Welcome to “Five Things We Liked From Last Week”, a weekly list of… five things we liked from last week:
1. Javy Báez
Despite feeling like 4 years, 2025 is just 4 months old as of Wednesday. It’s been a year full of big surprises already in just those 4 long months, and in the baseball world, there’s been no bigger surprise than the resurgence of one Ednel Javier Báez.
Coming into the 2025 season, expectations were naturally not exactly the highest for El Mago, based on the previous three years. In fact, many (most?) Tigers fans were ready to send him packing. Luckily for the Tigers and their fans, Javy is still here, and has been a major key to Detroit’s hot start to the year.
According to FanGraphs WAR, heading into Thursday night, Javy is tied (with Dillon Dingler) for the 3rd most valuable hitter for Detroit, behind only Spencer Torkelson and Zach McKinstry.
While solid defense was expected from Báez, quite literally no one (including Javy himself) would have expected some of that to come in center field, where Javy has been very solid just like he is on the dirt. But even more impressive than his defense has been his bat. As our own Rogelio Castillo recently pointed out, Javy has made many notable improvements at the dish, including reducing his whiff and chase rates and increasing his line drive rate, which has led to a .296/.337/.407 slash and a wRC+ of 116.
A .397 batting average on balls in play suggests that there may be some regression coming soon for Javy, but regression to the mean goes both ways, and could lead to Báez tapping into more of his power potential. In any case, the Tigers needed someone to step up early due to spring training injuries to some key hitters, and to the surprise of most, Javy has done just that.
2. Brenan Hanifee
Speaking of surprises, last season, Brenan Hanifee was the unsung hero of the Tigers’ excellent bullpen. In just over 29 innings, Hanifee put up an excellent 1.84 ERA, while often being called upon to get the Tigers out of tight jams with runners on base (Brenan stranded 86.1% of baserunners).
This season, The Handyman (credit to Tiger Territory host Kieran Steckley) has been even better: 1.10 ERA (3.14 FIP), .227 batting average allowed, 61.1% groundball rate, 4.3% walk rate, and just .55 home runs allowed per nine.
By keeping the ball on the ground and in the yard, and by limiting walks, Hanifee has become the fireman of A.J. Hinch’s bullpen; and in the process, has made himself invaluable to the Detroit Tigers. What a rise up the ranks for a former minor league free agent.
3. Max Anderson
In last week’s “Five Things”, we discussed how many Tiger prospects were off to hot starts at the plate in 2025; and at the time, unheralded catcher Ricardo Hurtado was the hottest hitter of them all. Well, things done changed.
Max Anderson has been mashing so far in the 2025 season, and now leads all qualified Tiger minor leaguers in OPS at 1.007. His strikeout and walk rates have held steady since last year despite a promotion to Double A Erie this season, while his ISO has doubled and led to his breakout campaign so far.
In taking a look at his batted ball profile, Anderson has traded 6% of his batted balls from groundballs to line drives, and has also increased his pull rate by 9.5%. Anderson appears to have made a shift in his opposite field approach, and that shift has been a recipe for success so far. If Max can maintain these changes at the plate, the Tigers may have another top notch hitting prospect on their paws.
4. Dylan Smith
As a reader of this site, I imagine you follow prospects. And if you follow prospects long enough, you’ll hear the phrase “development isn’t linear”.
Dylan Smith is the perfect example of this old trusty adage.
Smith was the Tigers’ 3rd round pick of the 2021 draft, as a starting pitcher out of Alabama. 2022 was his first exposure to pro ball, and he acquitted himself quite well, thank you: 88.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 24.3% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and just .61 home runs allowed per nine, mostly in High A West Michigan. Unfortunately, in 2023, Smith battled injuries most of the year, pitching just 31 innings.
During the 2024 season, Smith also dealt with some injuries, and appeared in just 14 games. Even worse, his walk and home run rates took some steps back, and his stuff appeared to follow.
In 2025, the Tigers decided to unleash Smith out of the ‘pen, and that decision has gone very well so far. In 12 innings pitched, Dylan has allowed just one run and 3 hits while striking out 13. Like many former starters, his stuff looks to be playing up out of the bullpen, and the results have backed that up. A slightly high walk rate has been the only blemish on Smith’s season so far, but if he can get his command back to where he was as a starter, the Tigers may have a future leverage reliever to look forward to, maybe as soon as this season.
5. Josue Briceño
Heading into 2025, perhaps no Tiger prospect had more helium than catcher / first baseman Josue Briceño. That was because despite coming off an injury, and despite often being much younger than his competition, 6 months ago Briceño made a joke of the Arizona Fall League.
Josue slashed a hilarious .433/.509/.867 in 106 fall league plate appearances, winning the Triple Crown and shooting up prospect lists as a result.
Briceño’s 2025 season got off to a bit of a tepid start, which was to be expected as he moved up a level, and also started catching again. That tepid start has disintegrated, however, as Josue is now hitting .256/.354/.488 with 5 home runs in 96 plate appearances, after hitting just two in 176 plate appearances last year.
A solid fielding, good hitting catcher is rare, and teams that have them have an advantage over every other team that doesn’t. While Briceño still has work to do at and behind the plate, he may be giving the Tigers that advantage within a few years.
Jerry McKennan 
Chris Brown