2020 Detroit Tigers season

The 2020 Detroit Tigers season is the team's 120th season. This is the team's third year under manager Ron Gardenhire, and their 21st at Comerica Park.[1][2] The start of season was delayed by four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers' season began on the road on July 24 against the Cincinnati Reds, while their home opener took place on July 27 against the Kansas City Royals.[3]

2020 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Central Division (since 1998)
Location
Comerica Park (since 2000) Detroit, Michigan (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Christopher Ilitch; Ilitch family trust
General manager(s)	Al Avila
Manager(s)	Ron Gardenhire
Local television	Fox Sports Detroit (Matt Shepard, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris)
Local radio	Detroit Tigers Radio Network (Dan Dickerson, Jim Price)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
< Previous season

The Tigers franchise experienced a major loss on April 6 when Hall of Famer Al Kaline died at the age of 85. Nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", Kaline had been affiliated with the team for 67 years in various roles: first as a player, then as a broadcaster, and most recently, as an executive.[4] The Tigers are wearing a #6 patch (Kaline's number) to honor him.[5]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports

On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled.[6] Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks.[7]

On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps at their regular season home stadiums on July 1 in order to resume spring training, which included only inter-squad games, and prepare for a July 23 or 24 Opening Day.[8] In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, teams will only play their own division and the opposite league's corresponding geographical division, e.g. the Tigers will only play the American League Central (40 games total) and National League Central (20 games total).[9] Games will be played in empty stadiums, with artificial crowd noise played over loud speakers.[10]

On June 24, two members of the Tigers organization (later identified as pitcher Daniel Norris and a coach) tested positive for COVID-19.[11][12] Norris was later cleared to join the Opening Day roster.[11]

The Tigers' August 3–6 series against the St. Louis Cardinals was postponed several times after 17 of the latter's members tested positive for COVID-19.[13]

Roster moves

Coaching staff

• On September 30, the Tigers named Lloyd McClendon as bench coach, Joe Vavra as hitting coach, Dave Clark as first-base coach, and Ramón Santiago as third-base coach.[14]
• On November 12, Josh Paul was named quality control coach.[15]

Releases

• On October 24, the Tigers outrighted catcher John Hicks and pitchers Victor Alcántara, Blaine Hardy, and Daniel Stumpf. All four players cleared waivers and elected free agency.[16] On November 26, Hardy signed a minor-league contract with the Minnesota Twins.[17] On January 27, Hicks signed a minor-league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.[18]
• On November 4, the Tigers granted outfielder Mikie Mahtook free agency. On December 18, he signed a minor-league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.[19]
• On November 25, the Tigers released pitcher Drew VerHagen.[20] He signed a one-year contract with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).[21]
• On December 9, infielder Ronny Rodríguez was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers.[22]
• On December 11, pitcher Eduardo Jiménez signed a minor-league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.[23]
• On December 26, pitcher Matt Moore signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).[24]
• On January 11, pitcher Ryan Carpenter signed with the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).[25]
• On January 13, pitcher Tyson Ross signed a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants.[26]
• On January 27, pitcher Austin Adams signed a minor-league contract with the Minnesota Twins.[27]
• On February 2, pitcher Edwin Jackson signed a minor-league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.[28]
• On February 10, infielder Gordon Beckham signed a minor-league contract with the San Diego Padres.[29]
• On July 13, the Tigers released pitcher Zack Godley.[30]
• On July 21, the Tigers released pitcher Hector Santiago.[31]
• On August 6, the Tigers shortstop Jordy Mercer was designated for assignment, he then elected free agency.[32]

