The most disappointing thing about these Detroit Tigers can't be found in the stats

This story initially appeared in the Motor City Bengals newsletter, your daily one-stop shop for Tigers news right in your inbox. Sign up here for daily takes from Kurt Mensching and Katrina Stebbins.

It’s June 1 and there’s no sugar coating it. In one atrocious month, the Detroit Tigers have ruined their 2026 season. 

And now we head into yet another summer with no reason to pay attention to the rest of the year. This is the most disappointing team since 2007. It may be the worst team since 2003 the way it’s playing.

A month of May when they went just 6-22 and were 4-21 in their last 25 games is too much to overcome. If the best that can be said is "at least it wasn’t as bad as that one month 30 years ago," then you’re an awful team. 

No “once players X, Y, and Z get healthy again” need apply here. A handful of injured players is not the difference between going 6-22 or 14-14. No, this has nothing to do with injuries and everything to do with a lineup that can't get the job done, of fielders who are too lackadaisical, of a manager and coaching staff who can't fix the lack of execution.

I had too much faith in them and I was wrong. But what’s most disappointing is why I was wrong. It wasn’t just about talent, it was about character. And when the stakes got high and things didn’t go their way, the Tigers crumbled. Like the Tin Man, they had no heart. They had no fight. They had no hustle.

The Gritty Tigs were fun. These Tigers are the exact opposite.

There’s a long-standing tradition of comparing Detroit teams to the city’s blue collar reputation. They show up to work. They bring their lunch pails. When a Detroit team looks like us, we love it. And we loved the “Gritty Tigs.” They were truly a lunch-pail gang. Were.

Cody Stavenhagen noted in The Athletic on Friday the biggest pox on this team: a complete collapse of that identity. They never had the most talented lineup in the American League, but they had a group that did the little things that forced the other team to beat them. They didn’t beat themselves. They were fun to watch and easy to root for.

Gritty no more. Fun no more. All but unwatchable today.

“The Tigers this season rank last with minus-20 Outs Above Average and No. 28 with minus-15 Defensive Runs Saved,” Stavenhagen wrote. “Whether you go off metrics or the eye test, the Tigers have been one of the worst fielding teams in baseball. … 

“The Tigers have made 23 outs on the bases, more than any other team in the American League. Not all have been products of their supposed aggressive brand. Although the Tigers still go first to third and take extra bases at the highest rate in the sport, FanGraphs grades the Tigers as worth minus-1.8 runs on the bases, No. 26 in the league.”

All that and they can’t hit with runners in scoring position. Can’t rely on the longball. This is a lineup literally good at nothing.

There are a lot of directions I could go from here. Disappointment in manager A.J. Hinch and the coaching staff of the Tigers would be justified. You can excuse a young team that just isn’t good enough. What you can’t excuse is the lack of character, the lack of hustle, among players who have been around a few years. 

Anger at front office head Scott Harris and owner Chris Ilitch. The Tigers scored 81 runs in 28 games in May, an average of just 2.89. They scored either zero or one run eight times. The pitching staff had no chance. They had to be perfect. We could complain about the bullpen (and it would be valid if we called out not enough depth and the decision to go with an aging Kenley Janen as close) but when the staff needed to throw eight shutouts to have a chance to win, what else do you expect would happen?

The Tigers got swept by the White Sox, the team that was supposed to have the record Detroit has instead. The Tigers scored all of five runs. 

The relief pitchers may get the “L” next to their name in the box score, but it’s clear the loss belongs to a lineup that isn’t good enough. We knew that going into the offseason. We knew that going into the season. So did the front office. And they did nothing about it. Instead, they added a bad-character starting pitcher who already got suspended for taking his own failure out on an opposing batter’s back.

The end is beginning for the once-promising Tigers

It’s disappointing. It’s frustrating. It’s angering. 

We could call for heads to soothe our anger. It’s justified. And make no mistake, heads will roll. Just not all of the ones that deserve the blame. We could talk about where we go from here, what moves the team needs to make now.

But for now, we mourn. Baseball was fun again, after another rebuild that took too long. 

I always looked forward to sitting on the couch and turning on the game, to listening to Jason Benetti and the rotating cast of characters around him having a good time, being silly, keeping us entertained. Even their enjoyment has been sapped because of just how hard this team is to watch. 

We all had something really pure and fun again, we had joy, and we lost it. We can be disappointed, we can be frustrated, we can be angry. 

But most of all, I’m just sad. We had a great thing, and now it’s gone. That just sucks.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow