Detroit Tigers: 6 bold predictions for the 2024 season

Spring training has officially started, signaling the unofficial beginning of the 2024 season. This will be an interesting year for the Detroit Tigers. They made several small, but impactful moves this offseason that should help this team win games in 2024.

However, they also have several young players already in house that they are banking on taking some pretty big leaps forward. Players like Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Tarik Skubal, and more are expected to be huge contributors for the Tigers this season.

Because of that, there's a chance the Tigers can make some noise in the AL Central this season. If everything goes right — which has a non-zero chance of happening — they could win the division. But everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has to go right, and recent history would suggest that's a very low possibility.

With spring training underway, it's time to make some predictions. But not just any predictions — it's time get bold. It's time for one of my personal favorite articles to write every year. Here's six bold predictions for the 2024 season.

Tarik Skubal finishes top-3 in AL Cy Young voting

Skubal was one of the best pitchers in baseball after returned from flexor tendon surgery on July 4. He had 2.80 ERA, a FIP of 2.00, a 3.3 fWAR, and a K/9 of 11.43. Those were all top 6 in the league, with his WAR and FIP being tops in all of baseball.

Because of that, there's been a quite a bit of hype around him this offseason, even from national outlets. And it is 100% justified. While he was rehabbing from surgery, he made an adjustment to his pitching mechanics ($$$) which allowed him to not only throw more strikes and throw harder, but put less stress on his arm. He was able to get the best of both worlds: improve his pitching ability, and decrease the risk of injury.

Given all of this, and the fact that he's just entering the prime of his career, I think there's a very real chance Skubal finished top-3 in American League Cy Young voting in November. He could very well be the best left-handed starter in the AL. That's how good be could be.

Now I could get really wild here and say he'll win the award outright, but that would be a bit of a stretch. Gerrit Cole still exists, after all. And now some guy named Corbin Burnes is in the American League — in a contract year, I might add. It would take a lot for Skubal to be the AL Cy Young award winner in 2024 just with those two as his competition alone.

But top-3? Oh, that's a definite possibility. If he stays healthy, Tarik Skubal should finally be that ace that we all thought he could be.