2020 Detroit Tigers season

The 2020 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 120th season. This was the team's third and final 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 finished the season with a 23–35 record, ranking last in their division and third-worst in the major leagues, and missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. For the second straight season, the Tigers pitching staff compiled the MLB's worst team ERA (6.37).[3]

2020 Detroit Tigers
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record23–35 (.397)
Divisional place5th
Other information
Owner(s)Christopher Ilitch; Ilitch family trust
General manager(s)Al Avila
Manager(s)Ron Gardenhire (until September 19)
Lloyd McClendon (as of September 19)
Local televisionFox Sports Detroit
(Matt Shepard, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris)
Local radioDetroit Tigers Radio Network
(Dan Dickerson, Jim Price)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
< Previous season     Next 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 wore a No. 6 patch this season to honor him.[5]

On September 19, manager Ron Gardenhire announced his retirement from baseball effective immediately, due to recent health concerns including stress, a bout with prostate cancer, and a stomach virus due to food poisoning. Bench coach Lloyd McClendon was named interim manager for the remainder of the season.[6]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

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.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, teams only played their own division and the opposite league's corresponding geographical division, e.g. the Tigers only played American League Central (40 games total) and National League Central (20 games total) opponents.[10] Games were played behind closed doors, with artificial crowd noise played over loud speakers.[11]

On June 24, two members of the Tigers organization (later identified as pitcher Daniel Norris and a coach) tested positive for COVID-19.[12][13] Norris was later cleared to join the Opening Day roster.[12]

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. Two of the games were eventually canceled outright.[14]

Roster moves

Coaching staff

Releases

Signings

  • On December 8, the Tigers signed outfielder Jorge Bonifacio to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[35]
  • On December 12, the Tigers claimed pitcher Rony García from the New York Yankees organization in the Rule 5 draft.[36]
  • On December 13, the Tigers signed catcher Austin Romine to a one-year, $4.15 million contract.[37]
  • On December 18, the Tigers signed pitcher Shao-Ching Chiang to a minor-league contract.[38]
  • On December 20, the Tigers signed pitcher Zack Godley to a minor-league contract.[39]
  • On December 21, the Tigers signed first baseman C. J. Cron and second baseman Jonathan Schoop to one-year, $6.1 million contracts.[40]
  • On January 4, the Tigers signed pitcher Alex Wilson to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[41]
  • On January 6, the Tigers signed pitcher Michael Fulmer to a one-year, $2.8 million contract, avoiding arbitration.[42]
  • 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).[43]
  • On January 13, the Tigers signed pitcher Iván Nova to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.[44]
  • On January 22, the Tigers signed pitcher Hector Santiago to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[45]
  • On January 30, the Tigers signed shortstop Jordy Mercer to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to spring training.[46]
  • 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.[47]
  • On August 31, the Tigers claimed pitcher Dereck Rodríguez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.[48]

Trades

Season standings

American League Central

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 3624 0.600 24–7 12–17
Cleveland Indians 3525 0.583 1 18–12 17–13
Chicago White Sox 3525 0.583 1 18–12 17–13
Kansas City Royals 2634 0.433 10 15–15 11–19
Detroit Tigers 2335 0.397 12 12–15 11–20

Record against opponents

2020 American League Records

Source: AL Standings Head-to-head

Team CWS CLE DET KC MIN NL
Chicago 2–89–19–15–510–10
Cleveland 8–27–35–53–712–8
Detroit 1–93–74–64–611–7
Kansas City 1–95–56–45–59–11
Minnesota 5–57–36–45–513–7

American League Wild Card

Division Leaders W L Pct.
Tampa Bay Rays 4020 0.667
Oakland Athletics 3624 0.600
Minnesota Twins 3624 0.600


Division 2nd Place W L Pct.
Cleveland Indians 3525 0.583
New York Yankees 3327 0.550
Houston Astros 2931 0.483


Wild Card teams
(Top two qualify for postseason)
W L Pct. GB
Chicago White Sox 3525 0.583 +3
Toronto Blue Jays 3228 0.533
Seattle Mariners 2733 0.450 5
Los Angeles Angels 2634 0.433 6
Kansas City Royals 2634 0.433 6
Baltimore Orioles 2535 0.417 7
Boston Red Sox 2436 0.400 8
Detroit Tigers 2335 0.397 8
Texas Rangers 2238 0.367 10

Season highlights

Pitching

Hitting

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.[61]

Other

  • On August 21, the Tigers ended a franchise-record 20-game losing streak against the Cleveland Indians, winning 10–5. Only one MLB team has had a longer losing streak against another team, that being the Kansas City Royals who lost 23 straight to the Baltimore Orioles between May 10, 1969 and August 2, 1970.[62]

Game log

Notes:

  • a The Tigers were designated the home team for the makeup game from August 28.[63]

Roster

2020 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other Batters

Manager

Coaches

  • 98 Jeremy Carrell (bullpen catcher)
  • 99 Tim Remes (bullpen catcher)

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
Sergio Alcántara 1021230111.1430
Jorge Bonifacio 308681930217.2210
Miguel Cabrera 572042851401035.2501
Daz Cameron 17574112103.1931
Jeimer Candelario 521853055113729.2971
Harold Castro 22496174003.3470
Willi Castro 36129214542624.3490
C. J. Cron 1342983048.1900
Travis Demeritte 1829551004.1720
Brandon Dixon 513011002.0770
Niko Goodrum 43158152971520.1847
Grayson Greiner 1851862038.1180
Eric Haase 717130002.1760
Derek Hill 1511310002.0910
JaCoby Jones 3097192690514.2681
Dawel Lugo 910320001.2000
Cameron Maybin+ 14415104012.2440
Jordy Mercer+ 39120001.2220
Isaac Paredes 341007224016.2200
Víctor Reyes 57202305672414.2778
Austin Romine 37130123150217.2380
Jonathan Schoop 44162264542823.2780
Christin Stewart 36906153039.1670

+Totals with Tigers only.

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Starters

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
Tyler Alexander233.96142036⅓1616934
Matthew Boyd376.711212060⅓46452260
Michael Fulmer028.781010027⅔27271220
Rony García108.141520212019914
Casey Mize036.9977028⅓25221326
Daniel Norris313.25141027⅔1010728
Iván Nova118.5344019181899
Tarik Skubal145.638703221201137
Spencer Turnbull443.971111056⅔25252921
Jordan Zimmermann007.943205⅔6526

Bullpen

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
Beau Burrows005.405006⅔4413
Anthony Castro0018.0010012211
José Cisnero333.03290029⅔10101034
Buck Farmer103.80230021⅓99514
Carson Fulmer006.757006⅔5537
Kyle Funkhouser117.27130017⅓14141112
Bryan Garcia211.66260421⅔641012
Joe Jiménez137.15250522⅔1918622
David McKay1054.001002210
Nick Ramirez005.9150010⅔77411
John Schreiber016.32150015⅔1111414
Gregory Soto014.3027022311111329

Farm system

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

References

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  3. Petzold, Evan (September 28, 2020). "Detroit Tigers now at crossroads after some bright spots in 2020: 'Rebuild is almost over'". Freep.com. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
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  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.
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