Welcome to “Five Things We Liked From Last Week”, a weekly list of… five things we liked from last week:
1. Sunday Night
It’s hard to believe, but prior to this past Sunday, the last time ESPN was in Detroit for a Sunday Night Baseball game was May 21st, 2017, according to the excellent Sarah Langs.
That’s 2,961 days in between dates for those keeping track at home.
While it was a long wait for Detroit, the game on Sunday night was an awesome one.
Tarik Skubal, as he’s known to do, came out firing for the Tigers, shutting down the Minnesota Twins over 7 scoreless innings, and flirting with a no hitter; while Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene both homered, carrying the offense for Detroit.
Sunday night had the look and feel of a playoff game, and the Tigers didn’t disappoint. Despite a big lead in the division, Detroit has a lot to play for the rest of the season. It’s been over 10 years since they last won their division, and it’s been almost 40 years since they had the best record in the American League. The Tigers hope to accomplish both goals the rest of the season.
2. Riley Greene
On Wednesday, the starters for the All-Star game were announced, and the Tigers were well represented.
Gleyber Torres, Javy Báez and Riley Greene were all announced as starters for the game, which marks the first time since 2007 that Detroit had three All-Star starters. And if American League manager Aaron Boone does the right thing, that trio will become a quartet with the addition of starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Torres has been the best second baseman in the American League all year, so his selection did not come as much of a surprise. The resurgent Javy Baez’ selection on the other hand was a surprise, and is one of the best stories of the 2025 season.
Earning the third slot for the Tigers All-Stars is Riley Greene, who continues to be the engine of the Tigers offense.
Heading into 2025, expectations were high for the 24 year old Greene, and rightfully so. He’s just entering his prime, and he had improved every season since arriving in Detroit, going from a 98 wRC+ in 2022, to a 121 wRC+ in 2023, and up to a 135 wRC+ in 2024.
He’s all the way up to a 151 wRC+ in 2025, and since June 1st, Riley has been on a massive heater, hitting .355/.397/.664 for a 196 wRC+ that ranks 3rd in baseball since the start of June.
It’s been a big year for Greeney, and he rightfully earned his second All-Star appearance this week. He and the Tigers hope it’s the second of many more.
3. Max Clark
It must be tough to be a top prospect in baseball.
Certainly, there is a lot to enjoy if you are one: not only are you super talented, but more often than not you generally have already received a large signing bonus as well, which means your financial future may be secure.
But with that designation also comes expectations, and usually unfair ones at that.
Fans often expect top prospects to become superstars, and anything short of that can be deemed a failure. But just check out any top prospect list in any given year, and it’s full of guys that not only didn’t achieve stardom, but also guys that didn’t even make the big leagues.
Max Clark is well aware of these expectations.
Selected as the 3rd overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, Clark entered the Detroit Tigers organization with big tools, and expectations to match. And thus far, he’s been up to the task.
In 2023, Max debuted with the Complex League Tigers, and dominated in 56 plate appearances; so much so that he earned a callup to the Low A Lakeland Flying Tigers after just 12 games. Once there, he went through an expected adjustment period to finish the season, but the foundation was laid for a solid professional debut.
2024 was Clark’s first full taste of full season affiliate ball, and he again didn’t disappoint. Starting the year back at Lakeland, Max hit .286/.386/.421 in 333 plate appearances, eventually earning a promotion to High A West Michigan in late July. Facing players three plus years older than him on average at West Michigan, Clark posted a strong .264/.344/.421 line that equated to a 126 wRC+.
It was an excellent first full season for Max, and his performance not only solidified his place at the top of league-wide top prospect lists, but also solidified the already high expectations that Tigers fans (and baseball fans in general) had for the youngster.
Clark started back at High A to begin the 2025 season, and got off to a hot start that only added fuel to the fire of his prospect status. Since then, he’s alternated some hot streaks with a few cooler ones, but here are his numbers by the month:
April: .270/.450/.365
May: .265/.402/.398
June: .293/.427/.463
Overall, there’s a lot to like in Clark’s season so far, including consistency. Some fans may point to a slightly lower batting average and slugging percentage as cause for pause, but Max is showing off an improved approach at the plate, as evidenced by a 16.8% strikeout rate and 19.7% walk rate; and he’s also been solid in the field and on the basepaths, and is well-respected as a teammate.
Expectations were high for Max from the second he was drafted, and he’s handled those expectations like a true professional.
4. Jude Warwick
While it’s a little too early in Tigers President of Baseball Ops Scott Harris’ tenure to make definitive conclusions, it does seem fairly clear that he and his assistants have a type in the draft: high school left handed hitters with smooth swings that play up the middle.
You may have heard of Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle and Bryce Rainer, for example.
While not a consensus top 5 prospect in the system like Clark, McGonigle and Rainer, there’s another left handed, smooth swinging hitter that plays up the middle and was drafted out of high school by the Tigers recently; his name is Jude Warwick.
Warwick was Detroit’s 12th round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, signing over-slot and spurning a commitment to Michigan State in the process.
Here’s what Jude told Shaw Local News Network (as relayed by Bless You Boys) upon getting drafted by the Tigers:
“They were very big on my projectability… They knew I had a skill set, get their hands on me with their development team and get me bigger, faster and stronger.”
Like many draftees these days, Warwick saw no action in his draft year, so the Tigers sent him to the Complex League to get his professional career started in 2025. And by all accounts, so far, so good.
In 137 PAs, Jude is hitting .282/.401/.418 for a 136 wRC+, with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate.
Warwick has given everything the Tigers could have hoped for in his pro debut to date, and has several tools to dream on as a middle infielder with a nice offensive profile.
5. Jhonan Coba
In the June 6th “Five Things”, we discussed a pair of young pitchers performing well in the Dominican Summer League to keep an eye on, named Eddy Felix and Kelvis Salcedo. While those two have continued to trend up in the four weeks since then, we’d like to add one more pitcher to the list.
Signed out of Caracas, Venezuela in May of 2024, Jhonan Coba got a cup of coffee in the DSL in the summer of ’24, tossing just over 12 innings. Those 12 innings showed room for improvement, but as a 17 year old just getting his feet wet in pro ball, it was understandable.
Coba is back at it in the DSL to begin the 2025 season, and like Eddy Felix and Kelvis Salcedo, is performing quite well, thank you. In his first game of the season back on June 6th, he pitched five innings of no run baseball, with 6 strikeouts, no walks and just two hits allowed. He got hit a little harder in his next start, but on June 20th, he again fired five innings of no run ball, this time with 8 strikeouts compared to no walks and three hits allowed; and on June 27th, he tossed five innings, allowing just two runs on three hits and four walks.
It’s only been just shy of 19 innings, but thus far, Coba has a 3.38 ERA / 3.01 xFIP, with a big 30.6% strikeout rate and small 6.9% walk rate. He’s also allowed no home runs, and has increased his groundball rate from 29.4% in ’24 to 44.4% in ’25.
You can find Jhonan’s June 20th start on the excellent TMLR YouTube page. In it, you’ll find a lot of swing and miss from a well-controlled repertoire that includes a 93-96 MPH fastball, developing curve and developing changeup, that all flash above average at their best.
Yes, we mentioned developing twice, because there is further development needed not only for Coba, but for all pitchers in the DSL. But that’s true for any player at any level, including the big leagues. And as an 18 year old with advanced control and the potential for three solid pitches, there’s a lot for the Tigers strong pitching department to work with in young Jhonan.
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Chris Brown 
Rogelio Castillo 
Jerry McKennan