How many games will the Detroit Tigers win in 2023?

Predicting the Detroit Tigers record for the 2023 season

The 2023 regular season is finally upon us. Soon, Detroit Tigers baseball will be on our TVs once again. A new era of Tigers baseball is about to begin.

Last season, there was hope for Tigers for the first time in a while. Chris Ilitch had finally opened up his wallet after a promising season in 2021 and the team looked like they were ready to take that next step. We all know how things turned out.

I'll admit, I was pretty bullish on the Tigers last year. I predicted they'd go 85-77 and just miss out on a wild card spot. This year, let's just say things are a little different. I don't think they'll be terrible and loss 100 games like much of the fanbase, but I'm tempering expectations this time around. Allow me to explain.

If you look at this roster, it's largely the same as the team that lost 96 games a year ago. The main difference is they have a bit more depth and lot of the guys that were injured last season are healthy now. The bullpen also lost several key contributors from a year ago, and that was the strength of the team in 2022.

The team also has a revamped coaching staff. Scott Coolbaugh was replaced by three different hitting coaches in Michael Brdar, Keith Bearegard, and James Rowson. The pitching coaches also saw a major addition in former University of Iowa pitching coach Robin Lund. The latter appears to specialize in preventing arm injuries. That could be huge for the Detroit Tigers going forward.

I think the new coaching staff should definitely help. It may not happen right away, but it could be something that pays dividends in the long run.

Going back to the roster, the Tigers are banking on a lot of hitters to bounce back from last season. Javier Baez, Jonathan Schoop, and Austin Meadows are among the hitters looking to bounce back. Additionally, they need both Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson to be the players they think they can be. Both of them had good springs, so that's promising.

New addition Nick Maton is someone I'm very interesting to see this season. One could argue that he was the Tigers' best hitter this spring. He led the team with five home runs. He crushes fastballs, but struggles against anything soft and we don't know if he can hit lefties. He's a very intriguing piece to this lineup this season.

The starting rotation could be decent if they stay healthy. Sadly, they're off to a bad start on that front. Michael Lorenzen is starting the season on the IL. Joey Wentz is taking his spot, so they have a very capable replacement. Spencer Turnbull looked fantastic this spring, but he's still coming off Tommy John surgery.

So all that leads to how good this team could be. I think if every single thing goes right—they stay healthy and everyone bounces back—they could be a .500 team. I think a lot of fans would be okay with that since that would be a massive improvement from years past.

A lot of people think this team will lose 100 games. For me, it's really hard to see that happening unless everything that went wrong last season happens again, and that just doesn't seem very likely. The injury luck should even out this season. There's just no way players like Schoop and Baez can be as bad as they were last season.

Finally, let's get into what you clicked on this article for: my prediction. My official Detroit Tigers' 2023 record prediction is 72-90. I think they'll be better than last season, but the overall lack of talent on the big league roster will drag the team down.

Overall, the Detroit Tigers probably won't be very good, but they won't be as bad as a team like Oakland or Washington. The team could even be fun to watch if they start calling up some prospects like Parker Meadows and Andre Lipcius. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm just ready to watch some baseball games that count.