A guide to USC-UCLA, Georgia-Kentucky and the rest of Week 12’s best games
-
ESPN staff
It’s the penultimate week of college football’s regular season and the Pac-12 takes center stage.
The Battle for L.A. between USC and UCLA has been anticipated all season. If the conference wants to have any College Football Playoff hope, the Trojans will have to beat the Bruins on Saturday, then defeat Notre Dame and win the conference title game. Despite a UCLA loss to Arizona last week, the Bruins would love nothing more than keeping their crosstown rival out of the playoff.
Oregon and Utah will also meet with Pac-12 championship game hopes on the line. After the Ducks and Utes played in last season’s conference title game, a loss for either team will eliminate them from this year’s championship.
Elsewhere, three of the top four teams in the CFP rankings have tests that could shake up the playoff picture ahead of the last week of the regular season. Georgia heads to Kentucky looking to defend its No. 1 ranking while TCU travels to Baylor in one of the Big 12’s fiercest rivalries. And Michigan hosts upstart Illinois, which despite a loss last week is experiencing one of its best seasons in recent memory.
These are the top storylines head into Week 12.
No. 7 USC (9-1) at No. 16 UCLA (8-2) (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox)
What could have been the first top-10 matchup between USC and UCLA since Troy Aikman and Rodney Peete were under center in 1988 will now have to settle for something a little less flashy: a battle between the No. 7 Trojans and No. 16 Bruins after Arizona upset UCLA last week.
With two of the top offenses in the country getting to tee off against two defenses that have been inconsistent, at best, there will be plenty of points and plenty still on the line for both teams. A win gets USC into the Pac-12 championship and keeps the Trojans’ College Football Playoff hopes alive; a win for UCLA means it still has a shot at the Pac-12 title.
“When both teams are good and there are a lot of opportunities ahead for both teams, it makes it way, way better,” USC coach Lincoln Riley, who will make his first appearance in the rivalry, said this week.
On Tuesday, he added: “We’re not doing anything honestly too specific with this rivalry and that’s not to discount it in any way. I think we’ve acknowledged that this game in some ways is going to feel different.”
If the Trojans, with over 40 transfers who haven’t had a taste of the crosstown matchup, are taking a more straightforward approach to Saturday’s game, then UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson — who Riley remembers facing at Oklahoma when Kyler Murray was his quarterback — is doing the opposite and not mincing any words when it comes to USC.
“Obviously we hate those guys across town,” he said on Monday.
This will be DTR’s fifth rivalry game against USC since arriving in Westwood, the fourth one he has starred in.
Though the Bruins’ train has slowed a bit in the past few weeks, Thompson-Robinson’s rampant goodbye tour through the Pac-12 hasn’t lost steam. He has been vocal about what teams he wanted to beat in his last season with the Bruins and has said he remembers when USC last beat UCLA at the Rose Bowl and players “cursed” at them and “flipped them off.” It’s part of why, as he put it, he wants to score 60 again like he did last season in a dazzling, six-touchdown performance.
Most USC players said Tuesday they hadn’t seen Thompson-Robinson’s comments, or given them any thought. But when informed of the quarterback’s goal to score 60 points again on the Trojans, defensive back Calen Bullock chuckled and said. “I know that’s not gonna happen.”
Whether it’s a fifth-year senior who grew up watching the L.A. rivalry and is now playing it for the last time, or a brand-new coach or transfer who is trying to treat the matchup like just another game, come Saturday, the motivation to win will be the same. — Paolo Uggetti
No. 10 Utah (8-2) at No. 12 Oregon (8-2) (Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN app)
A week after squandering its playoff hopes following a heartbreaking loss to rival Washington at home, Oregon will try to recover with an arguably tougher matchup. The No. 12 Ducks welcome the No. 10 Utes, who have two losses (by a combined 13 points) but are playing some of their best football the past few weeks.
Much was said about Dan Lanning’s decision to go for a fourth down late in the game with Bo Nix on the sideline (even Lanning said this week he wishes he would have called a timeout), but the real Achilles’ heel for the Ducks’ last game was their struggling defense, which has given up an average of 34 points to ranked opponents this season. Against the Utes — whose offense might not be as explosive as Washington’s but has been plenty effective — that will once again be the challenge.
The X factor of that Utes offense will likely be tight end Dalton Kincaid, who torched the inconsistent USC defense but missed the game against Arizona two weeks ago after suffering a shoulder injury against Washington State. Kincaid (who is averaging 13 yards per catch) played a limited amount of snaps against Stanford last week and his status for this week’s matchup is still in flux.
“He’s still not 100 percent, there’s some soreness,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “But he’s a lot further ahead today than he was last Monday.”
Whittingham also heaped praise on Nix, who, despite the loss last Saturday, still had three touchdowns and completed 70% of his pass attempts. Nix still has a shot at perhaps jumping back into the Heisman conversation with another big game, especially if Oregon wins out. And the Ducks need to.
