Expectations were fairly high for the Detroit Tigers entering the 2025 season. But not this high. Here are some of the more unexpected players fueling the Tigers hot start.
Who among us thought the Detroit Tigers would have the best record in all of baseball on May 20th?
The Tigers are currently 31-17, with a run differential of +80, the second highest in MLB. They are 4.5 games up in the ultra-competitive AL Central, and 3 games ahead of the New York Yankees for the best record in the American League.
A lot has gone right for the Tigers so far this year, and a lot of what’s gone right has been quite unexpected. For any team outperforming expectations, there will be surprise performances from players, and Detroit certainly has their share of players performing above expectations.
Let’s take a look at some of those unexpected surprise performances:
Javier Báez: 141 PA, .291/.326/.485, 131 wRC+, 3.5% BB rate, 22.7% K rate, .194 ISO, 1.3 fWAR
No player has encapsulated the magic of the 2025 Detroit Tigers season more than El Mago himself, Javy Báez.
Coming into this season, to be frank, expectations were quite low for Javy. He was coming off two years of battling injuries and inconsistency, and heading into his age 32 campaign, some (most? all?) fans were beginning to wonder if he was cooked. Instead, he’s been cooking all season.
After putting up a wRC+ of 63 in 2023 and 43 in 2024, Javy’s wRC+ is all the way up to 131 this season. He’s cut down on his strikeouts while also hitting for more power, which is a recipe for success. He’s also cut down on his swing, and while there’s still some chase, Báez is not missing when pitchers make mistakes. Javy’s resurgence at the plate ranks towards the top of the most surprising developments of the 2025 MLB season.
And despite some tough years at the plate recently and the accompanying lowered expectations, Báez was still expected to provide solid defense in 2025. He’s done just that, but no one could have imagined that defense would also come in center field, where Javy has done wonders filling in for Parker Meadows. Per Statcast, his outs above average is in the 94th percentile, and he looks like he’s been playing center his whole life.
With Meadows and Matt Vierling hoping to return to the lineup soon, El Mago could find himself back in a more traditional utility role. But the Tigers would not be where they are without his contributions so far.
Zach McKinstry: 172 PA, .284/.368/.419, 127 wRC+, 12.2% BB, 26.2% K, .135 ISO, 1.6 fWAR
Speaking of traditional utility roles, McKinstry is the epitome of what a good utility player is. Already this season, he’s played 2nd base, 3rd base, shortstop, left field and right field, and no matter where he plays, his defense is excellent. His outs above average is currently in the 92nd percentile per Statcast, and the eye test says he’s one of the Tigers best defenders, regardless of position. He often plays multiple positions in the same game, and A.J. Hinch has talked about McKinstry being the key to how the Tigers manage their roster.
Like Javy Báez, McKinstry providing good defense in 2025 was expected. What wasn’t expected were his contributions at the dish. Z-Mac is currently hitting 27% above league average per wRC+, and while he’s not hitting for a ton of power, he’s a tough out, and has had several big hits for the Tigers offense already in 2025. McKinstry has increased his walk rate by 5% from last year, and is in the 99th percentile in launch angle sweet spot % per Statcast, suggesting he’s made some notable refinements at the plate.
Like everyone else on this list, the Tigers would not be off to the best start in baseball without McKinstry.
Spencer Torkelson: 199 PA, .246/.352/.533, 148 wRC+, 12.6% BB, 23.6% K, .287 ISO, 1.5 fWAR
To say there was room on the Spencer Torkelson bandwagon heading into this season is an understatement.
Tork arrived in the Tigers organization with all the pressure of a first overall pick, and it hasn’t always been easy. Despite an expectedly quick climb through the minor leagues, Spencer had an adjustment period in his first taste of big league action in 2022, putting up a 76 wRC+ in just over 400 plate appearances. In 2023, he began to show some of the promise that made him a one-one pick, hitting 31 home runs and posting a 108 wRC+ in 684 appearances at the plate. But in 2024, the walk rate decreased, the strikeout rate increased, and Tork appeared to take a step back, hitting 8% below league average per wRC+.
However, this past offseason, Torkelson made some adjustments to his setup at the plate, and those adjustments were apparent right away in spring training. Luckily for Detroit and Torkelson himself, Spencer has carried that momentum with him into the ’25 regular season, and after a blistering start to the season, his 148 wRC+ currently ranks 21st in all of baseball.
Torkelson’s Statcast page looks like a murder scene, which suggests that the improvements he made in the offseason are sustainable. That’s good for the Tigers, as Tork has been the heart and soul of the batting order all season, despite coming into the year without a guaranteed spot in the lineup.
Dillon Dingler: 135 PA, .292/.319/.462, 122 wRC+, 1.5% BB, 27.4% K, .169 ISO, 1.5 fWAR
The 2020 MLB Draft is shaping up to be a good one for the Tigers, with Spencer Torkelson heating back up, and Colt Keith producing as well. Dillon Dingler was the Tigers 2nd rounder that year, and while it took a little longer than some fans have hoped, it appears that Dingler has finally arrived this season.
Jake Rogers is one of the best defensive catchers in all of MLB, and his work guiding the Tigers through “pitching chaos” last season was the stuff of legend. So when he went down with an oblique injury in early April, one could have been excused in thinking that the Tigers would suffer the consequences. But in stepped Dingler as the primary catcher, and Detroit hasn’t missed a beat.
Dingler is highly regarded within the Tigers clubhouse as being very prepared when it comes to game calling and planning, and the Tigers 4th ranked ERA in all of baseball is a testament to that. Dillon’s contributions behind the plate are hard to quantify, but the stats that Statcast can quantify show that Dingler has been one of, if not the best defensive catcher in baseball this year. He ranks in the 100th percentile in blocks above average, the 91st percentile in framing, the 73rd percentile in pop time and the 65th percentile in caught stealing above average. In other words, dominant.
