We're Four Games Into Spring And I'm Already Buying Detroit Tigers Stock

Maybe it’s just my insatiable thirst for baseball, but dammit, I’m so excited to watch the Tigers this year. And we are four games into spring training, and my philosophy about spring training has always been that I don’t take anything out of it...unless something incredible happens. In that case, YAY! The Tigers are going to the World Series! And so far, you know what I’m seeing? I see a bulked-up Akil Baddoo hitting tanks and legging out triples. I’m seeing Spencer Torkelson hitting balls with a 100 exit velocity. I see Riley Greene looking like a guy who might screw around and win Rookie Of The Year. It has me excited. 

I did an entire segment on my show today where I talked about the fact that Detroit sports fans, to a certain extent, have been so traumatized by the lack of success that, good Lord, EVERY TEAM IN DETROIT has had over the last five years that we’ve become afraid to embrace expectations. If the Tigers stink this year, I’ll be the first one to say I was wrong, but I look at this roster, and I look at the coaching staff, and I look at the manager, and I look at who they added to the roster, I think that this is going to be a good baseball team. Thus far, with a small sample size, I’ve seen many things that brought a smile to my face. The three-headed monster of Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Tarik Skubal that Tigers fans talked about forever when they were in the minor leagues is here. And so far in spring, they look pretty darn good. I know there are question marks. Will the young rotation be able to sustain itself? Will this team be able to improve on their win total against divisional opponents from a season ago? Those are legit questions. But three years ago, this team had Christin Stewart, a man with a .676 career OPS, in the cleanup spot. So you can’t give me shit for being a bit amped about this team. Don’t be afraid to embrace the excitement. The Detroit Tigers will be good (at least I sure hope they are).