Tigers' 2025 Opening Day Roster, Lineup, Rotation & Bullpen

The long wait for (consequential) baseball is finally over, and the Detroit Tigers are slated to take on the reigning World Champion Dodgers at Dodger Stadium Thursday night at 7:10 PM EST in the first of a three-game set. Tarik Skubal gets the ball for Detroit and Blake Snell gets the ball for LA in one of the marquee matchups of Opening Day.

Skubal is the big name here, but how will the rest of Detroit's roster look around him for Game 1 of 162?

Detroit Tigers 2025 Opening Day Roster

The Tigers' offense was in a constant state of flux through spring training, especially as injuries started to stack up (Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, Wenceel Pérez) and players started to get bumped down to Triple-A (Jace Jung, Justyn-Henry Malloy). However, the Tigers did make a last-minute addition in veteran outfielder Manuel Margot as a temporary solution and will have to depend on Quad-A regular Ryan Kreidler while they wait for Meadows to come off of the 60-day IL.

Detroit Tigers Opening Day Lineup

We're still waiting on official word, but here's what's been projected by some Tigers insiders in preparation of Thursday night's game against the Dodgers.

Detroit Tigers Opening Day Rotation

• Tarik Skubal (Opening Day starter)
• Jack Flaherty
• Reese Olson
• Casey Mize
• Jackson Jobe

Skubal, Flaherty, and Olson are all solid — everyone knows there's no need to worry about Skubal — but Mize and Jobe's progressions will be important to follow. Mize is coming off of a great spring training and Jobe is baseball's top pitching prospect behind Roki Sasaki, but there are reasons to worry about both. Mize has historically not lived up to expectations and Jobe's a rookie who gave up perhaps a few too many long balls for comfort this spring. However, the pitching staff will still be the least of fans' worries this year.

Detroit Tigers Opening Day Bullpen

• Tyler Holton
• Will Vest
• Beau Brieske
• Tommy Kahnle
• John Brebbia
• Brant Hurter
• Brenan Hanifee
• Kenta Maeda

The Tigers shocked fans when they demoted closer Jason Foley on Wednesday, but Holton, Vest, and Brieske will try to reprise their standout performances from 2024. Hurter and Madden were also part of the Tigers' late-season push, and Madden is the Tigers' No. 15 prospect this year, but they still have a lot to prove. Kahnle and Brebbia were offseason additions, and Kahnle should be expected to get the ball for a lot of high-leverage late innings. Maeda, to no one's surprise, didn't make the cut in the spring rotation battle, and will presumably spend the entire season in the bullpen.

Stay tuned for more updates as they come through. Happy Opening Day and let's go Tigers!