On July 8th, the Detroit Tigers were cruising in the American League Central. They were the only team in the division with a record of .500 or better. They had a 10-game lead over the second-place Kansas City Royals. The next closest team in the division was the Cleveland Guardians, who were 15.5 games back of Detroit.
The Tigers weren't just one of the best teams in the American League, though. They were one of the best teams in baseball. In fact, on July 8th, they had a three-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in Major League Baseball. This team looked the part of not only a postseason contender, but a World Series favorite.
Fast forward to September 24th. The Tigers have lost to the Guardians, which is their eighth straight defeat. They are 1-11 in their last 12 games. And they now trail Cleveland by a game in the American League Central. It's one of the biggest collapses in baseball history, with no clear end in sight.
At this point, whether Detroit makes the postseason or not is irrelevant. A ton of questions are going to be asked about this team and its collapse. With all this in mind, here are the Tigers most to blame for one of the worst late-season blunders in baseball history.
Scott Harris tops the list of most to blame
The Tigers struggled coming out of the All-Star break. However, they were still in position to make a run at the World Series. They had to plug some holes at the MLB Trade Deadline. But they had more than enough assets to make a few moves without mortgaging the future of their franchise.
Scott Harris, President of Baseball Operations for the Tigers, saw things differently. He approached the deadline with immense caution. His biggest moves were for Kyle Finnegan and Rafael Montero. He added a plethera of arms, but none of them necessarily moved the needle.
Finnegan did get hurt at the beginning of the month. Before this, he had not allowed a run as a member of the Tigers. Moreover, Montero has figured something out, entering play Wednesday with a 3.05 ERA with Detroit. Every other pitcher, meanwhile, has not performed well. In fact, two of them — Codi Heuer and Charlie Morton — aren't even with the team anymore.
Harris wanted to maintain Detroit's prospect value at the deadline. This makes sense if this were a bubble team or if they were still not quite there. But Detroit was undoubtedly a World Series contender. They had the chance to make a big move. They had a chance to make a statement. Instead, they passed it up.
Harris and the Tigers front office fancied themselves the smartest people in the room. Unfortunately, their act of hubris did not work out. And it could mean Detroit misses the playoffs in its entirety this year.
Tigers' Riley Greene needs to do more
Of course, Harris doesn't shoulder all of the blame. He acquires the players, but they are the ones who play the game. And one player who needs to be talked about is outfielder Riley Greene.
On paper, Greene is one of the best hitters in this Tigers lineup. He leads the team with 35 home runs, one of two Tigers players with 30+ long balls this year. He is also the first Detroit hitter since Nick Castellanos in 2017 with 100+ RBI in a season. And the first with 110+ since Miguel Cabrera in 2013.
However, he has also struck out 196 times this year. This is the most by a hitter in Tigers history. He is likely to become the first player in franchise history with 200 strikeouts in a single season.
In September, he has performed horrifically at the plate. He entered play Wednesday having slashed .205/.250/.370 in 19 games this month. He has just three home runs and nine RBI to his account, as well. Moreover, he has struck out 25 times while drawing just four walks.
Greene has been asked about his strikeouts a few times. Earlier this month, he mentioned that he's okay with the strikeouts. As long as he gets hits, it doesn't matter.
“Yeah, I have struck out more this year. I get it,” he said, via MLB.com's Jason Beck. “But I don’t want to say, ‘Do the strikeouts outweigh this?’ It’s part of the game, and I did it a lot this year, and I still have time to do it. But I don’t think it’s a big deal to me.”
This attitude, along with a clip of him shrugging after being informed Detroit struck out 19 times as a team on Tuesday, have made the rounds among Tigers fans. Greene's stance toward his strikeouts is fine if the team is winning. However, the team is not winning, and he has two fewer strikeouts than total bases this month. Some of the blame for this collapse certainly lies at his feet.
Every starting pitcher not named Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize
Tarik Skubal has led the Tigers' pitching staff, as many expected before the 2025 MLB season. However, what many didn't expect was the rotation as a whole struggling as much as it did. Some of this was out of the team's control. The Tigers lost both Reese Olson and Jackson Jobe to injury during the year.
However, a lot of this has come down to poor performance. Casey Mize has emerged as a legitimate No. 2 starting pitcher in this league. Outside of him, there isn't much to write home about.
Jack Flaherty has not pitched like the No. 2 option they envisioned when he re-signed in Detroit this spring. Morton had an ERA north of 7.00 before he was designated for assignment. Chris Paddack, another ill-advised trade pickup, has an unsightly 6.12 ERA as a Tiger. He was eventually moved to the bullpen.
Detroit caught fire last season with their Pitching Chaos method. This year, the pitching has certainly been chaotic, but they haven't pitched well enough to pick up needed victories. When Skubal or Mize aren't on the mound, it feels like the Tigers are a lock for a loss. It's hard to maintain any division lead when you have a messy rotation like this.
