A year after reaching the playoffs due to a late-season surge, the Tigers are now facing an opposite scenario in 2025. The scorching-hot Guardians are on an eight-game winning streak and have won 13 of their last 14 games, while Detroit has lost seven of its last eight games — including a three-game sweep at home against the Guards. The Tigers’ AL Central lead shrunk to just 2.5 games after a 10-1 loss to the Braves on Friday, as starter Charlie Morton was torched for six runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
Acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline, Morton has an 11.65 ERA over his last five starts, and a 7.09 overall ERA across his 39 1/3 innings in a Detroit uniform. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other reporters yesterday, Morton was at a loss to explain his sudden inability to throw strikes, and said “I’m personally really disappointed in myself.” Given these struggles, Morton is “not expecting anything” in terms of another turn in the rotation, and manager A.J. Hinch was also non-committal on the subject.
The problem with removing Morton from the rotation is that the Tigers don’t have a ready-made replacement. Chris Paddack was already moved to the bullpen due to his own struggles, Jose Uriquidy is pitching in relief after his long injury layoff, Troy Melton or Tyler Holton are more long men than true starters, and Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the 15-day injured list. The Tigers could use some combination of all the healthy pitchers in this season’s version of their “Pitching Chaos” tactic, yet there are no easy answers in what has suddenly become a very tense pennant race.
More from the AL Central…
- Seth Lugo’s return before the end of the season seems like a “long shot,” as Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters. Lugo hasn’t pitched since August 29 due to a lower back strain, and he had a setback following a bullpen session on Monday. Quatraro said Lugo is now feeling better in the aftermath of that bullpen but hasn’t resumed throwing, so the veteran righty is simply running short on time to get fully ramped up. [UPDATE: Quatraro confirmed on Sunday to MLB.com’s Jackson Stone and other reporters that Lugo is indeed done for the rest of the 2025 campaign.]
- In other Royals pitching news, Quatraro said that Ryan Bergert is dealing with a mild flexor strain, and is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training. Bergert was placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week with an ominous diagnosis of forearm tightness and he already has a Tommy John surgery in his history, so it counts as good news that his MRI revealed a relatively less-serious issue. The right-hander has a respectable 3.66 ERA over 76 1/3 innings in his rookie season, with Bergert coming to Kansas City from the Padres at the trade deadline.
- The Twins placed Matt Wallner on the 10-day IL yesterday due to a right oblique strain, so the outfielder’s season is all but officially over. This is the second IL stint of the year for Wallner, who missed over six weeks dealing with a hamstring strain early in the season. Wallner will finish with a .202/.311/.464 slash line and 22 homers over 392 plate appearances, which translates to a 114 wRC+. While respectable numbers, more was expected after Wallner posted a 148 wRC+ over 515 PA during the 2023-24 seasons.
I feel bad for Wallner. I love watching him play. I hope he puts it all together in 2026.
I hope this is the last we are of him in a twins uniform. solo home runs do nothing for me. striking out almost every time with runners in scoring position does nothing for me. he needs to go. larnach needs to go. maybe get a couple middling relievers for the two.
At least solo home runs put the team on the board. Striking out does not.
And also, take it up with the Pohlads, not Wallner himself
I called Falvey. twins fans know that the Pohlads don’t care.
Wow, the Twins are really having a fire sale. Just saw they also dumped 4 scouts.
Isn’t weakening your scouting department counter-productive to running a moneyball operation?
pro-scouting being eliminated….same as with most of the other 29 teams.
It’s pretty wild for the Tigers. They were leading the league for a chunk of the season and had completely run away with their division, and now they’re on the cusp of not even being in the playoffs.
If they can’t find some way to right the ship, this would be a collapse for the history books.
At the risk of repeating myself, I still blame the front office for not getting us at least ONE decent starter for the stretch run and playoffs….at the time, we’d already lost Jackson Jobe, and Reese Olson was having issues….all we got was a has-been and a never-was. I get that we’ve had other problems, but how do you go into the playoffs with only ONE dependable starter? Ostensibly, we’ve got lots of talent in the minors, so we didn’t even have to trade our best pieces….
I blame the front office… last year they had 1 starter, Skubal. They needed to go out and get multiple pitchers that were ready to pitch from day 1. They picked up an injured Alex Cobb and Flaherty who had a bad run with the Dodgers. At the break they still had holes. They got a bunch of reclamation projects.
