Dream Detroit Tigers starting lineup for the 2024 season

Batting eighth: C Jake Rogers

Another sneaky solid presence for the Tigers in 2023 was catcher Jake Rogers, who would either place very high or very low on a ranking of best facial hair in baseball, depending on your persuasion. Rogers split time behind the plate with Eric Haase, a free agent this year after rejecting an outright assignment by the Cleveland Guardians, and Carson Kelly, who joined the Tigers in August and just had his option picked up by the team for 2024.

It's likely that Rogers and Kelly will split catching time pretty evenly in 2024, but Rogers gets the spot on this dream lineup. Kelly might have a small edge in terms of defense — though he had a lower overall strike call rate, he was a more successful framer on the corners and caught two more runners stealing — Rogers had far more blocks above average and a marginally better pop time to second.

'Marginally' seems to be the key word here; Rogers and Kelly's offensive and defensive performances are similar. Either way, the Tigers would be in competent hands. Call Rogers' appearance in this lineup over Kelly recency bias, or maybe it has something to do with his facial hair.