Much like both L.A. schools playing on a big Saturday for the Pac-12, both Oregon and Utah are still in contention for the Pac-12 championship and subsequently, the Rose Bowl. The team on the losing end will have to wave goodbye to both. — Uggetti
No. 1 Georgia (10-0) at Kentucky (6-4) (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
It wasn’t too long ago that this game looked like it could be one of Georgia’s most daunting challenges in getting through the regular season unbeaten.
That was before Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was injured, before it became apparent that Kentucky simply couldn’t protect Levis and before Levis saw his struggles go from bad to worse.
Georgia, 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, is second nationally in scoring defense, allowing 11.6 points per game. The Dawgs have allowed just nine touchdowns on defense, and three of those came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was all but decided. Kentucky, meanwhile, has scored more than 21 points on offense against an SEC opponent only once — a 27-17 win over Mississippi State. In the Wildcats’ past three games, they’ve managed a total of five touchdowns.
In other words, this one looks like a mismatch, at least on paper, especially with Kentucky limping into the game having lost to Vanderbilt 24-21 last week at home. The Commodores had lost 26 straight SEC games before knocking off the Wildcats.
“Not enough hype. Not enough juice. We talked about it among us all week, and we did not buy into it,” Levis said following the Vanderbilt loss.
Kentucky was ranked No. 20 in the AP preseason poll, and expectations were soaring after the Wildcats won 10 games a year ago. And while the defense has played well enough in most games to give them a chance to win, the offense has been particularly sloppy in the red zone (ranked 99th nationally) and stopped itself repeatedly with sacks, penalties and turnovers.
“We’re moving the ball and doing good things, but we’re not getting into the end zone,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said. “One of the downsides is that we’ve had explosive [plays], but they’re not scoring all the time. Chunk plays are great, but when chunk plays get tackled on the 25 instead of scoring, it’s hard.”
The Wildcats’ red zone woes figure to get more difficult against a Georgia defense that has given up an FBS-best six touchdowns in the red zone all season.
So much has been made of the Georgia defense, and with good reason. But lost in what the Dawgs have done in winning 25 consecutive regular-season games vs. Kentucky going back to the end of the 2000 season is how efficient they’ve been on offense. They’re tied for sixth nationally in scoring offense (40.6 points per game) and are third nationally in total offense (509.6 yards per game). — Chris Low
2:28
Kirby Smart explains how the No. 1 Bulldogs remain hungry after working their way to the top and breaks down Kentucky QB Will Levis’ unaffected play style.
Illinois (7-3) at No. 3 Michigan (10-0) (Saturday, noon ET, ABC/ESPN app)
Illinois got off to a hot start, going 7-1 before dropping its past two games against Michigan State and Purdue. A big part of the team’s success has come from running back Chase Brown, who leads all FBS running backs with 1,442 yards.
He is averaging 5.15 yards per carry and has seven rushing touchdowns on the season. Unfortunately for Illinois, Brown went down with an injury in the last game against Purdue. He hasn’t been ruled out against Michigan, but his status is still in doubt.
“Josh McCray, Chase Brown … both those guys are trending in the right direction,” coach Bret Bielema said. “Very positive and excited, but don’t know where we’ll be by Friday for the trip and Saturday for the game.”
Michigan’s defense already ranks No. 1 in rush yards allowed per game, giving up only 72.7 yards. The team is No. 3 in yards allowed per rush and No. 3 in rushing touchdowns allowed, giving up only three touchdowns on the ground.
That will make the challenge of playing 10-0 Michigan, ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, even more difficult if Brown isn’t able to play.
“Our run wall has been very good, it’s going to be tested this week probably like none other up to this point,” Jim Harbaugh said. “So, Illinois is very strong at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Outstanding, outstanding run scheme, outstanding running back. So, it’ll be a real challenge and a task for our team this year.”
This is an important game for the Wolverines to remain undefeated and give the team a chance to take on Ohio State to finish out the season for another berth in the Big Ten championship game and the playoff.
Michigan isn’t without injuries, either, as defensive end Mike Morris was injured in the most recent game against Nebraska. Morris went on the Inside Michigan Football radio show and said he’s feeling great and that he tweaked his leg in the game.
“I feel like I’ll be all right,” Morris said. “Our trainers are working very hard. I was in there getting treatment for like four hours this morning, so I’ll be fine. I’m in great hands, it’s all in God’s plan.” — Tom VanHaaren
No. 4 TCU (10-0) at Baylor (6-4) (Saturday, noon ET, Fox)
TCU had established itself as a second-half defense, transforming from leaky to lockdown in several Big 12 wins. But it wasn’t enough.
Two weeks ago, defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie told the group that if they wanted to achieve their biggest goals, they needed to deliver “a full 60.”
“I knew we had the potential,” Gillespie told ESPN. “I just didn’t know where it was going to happen, or if it was going to happen. That was as complete a four-quarter defensive [performance] that we’ve played up until this point. And it’s good timing.
“Now the deal is, you’ve got to keep doing it. You’ve got a big target on your chest, and that’s a good thing.”
Gillespie referred to TCU’s defensive masterpiece in last week’s win at Texas, which didn’t score an offensive touchdown and finished with only 28 net rush yards, while averaging 3.3 yards per offensive play. TCU’s defensive stars shined: cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, linebacker Johnny Hodges, safety Mark Perry and others.