Pretty sure it’s Karma after how the front office treats people.
I agree. They didn’t get enough SPs. They bet on Jacks instead of Kings.
They also didn’t account for the potential long-term loss of starter IPs to injuries. The lack of starter IPs has worn out a bullpen that already was recovering from 2024 Chaos workloads.
Game and a half after latest Vest meltdown.
Didn’t they DFA Urquidy? And since he’s being optioned when he clears, he won’t be an option for 15 days.
Yep, this was basically a lost year for him. Not sure if they’ll exercise his option.
The Tigers need to go all in and do whatever it takes to win. Start Melton for 5 innings. Leave Vest, Montero and Finnegan in for 2 innings stints. Go with the hot hand for hitters. After last year and most if this year missing the playoffs would be a gut punch.
On another note, if KC gets an OF bat for next year their starting pitching looks great. Good adds at the deadline. Bergert has looked really good.
Keider Montero has been decent much of the year. I think he’s going to be one of the bright spots.
The way he pitches in traffic, gives up an occasional homer but still can strike out the side…. He reminds me of Jose Lima.
Yeah, I’d think Keider has moved up in the rotation after Morton’s last start.
Maybe just bring in some kid from single A and let Fetter work his magic?
It can’t hurt. Paddock and Morton have been bums.
Fetter has been working his magic on Morton and Paddack and Maeda and Wentz and Flaherty and Manning… what makes you think he can help a single A pitcher?
Look at the pitchers he has helped get better because the list is way longer than that one, and includes Flaherty last year.
Tigers meltdown driving me up a wall. They could’ve added more impactful arms at the deadline AND kept their top prospects — yet Scott Harris implies he could only do one or the other.
Thing is, Finnegan has been the best reliever who was available. That’s a win. The other pitching signings were shaky. That’s a loss.
But 2 of the main guys everyone wanted — ESuarez and Tanner Scott — have both sucked bigtime. Each would have cost a ton because each were 2 of the most desirable. They would have contributed little but set organizational depth back.
Meltdown has been driving me crazy too!
Eugenio would not have cost a lot. Granted, he’s been crappy since the trade — but that doesn’t mean he would’ve sucked in Detroit. He is in the final year of his contract. A classic 2-month rental. None of the 3 guys Seattle traded to Arizona were considered elite prospects — and the Tigers had the ammo to match or better that deal. It came down to dollars — Suarez is expensive — even for just 2 months — so our cheap owner probably got in the way.
Tanner Scott is on the Dodgers and was never available, so I’m not sure who you’re thinking of.
My bad. I meant Bednar. (T. Scott was someone on my offseason Tigers wish list.)
Agree with you that Eugenio’s performance wouldn’t have necessarily been the same in Detroit. In fact, I think the argument can be made that he would have played better in Detroit. He was very open to a Motown based on his own comments & even seemed looking forward to it.
None of the Tigers voiced disappointment at the underwhelming deadline haul (nor would you really expect them to). But you have to figure at least SOME of the players (like Skub, Greene, Javy) were disappointed and would have been stoked over a talent infusion of Suarez.
I assumed at the time Suarez would cost a lot, but he didn’t end up costing that much. I wonder what it would have cost the Tigers talent-wise? The Tigers have no shortage of 2B/3B types they could deal that they are going to run out of room for anyway.
If it was a Chris Ilitch-$ issue, that would be disappointing. He said they’d spend money if it meant completing a playoff team. Doesn’t that define the Suarez availability precisely?
Chris is a master at saying one thing and doing another — we saw it with the Red Wings arena “district” that still doesn’t exist. He’s basically a bureaucrat — whereas his dad was a former Tigers minor leaguer and actually wanted a World Series, even if it meant utilizing his own money to add premium talent. Chris isn’t a builder — he didn’t build Ilitch Entertainment into what it is today. He just worked for his dad. And to his credit (I guess) he was the only one of Mike’s children who wasn’t a total screw-up. But still, Chris is more afraid to lose money than risk earning more by winning. It’s sad but true.
Prospects are lottery tickets. And you get to draft 20 more every year — it would’ve been worth the playoff revenue to add better talent in July. Now he’s very likely to see zero playoff home games. He made his own bed. Scott Harris is just a front man — his hands are tied.
And we see nearly the same crap with the Red Wings.