Signings

• On December 8, the Tigers signed outfielder Jorge Bonifacio to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[33]
• On December 12, the Tigers claimed pitcher Rony García from the New York Yankees organization in the Rule 5 draft.[34]
• On December 13, the Tigers signed catcher Austin Romine to a one-year, $4.15 million contract.[35]
• On December 18, the Tigers signed pitcher Shao-Ching Chiang to a minor-league contract.[36]
• On December 20, the Tigers signed pitcher Zack Godley to a minor-league contract.[37]
• On December 21, the Tigers signed first baseman C. J. Cron and second baseman Jonathan Schoop to one-year, $6.1 million contracts.[38]
• On January 4, the Tigers signed pitcher Alex Wilson to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[39]
• On January 6, the Tigers signed pitcher Michael Fulmer to a one-year, $2.8 million contract, avoiding arbitration.[40]
• On January 10, the Tigers avoided arbitration when they reached one-year deals with pitchers Matthew Boyd ($5.3 million), Buck Farmer ($1.15 million) and Daniel Norris ($2.962 million), and outfielder JaCoby Jones ($1.575 million).[41]
• On January 13, the Tigers signed pitcher Iván Nova to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.[42]
• On January 22, the Tigers signed pitcher Hector Santiago to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[43]
• On January 30, the Tigers signed shortstop Jordy Mercer to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[44]
• On February 12, the Tigers signed outfielder Cameron Maybin to a one-year, $1.5 million contract which could increase to $2.8 million with bonuses.[45]

Trades

• On November 25, the Tigers acquired pitcher Darío Agrazal from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash considerations.[46] He was designated for assignment by the Tigers on January 8.[47]
• On January 8, the Tigers acquired catcher Eric Haase from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for cash considerations.[48]
• On January 17, the Tigers traded pitcher Matt Hall to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for catcher Jhon Nunez.[49]

Number retirement

• The Tigers will retire Lou Whitaker's #1 on August 29.[50] Whitaker played for the Tigers for his entire 19-year career, won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1978, was a member of the 1984 World Series Champion team, a five-time All Star, and winner of four Silver Slugger Awards and three Golden Gloves.[51]

Season standings

American League Central

American League Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	13	8	0.619	—	8–2	5–6
Cleveland Indians	12	9	0.571	1	6–4	6–5
Detroit Tigers	9	9	0.500	2½	4–8	5–1
Chicago White Sox	10	11	0.476	3	2–8	8–3
Kansas City Royals	9	12	0.429	4	4–4	5–8

Record against opponents

2020 American League Records Source: AL Standings Head-to-head
Team	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NL
Chicago	—	2–4	2–1	3–0	1–2	2–2
Cleveland	4–2	—	1–0	2–1	1–3	3–3
Detroit	1–2	0–1	—	2–2	0–0	6–3
Kansas City	0–3	1–2	2–2	—	3–0	2–4
Minnesota	2–1	3–1	0–0	0–3	—	7–2

Updated with the results of all games through August 14, 2020.

Season highlights

Individual accomplishments

Pitching

• On August 2 against the Cincinnati Reds, Tyler Alexander set an MLB record for a reliever by striking out nine consecutive batters. He also tied the Tigers' and American League record of nine consecutive strikeouts set by Doug Fister on September 27, 2012. He became the first pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts in a relief outing since Randy Johnson set the strikeout record for a relief pitcher with 16 on July 18, 2001.[52][53]

Team accomplishments

Hitting

• On August 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tigers hit four home runs in the first inning for the first time since 1974, and the first time the Tigers hit four home runs in any inning since 2013. This was the first time an MLB team accomplished this since the Kansas City Royals in 2018. The Tigers hit three consecutive home runs in an inning for the first time since 2017.[54]

