On Aug. 13, the Detroit Tigers were 2.5 games behind first place in the division after defeating the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 with Keider Montero on the mound.

After finishing July with a 15-9 record (.625 winning percentage), Detroit appeared to be recovering and was fighting to remain among the contenders in the race to reach the postseason, even though they had traded their two rotation aces at the trade deadline, two-time Cy Young winner and Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and All-Star Casey Mize to the San Diego Padres.

However, in their next 17 games, they collapsed, going 3-14, a streak that put them 10 games behind first place. The closest the Tigers could get for the rest of the way was five games behind on September 15, but they finished the season nine games behind the Guardians, the division leaders, after losing seven of their final 11 games.

In any case, that finish between inconsistencies and moments when the Tigers seemed to find some rhythm was not the worst moment that defined the season. The fatal collapse came in May, when they fell to 6-22, posting the worst record in the entire league. That was the critical point that most affected the Tigers’ path throughout the season. It was a terrible month, especially in run production, falling to an average of just 2.8 per game, with the worst line in any month of the entire year, .204/.287/.309, .597 OPS and 69 wRC+.

The pitchers were also affected by the limited production generated by reduced offensive support, but they also faced problems. They finished the month with a 4.13 ERA, but in April they pitched to a 3.96 ERA, recording a 9.7% walk rate, the highest of the year.

Detroit’s Biggest Challenge for 2027

We could talk about many topics here, such as how Detroit could improve its team and finally give more playing time to several of its young prospects, but there is a bigger problem on the horizon. It has not been a bad start for the team in itself. Nor is it a matter of them ending up being a disappointment all the way through, given the injury problems the team went through throughout the year. The adverse situation that continues to repeat itself is the team’s lack of stability.

The Tigers are the only team in MLB that has had a month with .600 or better and a month with .400 or worse in each of the last three seasons. Over the last three years, they have suffered several critical periods, with a collapse that, in the end, has affected the real capability the team could have with greater stability. In 2026, July was their best month, with a 15-9 record (.625) and, as I said before, May was the worst, at 6-22 (.214). But last year that performance was different, as the Tigers went 19-9 (.679) in May and, three months later, the collapse came in September when they finished 7-17 (.292).

In 2024, June was the team’s worst month below .400, at 10-17 (.370), but they turned things around in September, going 17-8 (.680). If we make a summary of the best and the worst, Detroit went 51-29 (.637) in the three months over these last three seasons that finished above .600, and they ended up falling to 23-56 (.291) in the least effective stretches.

The question this leaves us with, of course, is how much the Tigers’ 2026 season would have changed if the May collapse had not been so devastating. They had only six wins in 28 games, with a 2-13 streak in the final 15 games of the month.

Going into the 2027 season, the best answer to something Detroit has not been able to solve is to work toward building a team with enough balance to be able to compete throughout the year. And, to leave behind those problems of the last three seasons, they do not need to play above .500 all year. Just having the ability to avoid such a significant collapse could be enough.