The Baseball Scholar

Detroit Tigers Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

These are the greatest individual seasons in Detroit Tigers history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Bill Freehan – 1968

    Bill Freehan Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.9 149 155 635 540 73 142 24 2 25 84 65 64 0 1 .263 .366 .454 .819

    • First Base

  • Norm Cash – 1961

    Norm Cash Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.2 194 159 672 535 119 193 22 8 41 132 124 85 11 5 .361 .487 .662 1.148

    • Second Base

  • Charlie Gehringer – 1934HOF

    Charlie Gehringer Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.9 149 154 708 601 134 214 50 7 11 127 99 25 11 8 .356 .450 .517 .967

    • Third Base

  • Miguel Cabrera – 2013MVP

    Miguel Cabrera Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.5 193 148 652 555 103 193 26 1 44 137 90 94 3 0 .348 .442 .636 1.078

    • Shortstop

  • Alan Trammell – 1987HOF

    Alan Trammell Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.2 152 151 668 597 109 205 34 3 28 105 60 47 21 2 .343 .402 .551 .953

    • Outfield

  • Ty Cobb – 1917HOF

    Ty Cobb Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    11.3 200 152 669 588 107 225 44 24 6 102 61 34 55 .383 .444 .570 1.014

    • Outfield

  • Ty Cobb – 1910HOF

    Ty Cobb Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    10.5 206 140 590 506 106 194 35 13 8 91 64 65 .383 .456 .551 1.008

    • Outfield

  • Ty Cobb – 1911HOFMVP

    Ty Cobb Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    10.7 189 146 654 591 147 248 47 24 8 127 44 83 .420 .467 .621 1.088

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Hal Newhouser – 1945HOFMVP

    Hal Newhouser Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    11.3 52 40 36 25 9 1.81 313.1 29 8 2 73 63 110 212 16.8% 1.11

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Mark Fidrych – 1976Rookie of the Year

    Mark Fidrych Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.6 63 31 29 19 9 2.34 250.1 24 4 0 76 65 53 97 9.7% 1.08

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Justin Verlander – 2011MVPCy Young

    Justin Verlander Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.6 58 34 34 24 5 2.40 251 4 2 0 73 67 57 250 25.8% 0.92

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Hank Aguirre – 1962

    Hank Aguirre Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.4 55 42 22 16 8 2.21 216 11 2 3 67 53 65 156 17.8% 1.05

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Hal Newhouser – 1946HOF

    Hal Newhouser Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.7 54 37 34 26 9 1.94 292.2 29 6 1 77 63 98 275 23.4% 1.07

    • Relief Pitcher

  • John Hiller – 1973

    John Hiller Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.9 36 65 0 10 5 1.44 125.1 0 0 38 21 20 39 124 24.9% 1.02

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Willie Hernandez – 1984MVPCy Young

    Willie Hernandez Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.8 49 80 0 9 3 1.92 140.1 0 0 32 30 30 36 112 20.4% 0.94

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Aurelio Lopez – 1979

    Aurelio Lopez Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    5.3 55 61 0 10 5 2.41 127 0 0 21 37 34 51 106 20.4% 1.15

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Bill Freehan, 1967
  • First Base – Miguel Cabrera, 2011
  • Second Base – Charlie Gehringer, 1937
  • Third Base – Miguel Cabrera, 2012
  • Shortstop – Dick McAuliffe, 1966
  • Outfield – Ty Cobb, 1909
  • Outfield – Ty Cobb, 1912
  • Outfield – Ty Cobb, 1915
  • Starting Pitcher – Justin Verlander, 2012
  • Starting Pitcher – Tarik Skubal, 2025
  • Starting Pitcher – Justin Thompson, 1997
  • Starting Pitcher – Denny McLain, 1968
  • Starting Pitcher – Dizzy Trout, 1944
  • Relief Pitcher – Terry Fox, 1962
  • Relief Pitcher – Terry Fox, 1961

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

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