this summer when he received the promotion.
Ben Malgeri, Hao-Yu Lee and Eduardo Valencia also had surprisingly good debut seasons, considering none of them were highly touted prospects coming into the season. They all carved out roles on a team desperate for ballplayers, and I’m very pleased with their potential to be productive regulars in 2027.
I will always be an optimistic fan, so I think next year will be a rebound season (if we have a season with the impending threat of a lockout). The young talent on this roster is evident, and the now-old brigade can be productive as the veterans in the lineup.
My guess for the offseason is that it’ll be relatively low spending, focusing mostly on bullpen help. But my dream addition would be Seiya Suzuki as a consistent right-handed power bat to slot into a left-handed-heavy lineup.
I remain confident that this team can win, but this season cannot happen again. Heads will have to roll if Detroit isn’t back in the playoffs.
