The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox have never been on the friendliest of terms. But the Tigers recent underperformance has taken some of the fuel out of the fire in terms of a rivalry. However, the rivalry is back between Chicago and Detroit.

Detroit is looking to compete once again and they believe they have a shot at upsetting the odds and winning the AL Central in 2022. However, the rivalry was rejuvenated last year in September when the two teams had a benches-clearing brawl. Jose Abreu was plunked by a Tigers reliever late in the game and eventually slid hard into second base which sparked the brawl. The event led to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson being served a two-game suspension for the beginning of the 2022 campaign.

But the White Sox were the far better team last season. Developing a rivalry typically includes teams who possess fairly even competition. The Tigers believe they closed the talent gap this offseason by signing Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez to contracts. They also acquired Austin Meadows from Tampa Bay, and promoted top prospect and former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson to the majors.

Newly acquired Javier Baez blasted a walk-off base hit on Opening Day to propel the Tigers to the win over the White Sox. Baez issued the following comments in regards to the White Sox-Tigers brewing rivalry.

“I don't know if they're (White Sox) going to win (the AL Central) because we're going to give everything we have to beat them. To me and my team now, it doesn't matter who we play. They got to play us. It doesn't matter who's pitching. They got to pitch to us. We just got to get that trust.”

The Tigers and White Sox 2022 head-to-head matchups already profile as must-watch games.