Game log

2020 Game Log: 9–9 (Home 4–8, Road 5–1)
July: 5–3 (Home 3–2, Road 2–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 1 July 24 @ Reds 1–7 Gray (1–0) Boyd (0–1) — 0–1 L1 2 July 25 @ Reds 6–4 Farmer (1–0) Iglesias (0–1) Jiménez (1) 1–1 W1 3 July 26 @ Reds 3–2 Cisnero (1–0) Lorenzen (0–1) Jiménez (2) 2–1 W2 4 July 27 Royals 6–14 Griffin (1–0) Funkhouser (0–1) — 2–2 L1 5 July 28 Royals 4–3 Alexander (1–0) Zuber (0–1) Jiménez (3) 3–2 W1 6 July 29 Royals 5–4 Garcia (1–0) Kennedy (0–1) Jiménez (4) 4–2 W2 7 July 30 Royals 3–5 Holland (1–0) Cisnero (1–1) Rosenthal (1) 4–3 L1 8 July 31 Reds 7–2 Turnbull (1–0) Castillo (0–1) — 5–3 W1
August: 4–6 (Home 1–6, Road 3–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak — August 1 Reds Postponed (inclement weather). Rescheduled to August 2. 9 August 2 Reds 3–4 (7) Iglesias (1–1) Jiménez (0–1) — 5–4 L1 10 August 2 Reds 0–4 (7) Bauer (1–0) Norris (0–1) — 5–5 L2 — August 3 Cardinals Postponed (Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak). Makeup date: TBA. — August 4 Cardinals Postponed (Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak). Makeup date: TBA. — August 5 @ Cardinals Postponed (Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak). Rescheduled to September 10. — August 6 @ Cardinals Postponed (Cardinals' COVID-19 outbreak). Rescheduled to September 10. 11 August 7 @ Pirates 17–13 (11) Garcia (2–0) Neverauskas (0–2) — 6–5 W1 12 August 8 @ Pirates 11–5 Nova (1–0) Holland (0–1) — 7–5 W2 13 August 9 @ Pirates 2–1 Turnbull (2–0) Rodríguez (0–1) Jiménez (5) 8–5 W3 14 August 10 White Sox 5–1 Norris (1–1) Keuchel (2–2) — 9–5 W4 15 August 11 White Sox 4–8 Foster (2–0) Alexander (1–1) — 9–6 L1 16 August 12 White Sox 5–7 Cease (3–1) Boyd (0–2) Colomé (5) 9–7 L2 17 August 14 Indians 5–10 Civale (2–2) Nova (1–1) — 9–8 L3 18 August 15 Indians 1–3 Bieber (4–0) Turnbull (2–1) Hand (5) 9–9 L4 19 August 16 Indians 20 August 17 @ White Sox 21 August 18 @ White Sox 22 August 19 @ White Sox 23 August 20 @ White Sox 24 August 21 @ Indians 25 August 22 @ Indians 26 August 23 @ Indians 27 August 24 Cubs 28 August 25 Cubs 29 August 26 Cubs 30 August 27 Twins 31 August 28 Twins 32 August 29 Twins 33 August 30 Twins
September: 0–0 # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 34 September 1 @ Brewers 35 September 2 @ Brewers 38 September 4 @ Twins 39 September 5 @ Twins 40 September 6 @ Twins 41 September 7 @ Twins 42 September 8 Brewers 43 September 9 Brewers 44 September 10 @ Cardinals 45 September 10 @ Cardinals 46 September 11 @ White Sox 47 September 12 @ White Sox 48 September 13 @ White Sox 49 September 15 Royals 50 September 16 Royals 51 September 17 Indians 52 September 18 Indians 53 September 19 Indians 54 September 20 Indians 55 September 22 @ Twins 56 September 23 @ Twins 57 September 24 @ Royals 58 September 25 @ Royals 59 September 26 @ Royals 60 September 27 @ Royals
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Postponement Bold = Tigers team member

Current roster

Detroit Tigers roster
Active roster				Player pool		Coaches/Other
Pitchers Starting rotation 48 Matthew Boyd 32 Michael Fulmer 56 Spencer Turnbull Bullpen 70 Tyler Alexander 37 Beau Burrows 38 Anthony Castro 67 José Cisnero 60 Carson Fulmer 36 Kyle Funkhouser 33 Bryan Garcia 51 Rony García 44 Daniel Norris 71 John Schreiber 65 Gregory Soto Closer 77 Joe Jiménez		Catchers 17 Grayson Greiner  7 Austin Romine Infielders 24 Miguel Cabrera 46 Jeimer Candelario 30 Harold Castro 49 Willi Castro 28 Niko Goodrum 18 Dawel Lugo  8 Jonathan Schoop Outfielders 21 JaCoby Jones  4 Cameron Maybin 22 Víctor Reyes 14 Christin Stewart		Pitchers 66 Tim Adleman * 72 Darío Agrazal 75 Nolan Blackwood * 68 Shao-Ching Chiang * 76 Alex Faedo * 45 Buck Farmer -- Alex Lange * 83 Matt Manning * 62 David McKay 74 Casey Mize * 43 Iván Nova 58 Franklin Pérez 63 Nick Ramirez * 87 Tarik Skubal * Catchers 79 Dillon Dingler * 13 Eric Haase 78 Brady Policelli * 34 Jake Rogers Infielders 40 Sergio Alcántara 26 C. J. Cron 12 Brandon Dixon * 19 Isaac Paredes 61 Frank Schwindel * 73 Spencer Torkelson * Outfielders 57 Jorge Bonifacio * 50 Travis Demeritte 53 Riley Greene * 29 Derek Hill		Manager 15 Ron Gardenhire Coaches  4 Rick Anderson (pitching) 98 Jeremy Carrell (bullpen catcher) 25 Dave Clark (first base) 59 Phil Clark (assistant hitting) 20 Lloyd McClendon (bench) 88 Josh Paul (quality control) 53 Jeff Pico (bullpen) 99 Tim Remes (bullpen catcher) 39 Ramón Santiago (third base) 52 Joe Vavra (hitting) 45-day injured list 55 Troy Stokes Jr. 27 Jordan Zimmermann COVID-19 related list 41 Daz Cameron 28 active, 28 player pool 7- or 10-day injured list Suspended list ^# Personal leave * Not on 40-man roster Roster and coaches updated August 15, 2020 Transactions • Depth chart → All MLB rosters

