The Detroit Tigers, who are bound for the MLB postseason for the second straight year, will play their final regular-season home series starting on Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
After their three-game weekend set against the Braves at Comerica Park, Detroit will wrap up the regular season with a six-game road trip against the Cleveland Guardians and Boston Red Sox.
Since this Tigers team will be in the playoffs, fans will hopefully have a few more home games to attend in the coming weeks. However, despite this possibility, a few players on the team will likely be playing their final games at Comerica.
A couple of these guys were acquired at the trade deadline this summer and haven’t panned out, while other players could be primed for a huge pay raise this winter.
3 Tigers Likely Not to Return to Detroit in 2026
1. Chris Paddack
The Tigers acquired the veteran right-handed pitcher ahead of the trade deadline in hopes of providing more depth at the backend of the starting rotation for the stretch run. However, their gamble did not pay off, as Paddack struggled mightily in his first six starts (30 innings) in the Motor City (5.40 ERA/.245 BABIP).
- 31 hits allowed
- 18 earned runs (five home runs given up)
- 5 walks
- 14 strikeouts
The Tigers surprisingly went 4-2 during Paddack’s starts despite him pitching six innings once, which was his Detroit debut on July 30th against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
With his struggles as a starter, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch moved Paddack to the bullpen at the beginning of this month, which hasn’t netted positive results. In four relief appearances, he has a skyrocketing 10.57 ERA across 7.2 innings.
- 10 hits allowed
- 9 earned runs (three home runs allowed)
- 1 walk
- 8 strikeouts
- .304 BABIP
The Paddack experiment has been an utter disaster. It would not be shocking if the Tigers keep the ex-Minnesota Twin off the postseason roster, given the dearth of arms that they have in the bullpen, who are more reliable than Paddack.
2. Charlie Morton
The 41-year-old Morton was also acquired at the trade deadline from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league reliever Micah Ashmore. When the wily veteran came to the Motor City, he had a 5.42 ERA and 7-8 across 23 appearances (17 starts) with the O’s, who had him also coming out of the bullpen.
Just like Paddack, the Tigers hoped Morton would give some quality starts down the stretch, as he has a ton of experience pitching during a playoff run.
In his first five starts in Detroit, the right-handed starting pitcher had a 2-3 record and 4.61 ERA, which isn’t great but better than what he did with the Orioles. Morton racked up the strikeouts as he had 36 strikeouts spread across 27.1 innings. He also allowed only 23 hits, 14 earned runs (4 home runs), and 10 walks.
But things went south for Morton once the calendar flipped to September. In his first three starts this month, Morton has a 9.28 ERA with a .333 BABIP. He’s struggled to make it to and through the fifth inning as he’s pitched 3.2, 3.0, and 4.0 innings.
It will be interesting to see how the Tigers utilize Morton in the playoffs, especially if they can lock down a top-two seed, which means they won’t play until the ALDS. As for his future with the ball club, the Tigers will not re-sign Morton, given his age. They’re better off looking within the organization or in free agency for a fourth/fifth starter.
3. Gleyber Torres
This might be shocking given Torres’ performance in the first half of the regular season, where he hit .281 with nine home runs and 45 RBI en route to being named an All-Star this summer. At that point in the year, it looked like Detroit got Torres on a steal last winter (one-year, $15M).
However, the veteran’s production has fallen off significantly in the second half, which isn’t good for someone scheduled to be a free agent this winter.
Heading into Thursday’s series finale against the Guardians, Torres was hitting .208 with seven home runs and 28 RBI in the second half. The veteran infielder already has 45 strikeouts in 52 games, most likely exceeding his mark in the first half (46 in 84 games).
Torres has been a non-factor at the plate this month, which is not what you want to see going into the postseason. The 28-year-old is slugging a mediocre .140 with two home runs and 10 RBI.
In Thursday’s loss to the Guardians, Torres was 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a strikeout. The Tigers would love to see Torres bounce back because he could be a difference-maker in the postseason.
That said, if the veteran infielder doesn’t come through next month at the plate, the Tigers could look elsewhere for a second baseman, whether in the organization (Kevin McGonigle, anyone?) or free agency.