Five Things We Liked From Last Week, May 9th

Welcome to “Five Things We Liked From Last Week”, a weekly list of… five things we liked from last week:

1. Tarik Skubal

It’s insufficient to say that Tarik Skubal has been on a heater lately, because he’s been on one for four years running by now. But there’s no other way to explain Skubal’s past five starts.

In 2024, Tarik not only won the Cy Young Award, but did so unanimously by putting up the following numbers: 192 IP, 2.39 ERA, 10.69 K/9, 1.64 BB/9, and just 0.70 HR/9.

In his last five starts, Skubal has taken his game to yet another level, and it feels like he should be in whatever league is above Major League Baseball: 30 IP, 0.90 ERA, 11.4 K/9, 0.30 BB/9, and 0.30 HR/9.

Tigers fans have gotten so used to Scary Terry’s dominance that it’s become somewhat easy to take it for granted, which is a shame, because what the big lefty has done the past several years is nothing short of spectacular. Not since the heydays of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and David Price have we seen a pitcher wearing the Olde English D be so unhittable, and it’s a joy to watch every 5-7 days.

During the 2024 trade deadline, there were a lot of rumblings about Skubal being dealt, with the Tigers seemingly out of contention. But sometimes, the best move is no move at all; and we’ve seen the benefits of Scott Harris’ decision to keep Skubs ever since

2. Trey Sweeney

Speaking of the 2024 trade deadline, on July 30, 2024, it felt like the Tigers waived the white flag on the 2024 season. With their playoff odds measured in decimals, Detroit traded several veterans, including their biggest domino of all: Jack Flaherty.

We know what happened after that. The Tigers went on a tear, and a key contributor to that tear was ironically acquired in the Flaherty deal: Trey Sweeney.

Sweeney brought a steady hand to the shortstop position, and his solid defense was exactly what the Tigers needed. While his 2024 offensive numbers were more respectable than great, his promotion to Detroit coincided with the Tigers going on their epic run, and his diving catch against Baltimore felt like a season saver.

Heading into 2025, expectations for Sweeney were fairly reasonable. As a young player at a premium defensive position with not much big league experience, growing pains were to be expected.

It turns out that expecting some growing pains was fairly reasonable as well. When Sweeney went to bed on May 3rd, his triple slash was .206/.296/.304, and some fans were beginning to wonder if a reset in Toledo may be necessary. Then May 4th happened. And May 7th. And May 8th.

On May 4th, Sweeney went 4 for 5 with a homer. On May 5th and 6th, the Tigers were off. On May 7th, Trey went 3 for 4 with a double. And on May 8th, the youngster went 4 for 8 in a doubleheader.

All of a sudden, Trey is now hitting .269/.346/.387, with a wRC+ of 114; and his FanGraphs WAR now sits at 0.8, which is the 5th highest for any Tigers’ hitter. What a difference four games can make.

3. Tommy Kahnle

My son is currently three years old, and if there’s one thing he hates, it’s going to bed. He turns into a gremlin, requiring food, water, the bathroom, a hug; anything he can think of to delay the inevitable.

Once he’s finally decided to reluctantly give in, there’s just one item he needs to fall asleep: his stuffed Elmo. In the face of the looming danger of (gasp) sleeping, as long as he has his Elmo, he knows he’ll be ok.

Tommy Kahnle is the Elmo of the Tigers’ bullpen.

When news broke back in late January that Detroit had signed Kahnle to a one year deal, most fans were pleasantly surprised, if not terribly overwhelmed. Tommy had a track record of several quietly excellent seasons out of the bullpen, but also arrived with a checkered injury history.

So far in 2025, Kahnle has been the linchpin of the Tigers’ ‘pen. In just shy of 14 innings, the righty has a tiny 0.66 ERA, backed up by a 25% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate, and 57.6% groundball rate. He’s also allowed no home runs, and ranks in the 91^st percentile or higher in hard hit rate, expected ERA, expected batting average, and average exit velocity per Statcast.

When Kahnle enters the game, you just feel like he’s got this. And as of this past week, he also officially has 10 full years in the big leagues, which is pretty awesome.

4. Carlos Mendoza

Way back on March 6, 2019, the Tigers signed 19-year-old Carlos Mendoza to a minor league contract, to relatively little fanfare.

The 5’7” utility man got 300 plate appearances in 2019 in the Dominican Summer League, and while he didn’t hit for much power, he put up a strong 15.3% walk rate compared to just a 9.3% strikeout rate, showing an advanced feel for the strike zone.

Over the next several years, Mendoza slowly but surely made his way up the minor league ladder, posting excellent walk and strikeout rates all along the way. In 1,793 career minor league plate appearances, Carlos has accumulated a 16.6% walk rate compared to a 14.3% strikeout rate, and is the epitome of Scott Harris’ mantra of dominating the strike zone.

2024 was one of Mendoza’s best seasons, as he slashed .269/.388/.363 for a 127 wRC+, mostly at Double A Erie. Along with his usual plate discipline, Carlos pitched in 5 homers and 33 steals, while playing second base, third base, left field and right field.

The Tigers kept Mendoza at Double A to start the 2025 season, but in his first 13 games, he hit .333/.491/.462, earning a promotion to Triple A Toledo. As a MudHen, he has continued to mash, to the tune of a .346/.393/.538 slash in 28 plate appearances. Through Friday morning, Mendoza’s combined numbers between Erie and Toledo were .338/.458/.492, with a 15.5% walk rate and 9.5% strikeout rate. He’s also added a homer and 6 steals already in the young season.

Mendoza isn’t highly ranked as a prospect, but it’s getting harder and harder to ignore his numbers. We know that A.J. Hinch and Scott Harris love players that are versatile and can manage the strike zone, and Carlos fits that mold to a tee. If he can maintain this level of production, Mendoza may just crack the big league roster, which would be quite the story.

5. Ethan Schiefelbein

Since Scott Harris, Rob Metzler, Mark Conner and company have taken over, the Tigers have been unafraid to use high round draft selections on high school talent. Look no further than the 2024 draft, where Detroit used their first three picks on high schoolers.

The last of those was a left handed starter out of Corona, California named Ethan Schiefelbein.

The Tigers selected Easy E with their Competitive Balance Round B selection, at number 72 overall. Schiefelbein arrived with a reputation as a pitcher who was a little more advanced than the average high schooler, so there was some debate on whether he’d start his career at Low A Lakeland or the Complex League. Detroit opted for the latter, and Ethan made his professional debut on Saturday. In three innings, Schiefelbein allowed no runs on just one hit and two walks, with four strikeouts.

Ethan currently slots in at #18 on TMLR’s top prospect list, and here’s what our own Chris Brown had to say about the lefty:

Ethan Schiefelbein is a very intriguing developmental prospect for the Detroit Tigers. His stuff is solid across the board, but right now his command and feel for pitching stand out more. We expect him to transition into pro ball fairly well, but he’ll need to tighten up his arsenal to succeed at the highest levels. Right now he projects as more of a #4-5 starter, but with some velocity gains, a harder slider, and a more consistent changeup, he could easily develop into a solid #3 starter.

There’s a lot to like about Schiefelbein, including a strong pitch mix, a feel for how to use it, and projectability. He’s one to keep an eye on this season and in seasons to come.