Who are the last 5 Tigers players to hit 30 home runs in a single season?

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It's been a really long time since the Tigers had someone threaten to hit 30 home runs. You have to look back to 2017, when Nick Castellanos hit 26 and Justin Upton hit 28, respectively, though Upton was traded to the Angels at the August waiver trade deadline.

But this season, they finally have a player that could do it. Spencer Torkelson is on an absolute tear at the moment. He's hit eight home runs in the month of August so far, giving him 23 for the year. He's currently projected to finish with 29, which would be the most for a Tigers hitter since Upton in 2017.

With the way he's going right now, Tork has a real good shot at 30, which would be huge for him in just his second MLB season, especially given how last year went. But with Tork threatening to reach that magic number of 30 home runs, we thought it would be fun to look back at the last five Tigers to hit 30 bombs in a season.

Most of the names on here will not surprise you. They will be quite familiar, and perhaps make you long for the days when this team was a perennial playoff contender. Hopefully, we are not far off from the team being a force once again. But enough reminiscing.

Here are the last 5 Tigers to hit 30 home runs in a season

1. Justin Upton, 2016 (31)

Upton got off to pretty rough start in 2016. He had just nine homers and a .670 OPS at the All-Star break. But the second half of the season was a much different story.

He hit 22 home runs with a .916 OPS down the stretch to finish with 31 bombs. He struck out a ton in the first half, but cut those down considerably in the second half.

Upton was pretty solid for the Tigers during his brief stint. The trade to the Angels, though they got virtually nothing for him, ended up being a blessing in disguise as the back end of that contract was rough.

He hit 30 bombs one more time in 2018, but he declined hard after that. At least he was good in a Tigers uniform while he was here.

2, Miguel Cabrera, 2016 and 2013 (38 and 44)

I mean, duh, right? Prime Miggy was simply one of the best hitters of all-time. His ability to effortlessly lift the the ball out of the ballpark was a sight to behold.

We can go back even further here and find several more 30+ homer seasons for Cabrera. He had six straight from 2008-2013.

There's not much else to say here. You all know how good Miggy was in his prime. Let's focus on someone who definitely good while he was here, but isn't as celebrated as Miggy.

3. J.D. Martinez, 2015 (38)

Just Dingers is what they called him. J.D. Martinez was a heck of a find by Dave Dombrowski. As soon as he was cut by the Astros, he fixed his swing and signed with the Tigers on a minor league deal.

After hitting 10 homers in 17 games in Toledo, the Tigers called him up, and the rest was history.

J.D.'s 38-homer campaign in 2015 was one of the few highlights of that season. The Tigers massively disappointed with a 74-87 record, but he just did his thing and raked.

Way too many people just remember the subpar return the Tigers got when they traded him to Arizona in 2017, completely forgetting how good he was. J.D. Martinez was one of the best hitters the Tigers have had in recent memory.

4. Victor Martinez, 2014 (32)

You may be noticing a lot of repeats from the last 5 Tigers hitters to have 100 RBI in a single season list we ran last week, but that's just kind of how these things go. If you hit 30+ homers, you're likely to drive in over 100 runs.

Once again, we get to talk about contract-year Victor Martinez. It's pretty wild to look back at that season and what he did at age 35.

He hit .335 and had a .974 OPS. The 32 homers were a career high. He also intentionally walked a league-leading 28 times. Teams were afraid of V-Mart.

Victor earned himself one last contract with this season. He would go on to have another good season in 2016 with 27 homers, which was even more impressive at age 37.

5. Prince Fielder, 2012 (30)

Oh boy, we get to have the Prince Fielder conversation again!

Look, regardless of how you feel about him, you can't deny he had a great 2012 season. He hit 30 bombs and had a .940 OPS. He also walked more than he struck out. He was amazing protection in the lineup for Miguel Cabrera.

Yes, the contract didn't work out. Yes, it seemed like he didn't like it here. But he was only here for two years, and he largely became Texas' problem after that. It was better to have him for those two years than to not have him at all.

Looking back, the Tigers have had fewer 30 home run hitters than I orginally thought over the years. It has largely been Miggy and a few others, and that reflects in the list.

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