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The Detroit News contributor Andrew Graham gives his quick takes on the Tigers' 6-3 victory over the Royals on Sunday:
Detroit can, should and will take any bit of juice that can be found offensively or on the mound dealing with a raft of injuries. Enter: Gage Workman and his two-run go-ahead home run as a pinch hitter in the top of the sixth inning serves nicely.
He got called up to join the club in Kansas City on short notice after Kerry Carpenter got sent to the 10-day injured list and started Sunday’s series finale for a reeling Tigers team on the bench. Detroit had surrendered a three-run lead when he came in to pinch hit. Workman then barreled up a slider low and inside and pulled it out to the right field corner, scoring Spencer Torkelson and himself.
More: Who is Gage Workman? Meet the newest Tiger with an awesome middle name
The homer is also a nice moment for Workman, who spent much of his career in the minors with the Tigers organization before getting to the majors last year, debuting with the Chicago Cubs and then signing with the White Sox after getting DFA’d. His home run on Sunday, in his Tigers debut, is his first MLB home run.
And it’s going to take a lot more “Wow, didn’t expect him to be the hero” moments for the Tigers to salvage what’s become an injury-riddled beginning to 2026.
While the numbers show that for batters, Detroit is tied for 8th in MLB in terms of ABS use, Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks, as part of NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team, picked on the Tigers for seemingly being avoidant of using it during the top of the seventh inning on Sunday.
But the problem isn’t so much that Detroit’s hitters are or were avoiding using it — they might’ve avoided using ABS on Sunday evening but aren’t dodging it overall — but that Detroit’s hitters haven’t been good at it.
The rate of success for Tigers batters challenging balls and strikes is 44%, with 17 teams doing better entering Sunday evening. So, perhaps now, the Tigers have reeled back on the hitters using ABS as much.
It certainly could’ve benefited a few Tigers hitters in the seventh, as Torkelson let a ball get called for a strike before eventually getting walked.
And it’s quite the contrast for Detroit to be marginal at ABS decisions for batters when Dillon Dingler is elite at them behind the plate defensively. The advanced stats have him No. 1 for overturns versus expected on challenges.
If only Detroit’s hitters could be so effective at using the ABS system.
(Season total in parentheses)
▶ Matt Vierling (3)
▶ Emmanuel De Jesus
▶ Wenceel Perez (4)
▶ Gage Workman — heck of a way to debut with the club, hitting a go-ahead home run
The Tigers are 3-3 on national TV, now on a three-game win streak:
▶ Game 42: Tigers at Mets, 7:10 Tuesday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday's Tigers recap
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers recap, Game 41: One thing I loved, one thing I didn't
Continue reading...
One thing I loved
Detroit can, should and will take any bit of juice that can be found offensively or on the mound dealing with a raft of injuries. Enter: Gage Workman and his two-run go-ahead home run as a pinch hitter in the top of the sixth inning serves nicely.
He got called up to join the club in Kansas City on short notice after Kerry Carpenter got sent to the 10-day injured list and started Sunday’s series finale for a reeling Tigers team on the bench. Detroit had surrendered a three-run lead when he came in to pinch hit. Workman then barreled up a slider low and inside and pulled it out to the right field corner, scoring Spencer Torkelson and himself.
More: Who is Gage Workman? Meet the newest Tiger with an awesome middle name
The homer is also a nice moment for Workman, who spent much of his career in the minors with the Tigers organization before getting to the majors last year, debuting with the Chicago Cubs and then signing with the White Sox after getting DFA’d. His home run on Sunday, in his Tigers debut, is his first MLB home run.
And it’s going to take a lot more “Wow, didn’t expect him to be the hero” moments for the Tigers to salvage what’s become an injury-riddled beginning to 2026.
One thing I didn't
While the numbers show that for batters, Detroit is tied for 8th in MLB in terms of ABS use, Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks, as part of NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team, picked on the Tigers for seemingly being avoidant of using it during the top of the seventh inning on Sunday.
But the problem isn’t so much that Detroit’s hitters are or were avoiding using it — they might’ve avoided using ABS on Sunday evening but aren’t dodging it overall — but that Detroit’s hitters haven’t been good at it.
The rate of success for Tigers batters challenging balls and strikes is 44%, with 17 teams doing better entering Sunday evening. So, perhaps now, the Tigers have reeled back on the hitters using ABS as much.
It certainly could’ve benefited a few Tigers hitters in the seventh, as Torkelson let a ball get called for a strike before eventually getting walked.
And it’s quite the contrast for Detroit to be marginal at ABS decisions for batters when Dillon Dingler is elite at them behind the plate defensively. The advanced stats have him No. 1 for overturns versus expected on challenges.
If only Detroit’s hitters could be so effective at using the ABS system.
ABS Challenge! Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals
Bot 5 | Detroit Tigers challenges
HP Umpire: Emil Jimenez
Enmanuel De Jesus to Carter Jensen
Original call: Ball (93.7 mph Four-Seam Fastball)
Result: OVERTURNED!#MLB#BaseballTwitter#ABS#RepDetroit… pic.twitter.com/rNyW1ZCrQ8
— MLB ABS Tracker (@MLB_ABS) May 11, 2026
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
▶ Matt Vierling (3)
▶ Emmanuel De Jesus
▶ Wenceel Perez (4)
Player of the game
▶ Gage Workman — heck of a way to debut with the club, hitting a go-ahead home run
Tigers on national TV
The Tigers are 3-3 on national TV, now on a three-game win streak:
- Sunday, April 5: Lost to Cardinals, 5-3 (Peacock)
- Friday, April 17: Lost to Red Sox, 1-0 in 10 innings (Apple TV)
- Saturday, April 26: Lost to Reds, 9-2 (Fox)
- Saturday, May 2: Defeated Rangers, 5-1 (Fox)
- Sunday, May 3: Defeated Rangers, 7-1 (Peacock)
- Sunday, May 20: Defeated Royals, 6-3 (Peacock)
Next Tigers game
▶ Game 42: Tigers at Mets, 7:10 Tuesday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday's Tigers recap
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers recap, Game 41: One thing I loved, one thing I didn't
Continue reading...
