Detroit Tigers first quarter report cards

The 2022 Detroit Tigers are grounded.

It’s safe to say Detroit Tigers fans weren’t expecting this. The team had a pretty strong offseason, with big free agent signings, a seemingly lopsided trade, and two of baseball’s best prospects ready to join the fold.

And yet here the Tigers are, 40 games into the season, with the worst offense in baseball, the worst defense in baseball, and the exact same 14-26 record they had at this point last year. Injuries have certainly played a role in this ugly start, but they don’t explain why the offense has completely fallen off a cliff.

There’s still plenty of time for players to turn things around, but with the team already 10.5 games out of first place, the once faint hopes for a playoff berth have disappeared. The time for excuses is over. Now, we judge.

Below you’ll find our grades for Detroit Tigers regulars over the first quarter of the season.

Detroit Tigers A Grades

Tarik Skubal – Skubal isn’t just one of the few bright spots on the Detroit Tigers, he’s legitimately one of the breakout players in all of baseball in 2022. Detroit’s young lefty has increased his strikeout rate, lowered his walk rate, and quartered his home run rate from a year ago, and according to FanGraphs, he has been the 2nd best pitcher in baseball this season. It’s unfortunate the Tigers are playing so poorly because it’s preventing fans from fully enjoying what Skubal has done.

Detroit Tigers C Grades

Miguel Cabrera – One could make an argument that Miguel Cabrera deserves a B for his performance so far. He is batting .276 with a team-leading 15 RBI’s, and his performance relative to expectations has been impressive. But we don’t grade on a curve here, and Cabrera’s lack of walks and power leave him with a pedestrian wRC+ of 106 — just slightly above MLB average.

Harold Castro and Willi Castro – It’s not really fair to group these two together, but fans do it all the time, so we will too. If it were up to Twitter, Harold and Willi Castro would not only be off the Detroit Tigers, but they’d be sentenced to toil in some sort of underground salt mine. But the fact remains, Harold and Willi have been two of Detroit’s best offensive performers so far this season. That says more about the state of the offense than these two particular players, but the numbers are the numbers.

Michael Fulmer – Fulmer was one of the best relievers in baseball last year, but so far this season he has been thoroughly average. His 3.52 ERA is acceptable, but his velocity has dropped rather dramatically, and he’s seen a 7% drop in his strikeout rate to go along with a 6% jump in his walk rate.

Rony García – Chalk another one up to relievers being weird. Garcia has always had a nice arm and a good curveball, but in his limited time at the MLB level he looked like he lacked the control to be a viable bullpen pitcher. But so far he has been pretty darn good, posting a 2.57 ERA over 14 innings a long reliever.

Wily Peralta – Speaking of long relievers, Wily Peralta has also done an admirable job in that role, with a scanty 1.10 ERA over 16.1 innings. Again, the numbers are the numbers, but his 11 walks suggest this performance won’t last.

Michael Pineda – Before his unfortunate broken finger Michael Pineda was doing pretty much exactly what the Detroit Tigers expected of him. He wasn’t striking anyone out, and he wasn’t blowing hitters away with stuff, but he owned a 3.22 ERA through 22.1 innings over five decent starts.

Eduardo Rodriguez – Much like Pineda, Eduardo Rodriguez was doing about what was expected of him this season. His most recent start was ugly — we now know why — but he went into that game with a very solid 3.72 ERA and four quality starts in seven outings.

Gregory Soto – In true Detroit Tigers closer fashion, Gregory Soto has been a roller coaster this season. He has seven saves and his 2.92 ERA looks great, but there are some danger signs here, namely that his strikeout rate has dropped 7% while his walk rate has remained among the highest in the game.

Detroit Tigers D Grades

Javier Báez – Báez has largely been as advertised in his early career with the Detroit Tigers. He has come through with some clutch hits and made spectacular plays on defense, but he also swings at every slider he sees (or doesn’t see) and is prone to defensive lapses. The one thing fans haven’t seen yet is one of his signature hot streaks, so he gets a D for now.

Jacob Barnes – Jacob Barnes is a fun reclamation project story, right down to him being cut in spring training only to be called back and make the team. But two disastrous outings in his last four appearances have sabotaged his ERA, and his future with the team is in doubt.

Tucker Barnhart – Tucker Barnhart is terrific at blocking balls in the dirt, but that seems to be the best of his defensive skills, and he’s been average at framing pitches and throwing out runners. Meanwhile, his offensive production has been as advertised — that is to say about 20% below average. And that seems due for a negative correction, because he currently sports an unsustainable .397 batting average on balls in play (BABIP).

Beau Brieske – This seems a bit unfair given the longshot nature of Beau Brieske’s ascent to the big leagues and his impressive poise, but we aren’t here for narratives. Right now he owns a 5.13 ERA, and his strikeout, walk, and home run numbers suggest things should be worse.

Jeimer Candelario – It’s easy enough to chalk up Jeimer Candelario’s early season troubles to his unfortunate .235 BABIP, but the numbers just aren’t there to give him a higher grade yet. He does have three home runs and 12 RBIs, but he’s not getting on base nearly enough right now — his OBP is .100 points lower than last year.

Jonathan Schoop – Schoop, like Candelario, is suffering from some extremely poor batted ball luck. His expected batting average of .251 is right in line with that of his previous three seasons, but his actual batting average of .161 and his minuscule walk rate mean he is literally the worst offensive player in baseball right now. So why isn’t he failing? Because he also happens to be the best defensive player in baseball right now. Life is strange.

Spencer Torkelson – We tried to warn you. Spencer Torkelson leads the Tigers in home runs, and he’s walking at an above-average rate, but he’s not a good big-league hitter yet. He may become one in time, maybe even soon, but the bar to be a productive big-leaguer at first base is extremely high, and he isn’t close to it right now.

Detroit Tigers F Grades

Akil Baddoo – We all followed the ups and downs of Akil Baddoo’s surprising rookie season closely, and it felt like he would always be able to overcome his struggles. But that wasn’t the case in his 17 games this year, as he batted just .140 with one home run and one steal, and he was demoted to Triple-A Toledo.

Robbie Grossman – In a team full of disappointing offensive performances, Robbie Grossman’s might be the most inexplicable. Maybe it was a bit much to expect another 20-20 season from Grossman, but fans probably expected more than the .041 Isolated Power he has produced this year. He’s still walking, but his strikeout rate has soared, and he’s been a negative on defense. If he continues to play like this in the second quarter of the season he may actually get released.

Eric Haase – Another one of the great stories from 2021, Eric Haase has felt a bit like an invisible man this year. He had his spectacular pinch-hit homer to tie the game on Opening Day, but since then he has gone just 8-for-55 (.145) with two extra-base hits.

Derek Hill – Hill showed flashes of being a viable offensive player in 2021, but it’s been a slog for him this season, and he hasn’t made up for it on the other side of the ball because his defense has been relatively average.

Detroit Tigers Incomplete Grades

Tyler Alexander, Jason Foley, Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Victor Reyes