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Detroit Tigers Thriving With One Of Youngest Lineups In Team History

Detroit Tigers Thriving With One Of Youngest Lineups In Team History

June 4, 2025 02:23pm

Fact Checked by Jim Tomlin

The Detroit Tigers are 40-22 as of June 3, with their .645 winning percentage on pace to be among the five best in franchise history. And this is with batters at 26.8 average age.

To get a sense of how unique this year’s Tigers team is, BetMichigan.com compiled data from baseball-reference.com for fans and MLB betting in Michigan to see where this year’s team stands, age wise, compared to other success stories in the Motor City.

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Youngest Detroit Tigers Lineups

Year	Average Age	Winning %, Playoffs
1954	25.7	.442, none
1978	26.2	.531, none
1914	26.3	.523, none
1913	26.3	.431, none
1997	26.4	.488, none
1980	26.4	.519, none
1979	26.5	.528, none
2024	26.7	.531, lost ALDS
1933	26.7	.487, none
1930	26.7	.487, none
2025	26.8	.645, TBD*
1955	26.8	.513, none
1909	26.8	.645, lost World Series

Average age stats are courtesy of baseball-reference.com.

*The Tigers are on pace for 104.5 wins. The franchise record is 104, by the 1984 team that won the World Series. The franchise record for best winning percentage is .656 by the 1934 team that went 101-53 in the era of a 154-game season and lost the World Series.

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Tigers Youthful Lineup Leading Charge

Detroit’s 40-22 start to the season (a .645 winning percentage) has the Tigers on pace for the club’s third best year-end winning percentage in 125 seasons of baseball. Only the 1934 (.656) and 1915 (.649) teams – which finished with 101 and 100 victories, respectively, in the era of 154-game seasons – were better.

For those placing Detroit Tigers betting wagers, one interesting aspect of the 2025 MLB season is how young this team is. The average age of Tigers hitters is 26.8 years, tied for 11 among the youngest teams in franchise history. Detroit’s pitching staff has an average age of 27.9, ranking in a tie for No. 67 out of 125 seasons in Tigers history.

So far this year, Baseball-Reference.com gives catcher Dillon Dingler (1.7 WAR), utility infielder Zach McKinstry (1.6 WAR) and outfielder Riley Greene (1.6 WAR) the highest Wins Above Replacement totals of Detroit’s legion of position players. And reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal leads all pitchers with a WAR of 2.6 in 12 starts.

Of the seven Tigers players with a WAR total of 1.0 or greater, Green (24), Spencer Torkelson (25), Gleyber Torres (28) and Kerry Carpenter (27) are still well under 30. Skubal (28), Reese Olson (25) and Casey Mize (28) are the sub-30 pitchers leading the way as Detroit Tigers World Series odds start to look more realistic.

Torkelson (14 home runs in 59 games), Greene and Carpenter (13 HRs apiece) have provided the most pop. Torkelson and Greene both have 40 or more RBIs this season.

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Detroit Tigers Pitching Also Strong

On the bump, Skubal (75.2 innings pitched) 29-year-old Jack Flaherty (65.1 innings) and Mize (51) are the Tigers’ leaders in of durability. Skubal has 99 strikeouts to date and Flaherty has 76 this season.

Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, leads the majors in WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) at 0.793 and in strikeout-to-walk ratio (14.14). The MLB single-season record in the latter category is Phil Hughes of the 2014 New York Yankees at 11.625, so Skubal is well ahead of that pace.

Throw in 25-year-old righty Reese Olson, who has 51 Ks in 48.2 innings pitched, and you have the full snapshot of Detroit’s youthful roster this season.

The Tigers are surging at Michigan sportsbooks, ranking in the top five on the World Series futures list at odds ranging from +700 to +850 depending on the operator.

Detroit Tigers 2025 Outlook

Of the previous 10 Tigers teams with hitting lineups younger than 2025, two reached the postseason. The 1909 team (average batter’s age of 26.8, like this year) lost the World Series. Last year’s Detroit team (26.7 average) lost in the American League Division Series,

Will this year’s team make the playoffs? DraftKings Sportsbook Michigan gives the Tigers -295 odds of winning the AL Central in 2025, along with +340 odds of capturing the AL pennant for the first time since 2012 (second behind the New York Yankees at +225 odds). The New York-based sports betting goliath gives Detroit the fourth-best World Series odds in the 30-team league, at +850 (alongside the New York Mets) while a few other operators we surveyed has Detroit at No. 3 option to win the world championship.

For now, the task at hand for Detroit’s youthful roster is to ensure that they do enough on the field to make a return to the postseason this fall, ensuring that the team’s rapid, 40-22 start doesn’t fall apart as the seasons rolls on through the dog days of summer.

Keep up with Michigan sportsbook apps reviews and more at BetMichigan.com all season.

USA Today photo by Rick Osentoski

Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetMichigan.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.

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