So right about prospects. Yes, the Tigers have a highly-rated farm system right now, but what does it mean?
Is Jace Jung a big leaguer? H-Y Lee? Jay-Hen? Anyone at AAA?
Is Max Anderson a big leaguer? Anderson seemed like a hit-only prospect when Harris drafted him. He was rumored to be most-likely to be traded at the deadline but nobody bit. Are his defensive limitations going to limit him to DH? In the future, will the Tigers look back and be glad they picked him 2nd round, 45th overall?
McGonigle appears to be a future regular contributor, as does Max Clark. Everyone else is still a mystery to me. The 2 sluggers seem less and less like C’s every day and more like 1B/DH types. Can they maintain an upward trajectory?
Everyone else is too far off, including Rainer, who now has an injury to overcome.
Dombrowski wouldnt have hesitated to move youth for proven MLB talent. The difference is Mike Ilitch allowed him to do so. I don’t think Scott has Chris’s blessing — and he can’t come out and say that to the media.
Yeah Chris is hugely different than his old man. Dombrowski used prospects as currency & it worked pretty well.
The prospects he swapped for Cabrera did not become the monster talents they were projected to be, Andrew Miller had a nice little run, but that was it. Cameron Maybin was never the superstar some expected.
We know too well how Avila’s haul for Verlander turned out.
Dombrowski’s problem was he could never assemble a bullpen.
Montero had been great in the pen too.
When I said that on the Bless You Boys page I was told everything was going to cost them Clark, McGonnigle, Rainer, Liranzo and Briceno plus some others for a rental. They have a direct contact to Scottie Harris. Those guys are so smart over there.
Yeah that’s absurd. Doesn’t surprise me that’s what the BYB crowd is like. I stay away from there lol.
Morton needs to hang it up.
If the Tigers collapse after basically having the division in the bag for so long, it’s going to be one of the worst collapses in baseball.
They were listed as over 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. So yes one of the worst collapses ever.
Melton is a true starter, not a “long man” as stated here. The immediate problem is innings and durability. He’s never thrown more than 101 innings in a season before and he’s over 115 in 2025. Tigers are justifiably concerned about protecting his arm…
There should be no need for concern — he’s almost 25, and played 4 years in college. He’s already in his prime — let it rip. I’d rather have gone down this year with Troy Melton instead of scabs like Paddack and Morton.
Harris is largely to blame, but Hinch hasn’t exactly been above reproach during this collapse. He likes the idea of his pitchers more than he accepts the reality. He needs to realize this isn’t the same group that did “pitching chaos” last year. They aren’t up to that task. And he needs to be more cutthroat with Morton and Sewald and the guys Harris got.
Running out of gas halfway to 60 percent through the season is a very real possibility for pitchers who pitched the previous postseason innings in addition to the full season.
Relievers are also the most volatile baseball stock teams can gamble on.
Paddack and Morton didn’t work out but Finnegan and Montero sure did. Sewald is TBD. Stick Melton and Montero in for the next 8 games as starters.
Finnegan worked out and then got injured at a very unfortunate time. I would like to see him comeback next year.
Montero still has control issues, but is definitelh improved from his time in Atlanta this year. I dont think I’d trust him in high-leverage still. They will need to add at least 3-4 quality bullpen guys this winter.
This is what is needed to make decision’s going forward. However it plays out whether its a total collapse or not decisions will be made a little easier. The team had all its same guys so no one new to blame for anything. Next year the team composition will be different, and that’s how you keep improving. No hard feelings should be had by anyone. GO TIGERS !
Our playoff roster bullpen last year was Hurter, Hanifee, Jobe, Guenther, Madden, Brieske, Foley, Holton, and Vest.
Of that group:
– Hurter and Hanifee are unspectacular
– Jobe Tommy John — won’t see him til’ 2027
– Guenther is unspectacular and injured
– Madden & Foley missed the whole season
– Holton heavily regressed, inconsistent
– Brieske absolutely imploded, they were counting on him this year. He was our de-facto closer in the Dodgers series lol
– Vest is running on fumes
A significant investment in the bullpen is needed this winter.
Maybe they can get a couple, in the Skubal trade.
Please Cleveland. Sweep the Tigers, when they come to your place, so we can officially end this nonsense !
Should have hired….
The right person…..
Should have hired….
The Good Guy…
Should have hired…
Who?
Someone with saber-like dentition, perhaps?