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Tom Prince
AA	Erie SeaWolves	Eastern League	Arnie Beyeler
A-Advanced	Lakeland Flying Tigers	Florida State League	Andrew Graham
A	West Michigan Whitecaps	Midwest League	Brayan Peña
A-Short Season	Norwich Sea Unicorns	New York–Penn League	Gary Cathcart
Rookie	GCL Tigers East	Gulf Coast League	Francisco Contreras
Rookie	GCL Tigers West	Gulf Coast League	Ryan Minor
Rookie	DSL Tigers 1	Dominican Summer League	Ramon Zapata
Rookie	DSL Tigers 2	Dominican Summer League	Marcos Yepez

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports

References

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2. Paul, Tony (May 11, 2020). "For 20 seasons at Comerica Park, here are 20 epic Tigers moments". The Detroit News. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
3. "Detroit Tigers open season July 24 at Cincinnati; check out the full schedule here". The Detroit News. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
4. Beck, Jason (April 6, 2020). "HOFer Kaline, beloved 'Mr. Tiger,' dies at 85". MLB.com. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
5. Petzold, Evan (July 24, 2020). "Detroit Tigers to wear No. 6 patch in honor of Al Kaline this season". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
6. Feinsand, Mark (March 12, 2020). "Opening Day delayed at least 2 weeks; Spring Training games cancelled". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
7. Feinsand, Mark (March 16, 2020). "Opening of regular season to be pushed back". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
8. Lacques, Gabe (June 23, 2020). "Major League Baseball implements 60-game 2020 season as players agree on safety protocols". USA Today. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
9. Feinsand, Mark (July 6, 2020). "Play Ball: MLB announces 2020 regular season". MLB.com. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
10. "MLB parks to use crowd noise from MLB The Show during games". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
11. Hutchinson, Derick (July 21, 2020). "Daniel Norris cleared to rejoin Detroit Tigers after positive COVID-19 test". ClickOnDetroit.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
12. Martin, Jill (June 25, 2020). "Red Sox, Tigers, Mariners have positive Covid-19 tests, reports say". CNN.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
13. Rogers, Anne (August 10, 2020). "Cards-Tigers twin bill Thursday postponed". MLB.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
14. Fenech, Anthony (September 30, 2019). "Detroit Tigers coaches returning in 2020, but in different roles". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
15. Beck, Jason (November 12, 2019). "Tigers continue analytics lean with staff moves". MLB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
16. Woodbery, Evan (October 24, 2019). "Tigers cut 4 veterans, including catcher John Hicks". MLive. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
17. Park, Do-Hyoung (November 26, 2019). "Twins ink Hardy among Minors deals". MLB.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
18. "D-backs Sign Catcher John Hicks, Assigned to Reno". MiLB.com. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
19. Adams, Steve (December 18, 2019). "Phillies, Mikie Mahtook Agree To Minor League Deal". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
20. Beck, Jason (November 25, 2019). "Tigers release VerHagen, acquire RHP Agrazal". MLB.com. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
21. McCosky, Chris (November 25, 2019). "With Drew VerHagen heading to Japan; Tigers purchase RHP Dario Agrazal". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
22. McCosky, Chris (December 9, 2019). "Brewers claim Ronny Rodriguez off waivers, Tigers open up 2 roster spots". The Detroit News. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
23. "D-backs' 23rd Spring Training and 10th at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick opens on February 12". MLB.com. January 21, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
24. "Hawks sign former MLB pitcher Matt Moore". The Japan Times Online. December 26, 2019. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
25. Rob (January 11, 2020). "Rakuten Monkeys Sign Ryan Carpenter". CPBL Stats. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
