Every so often, a great team will present itself for the Detroit Tigers. The two most obvious examples of this are the 1984 and 2006 teams: Both of won the American League, with the 1984 squad winning Detroit its most recent World Series. Those were also the last two times that the Tigers had managed to win at least 31 of their first 47 games — until Sunday, when the 2025 version matched that mark with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays to improve to 31-16 on the season.
Detroit has the best record in baseball and is a full 3.5 games better than the next-best team in the American League, which just so happens to be the New York Yankees at 27-19 on the season. Even more important, Detroit has a five-game lead over the white-hot Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. The fact that the Twins, Cleveland Guardians and Kansas City Royals are all above .500 suggests Detroit really is that good.
What I think is important is the Tigers have an ace pitcher in his absolute prime in Tarik Skubal, as well as a team that qualified for the postseason just last year. They are not afraid of the big stage; most importantly, manager A.J. Hinch is going to empower his players to make a difference when it matters most. It might as well be the year of the tiger in baseball. It would be some 41 years in the making, too.
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Detroit Tigers are giving off the vibes of a team destined for greatness
I still believe the National League is deeper and better top to bottom than the American League. But the best team in baseball plays in the Junior Circuit in Detroit, while the Colorado Rockies are finding new and creative ways to embarrass themselves over in the Senior Circuit. Right now, Detroit kicking tail in what looks to be a strong AL Central should only serve them.
Last year's run to the postseason by Detroit caught many people off-guard. But Any time a team is regularly picking at or near the top of a draft, things can come together in a hurry, almost always when you least expect for them to. From a national perspective, the Tigers are not catching anyone off-guard this season. This team is just that good. It is a pitching-focused team with timely hitting.
Although we still have four-plus months left in the regular season, people are quick to point out how great of a start the 1984 team got off to even today. What they did in April and May of that year set them up for success later on when it counted. In a way, a hot start can allow players to play loosely for the rest of the year, knowing that the leads you have built are probably not going to go away on you.
Keep in mind that every loss is magnified for a team trying to play catch-up to a contending team.