Rangers vs Tigers Pick: Texas Enters Motown to Play Scorching Detroit (May 9)

• Our Rangers vs Tigers pick looks at perhaps MLB‘s hottest team, Detroit, hosting spiraling Texas
• Detroit is 24-13 and in 1st place in the AL Central; Texas is fading in the AL West at 18-20
• The Tigers send defending AL Cy Young Award winner and pitching Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal
• The Rangers respond with veteran Patrick Corbin, having a surprisingly solid comeback season

Skubal Might Be Heading for a 2nd Straight CYA

When assessing Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, remember that he was a 9th-round draft pick in the 2018 draft. No team thinks a 9th-round pick will become…this.

Skubal won the AL Cy Young award in 2024 and led the majors in wins, strikeouts, and the AL in ERA. That’s the pitching Triple Crown. He had a 6.4 bWAR. In 2025, it can be argued that he is pitching better. He already has a 1.5 bWAR, has given up 35 hits in 40.2 innings, has a 2.21 ERA, and has struck out 48 while walking only 5.

For the Rangers against Skubal, Adolis Garcia is 4 for 11 with 2 doubles. Jonah Heim is 3 for 10 with a double and a home run. Marcus Semien is 3 for 7 with a home run. Joc Pederson (he of the .132 batting average in 101 plate appearances in 2025) is 3 for 6 with a double. Corey Seager is 6 for 9 with a double.

Detroit’s offense is clicking and is being stunningly led by Javier Baez. For three years, after signing a six-year, $140 million contract, Baez looked as if he was stealing money from the Tigers. This year, however, he is already a contender for Comeback Player of the Year with a .317 batting average, a .355 on-base percentage, and a .481 slugging percentage. He has 3 homers and is playing fine defense at shortstop, third base, and center field.

Gleyber Torres is hitting well; Riley Greene has 8 home runs; and Spencer Torkelson has an .889 OPS.

Texas Just Shook Up Its Hitting Coach Personnel

The term “hitting coach personnel” is literal since several people oversee the Rangers’ (and other organizations’) hitting. They dismissed offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and added Bret Boone to the mix to help the staff they retained, hitting coach Justin Viele and his assistant, Seth Conner.

Maybe Norv Turner is looking to work if they want a new offensive coordinator.

It’s a shaky premise to blame the hitting coach when veterans Pederson, Jake Burger, and Semien are batting below .200. Pederson, especially, has not been a major league hitter in the first month-plus of the 2025 season. At 18-20, they seem a bit desperate, but sometimes a cosmetic change with a different voice helps.

Against the Tigers, Patrick Corbin takes the hill.

After helping the Nationals to a championship in 2019, the next five years in Washington were disastrous, never posting an ERA below 4.66 and topping out at 6.31. The Rangers signed him on a flyer, and he’s pitched stunningly well. In 5 starts, he has a 2-1 record, has given up 29 hits in 24.2 innings, but has given the Rangers 4+ innings in every start.

Baez is 7 for 22 with 2 homers against Corbin. Torres is 4 for 11 with 2 homers. Torkelson is 2 for 3 with a homer.

Rangers vs Tigers Pick: No Hitting Coach Can Help Texas Against Skubal

There are several ways to look at firing a coach. Is it a desperation move? Is it a “change for its own sake” decision? Were the players unhappy with their offensive coordinator?

The only way to know whether it was effective is in retrospect. Regardless, the Rangers are in trouble, and if they keep playing like this, they’ll be sellers at the trade deadline.

Still, it’s hard to blame them if they don’t hit Skubal because nobody hits Skubal. That trend will continue here.