Coming out of college, Dingler was expected to be good behind the plate, and he’s met those expectations. But the expectations for Dillon at the plate were a little more mixed.
Throughout his minor league career, it often took a half season or more for Dingler to adjust to the next level offensively, but he was always able to eventually make the adjustment. The same has been true of his Major League career. Last season, while his work behind the plate was admirable, his work at the plate was a little less consistent, where he posted a .167/.195/.310 slash in 87 plate appearances, with an elevated 34.5% strikeout rate, elevated 42.6% groundball rate and just a 3.7% barrel rate. This year, he’s cut the strikeouts down by 7%, cut the groundballs by 6%, and increased his barrel rate by 6%; leading to more and better contact, and way better results.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Rogers returns from the injured list soon, but Dingler has made his case to get more playing time, and has been invaluable to the Tigers hot start.
This article is all about players performing above expectations, and there’s likely not a person on earth who had Báez, McKinstry, Torkelson and Dingler pacing Detroit in position-player fWAR 47 games into the 2025 season. But luckily for the Tigers, they’ve all stepped up this season; and also luckily for the Tigers, it hasn’t just been hitters who’ve performed above expectations:
Casey Mize: 42.2 IP, 2.53 ERA / 3.92 FIP, 21% K rate, 5.4% BB rate, 43.9% GB rate, 1.27 HR/9, .215 BAA
Just like with Spencer Torkelson, Mize came into the Tigers organization with the weight of the world on his shoulders, after being selected one-one in the 2018 MLB Draft. And just like with Tork, the ride hasn’t always been the smoothest.
Torkelson and Mize have many similarities, and not just because they were both first overall picks. Like Torkelson, Mize made quick work of the minor leagues, but ran into an adjustment in his first look at MLB hitters in 2020 (6.99 ERA in 28.1 IP). In his second season though, just like Tork, Mize began to prove why he was selected so high in the draft, posting a 3.71 ERA in just over 150 innings in the 2021 season. Unfortunately Casey got hurt in 2022, and missed nearly two full seasons. He was back on the hill in 2024, and while he put up respectable numbers considering the long layoff, he had to earn his way into the Tigers rotation in 2025.
And earn he has. Mize spent the offseason making adjustments, and those adjustments were apparent right away this spring (sound familiar?). Casey added two different sliders to his pitch mix, and also added velocity to his splitter; which has allowed him to bump his strikeout rate by almost 4% since last year, and also increase his chase and whiff rates from the 33rd and 21st percentiles in 2024 to the 55th and 72nd percentiles in 2025 per Statcast.
K-sey is currently on the shelf with a hamstring injury, but it sounds like he should be back in Detroit soon. That is welcome news for the Tigers, as he’s been one of their best starting pitchers this season.
Brenan Hanifee: 23 IP, 2.35 ERA / 3.14 FIP, 15.2% K, 5.1% BB, 57.7% GB, 0.39 HR/9, .237 BAA
We’ve written before about how impactful Hanifee was to the success of the Tigers bullpen last season, so perhaps a repeat performance shouldn’t have been entirely unexpected. But just like the next pitcher on this list, despite a lack of pedigree, Brenan has quietly again been key to a Detroit bullpen that currently ranks 4th in MLB with a 2.92 ERA.
Outside of Zach McKinstry, every player on this list so far has been either a first or second round pick. Hanifee was a fourth rounder in 2016, and was also signed as a minor league free agent back in December ’22, meaning his original organization (*cough* Baltimore *cough*) had given up on him when the Tigers decided they’d like a shot.
It took Brenan a few years to find his footing within the Tigers organization, but find his footing he has. Last season, in just over 29 MLB innings, he was dealing, to the tune of a 1.84 ERA, 53.8% groundball rate, 19.2% strikeout rate, 5% walk rate and just 0.61 home runs allowed per nine. This year, while the strikeouts are down, the walk rate is the same, and he’s allowing less home runs and getting even more groundballs. His sinker is the definition of “bowling ball”, which has led to not only lots of grounders, but has also led to opposing batters struggling to barrel him up.
It seems like every time the Tigers call upon Hanifee to get out of a jam, he delivers.
Brant Hurter: 23 IP, 2.35 ERA / 3.88 FIP, 23.9% K, 5.7% BB, 47.4% GB, 1.17 HR/9, .210 BAA
You could literally copy and paste most of what was written about Hanifee and replace it with Brant Hurter, right down to the matching 2025 innings pitched and ERAs.
Hurter, like Hanifee, was one of the most unsung heroes of the 2024 Detroit Tigers season. He was the poster boy of the pitching chaos strategy, often throwing bulk innings after an opener, and often dominating the opposition, with a 2.58 ERA in just over 45 innings pitched.
The Big Hurt has continued that excellence into the 2025 season, where he’s increased his strikeout rate and lowered his ERA from last season. All of this after posting a 5.80 ERA in Toledo last year prior to his callup.
Hurter was the Tigers 7th round pick in the 2021 Draft, and steadily made his way up the minor league ladder with great production at every level. In 2024, that climb appeared to stall out at Triple A, where he was having the worst year of his minor league career by far. But the Tigers saw something behind the numbers, and whatever it was, his callup has worked wonders for Detroit ever since.
It was a bit of a surprise when Brant made the 2025 Opening Day roster out of spring training, ahead of veterans Andrew Chafin and Jason Foley. But the Tigers again appear to have known what they were doing, and just like Brenan Hanifee (and everyone else on this list), Brant Hurter has been a major, unexpected key to the success of the 2025 Detroit Tigers.
Chris Brown 
Emily Waldon