26. Woodbery, Evan (January 3, 2020). "Ex-Tigers pitcher signs minor-league deal with Giants". MLive. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
27. "Twins' Austin Adams: Signs minors deal with Minnesota". CBS Sports. January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
28. Cluff, Jeremy (February 3, 2020). "Arizona Diamondbacks sign Edwin Jackson, Jon Jay, 2 others to minor-league deals". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
29. "Padres' Gordon Beckham: Lands camp deal with San Diego". CBS Sports. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
30. Petzold, Evan (July 13, 2020). "Detroit Tigers release right-hander Zack Godley, give him time to find new team". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
31. Petzold, Evan (July 21, 2020). "Detroit Tigers prospect Tarik Skubal joins player pool; Hector Santiago released". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
32. McCosky, Chris (August 6, 2020). "Tigers opt to release veteran Jordy Mercer, keep Dawel Lugo". The Detroit News. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
33. McCosky, Chris (December 8, 2019). "Tigers sign former Royals OF Jorge Bonifacio to minor-league deal". The Detroit News. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
34. Fenech, Anthony (December 12, 2019). "Detroit Tigers take a chance on sling-shot righty Rony Garcia in Rule 5 draft". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
35. Beck, Jason (December 12, 2019). "Romine, Tigers agree to 1-year deal". MLB.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
36. McCosky, Chris (December 18, 2019). "Detroit Tigers sign Taiwanese pitcher Chiang to minor-league deal". The Detroit News. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
37. Beck, Jason (December 20, 2019). "Godley, Tigers have incentive-filled deal". MLB.com. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
38. Beck, Jason (December 21, 2019). "Tigers sign Schoop, Cron to matching deals". MLB.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
39. Beck, Jason (January 5, 2020). "Wilson rejoins Tigers -- with unusual goal". MLB.com. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
40. Fenech, Anthony (January 6, 2020). "Michael Fulmer and Detroit Tigers avoid arbitration, agree to 1-year contract". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
41. Beck, Jason (January 10, 2020). "Tigers agree with Boyd, all arb-eligibles (source)". MLB.com. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
42. Beck, Jason (January 13, 2020). "1-year deal with Nova bolsters Tigers' rotation". MLB.com. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
43. McCosky, Chris (January 22, 2020). "Tigers bringing former White Sox lefty Hector Santiago to big-league camp". The Detroit News. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
44. Beck, Jason (January 30, 2020). "Mercer, Tigers agree on Minor League deal". MLB.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
45. Hutchinson, Derick (February 12, 2020). "Detroit Tigers sign OF Cameron Maybin for his third stint with team". WDIV. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
46. "Tigers acquire Dario Agrazal from Pittsburgh in exchange for cash considerations". MLB.com. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
47. "Tigers' Dario Agrazal: Designated for assignment". CBSSports.com. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
48. Simon, Andrew (January 8, 2020). "Tigers acquire catcher Eric Haase from Indians". MLB.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
49. Fenech, Anthony (January 17, 2020). "Detroit Tigers trade lefty Matt Hall for catcher Jhon Nunez". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
50. Beck, Jason (December 17, 2019). "Tigers to retire Sweet Lou's No. 1 in 2020". MLB.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
51. "Lou Whitaker Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
52. Crawford, Kirkland (August 2, 2020). "Detroit Tigers' Tyler Alexander sets record by striking out nine straight Reds". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
53. Beck, Jason (August 2, 2020). "Alexander K's 9 in a row, tying AL record". MLB.com. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
54. Beck, Jason (August 8, 2020). "Count 'em, four! HRs in 1st lead Tigers to win". MLB.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

External links

• Detroit Tigers official site