The Frogs silenced Texas and any remaining doubters about their College Football Playoff candidacy. But their quest continues, again on the road, this time against the defending Big 12 champions in Baylor.
Gillespie has seen significant growth from TCU’s defensive line, which entered the season as his biggest concern. The front three will be stressed by a Baylor offense that, until last week against Kansas State, had run the ball well with freshman Richard Reese and others.
“You’re talking about three hands in the grass, and that’s it,” said Gillespie, who uses the increasingly popular 3-3-5 alignment. “We’re asking them to take on roles and do some things that aren’t so pretty sometimes. It’s easier to fall in love with it when you see production, but just the way they’ve embraced the approach, it’s a very selfless attitude.
“And those guys make a lot of dadgum plays.”
Baylor comes off of its worst offensive performance since 2020, recording season lows in points (3) and rushing yards (103). Coach Dave Aranda remains fully confident in quarterback Blake Shapen, who had two interceptions against Kansas State, while “pressing” and struggling with his footwork.
“He can be a dual threat, there’s a lot of scramble stuff,” Gillespie said of Shapen. “They’ve got three running backs, they’re going to keep fresh legs, they’re going to hit you on the perimeter, and then you’ve got an entire offensive line that has been playing together for a minute. This is a unit that works very well together, they understand each other.”
Gillespie entered the season not really knowing what TCU’s defense could become. The Frogs were implementing a new scheme and feeling out how offenses would attack them. After stringing together quarters, halves and finally a full game, TCU is primed to continue its quest for an improbable CFP spot.
“You’ve seen just about every blocking scheme, we’ve had just about every adjustment,” Gillespie said. “So they’ve gotten mature. There was some patience in knowing, ‘If we could put both [halves] together, we could be a pretty good squad.’ Fortunately, it started happening the other night. Certainly that’s got to be something we build off of.” — Adam Rittenberg
Clinching scenarios for Week 12
Power 5
ACC
• Clemson and North Carolina have both clinched spots in the ACC championship game.
Big 12
• TCU has clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game. The Horned Frogs are making their second appearance in the Big 12 title game. They lost in 2017 to Oklahoma.
• Kansas State clinches a spot in the Big 12 championship game with a win at West Virginia and a Texas loss at Kansas. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 17% chance the Wildcats clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
Pac-12
• USC clinches a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with a win at UCLA. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 61% chance the Trojans clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
• Utah clinches a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with a win and UCLA loss. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 32% chance the Utes clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
• Oregon clinches a spot in the Pac-12 championship game with a win vs. Utah and a Washington loss to Colorado. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 2% chance the Ducks clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
SEC
• Georgia and LSU have both clinched spots in the SEC championship game. They are meeting in the SEC championship game for a fifth time, the second most by any pair of teams in any conference championship in FBS history. Alabama and Florida have met 10 times in the SEC title game.
Georgia has an 84% chance to win the SEC championship game according to ESPN Analytics.
Group of 5
American
• UCF clinches a spot in the American championship game with a win vs. Navy and loss by Houston at East Carolina. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 61% chance the Knights clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
• The second spot in the championship game can not be clinched until Week 13.
Conference USA
• UTSA clinches with a win at Rice or Florida Atlantic loss at Middle Tennessee. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 90% chance the Roadrunners clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
• The second spot in the championship game can not be clinched until Week 13.
MAC
• Toledo has clinched the West, its seventh appearance in the MAC championship game. That is the second-most by any team, trailing only Northern Illinois (nine).
• Ohio clinches the East with a win at Ball State and Bowling Green loss at Toledo. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 52% chance the Bobcats clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
Mountain West
• Fresno State clinches the West Division with a win at Nevada or losses by San Jose State (at Utah State) and San Diego State (at New Mexico). According to ESPN Analytics, there’s an 84% chance the Bulldogs clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
• Boise State clinches the Mountain Division with a win at Wyoming. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 79% chance the Broncos clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
Sun Belt
• Coastal Carolina has clinched the East. This is Coastal Carolina’s first appearance in the Sun Belt championship game.
• Troy clinches the West with a win vs. UL Monroe and South Alabama loss at Southern Miss. According to ESPN Analytics, there’s a 32% chance the Trojans clinch a spot in the championship game this week.
NEW YORK — The Jazz Age is in full swing at Yankee Stadium.
Whether with his bat, his glove, his arm or his smile, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is energizing the New York Yankees and their fans.
Chisholm hit a second-inning, go-ahead homer and a bases-loaded triple while making three sparkling defensive plays at third base Sunday in a 12-5 romp over the Athletics.
“That’s why we got him. That’s what the Yankees do. They go after guys that are going to make an impact,” said New York captain Aaron Judge, who homered twice to reach 30 for the sixth time.
Chisholm is batting .318 with six homers, 18 RBIs and four stolen bases since returning from a strained right oblique on June 3, raising his season totals to .242 with 13 homers, 35 and 10 steals in 53 games.
“I feel like me. I feel I’m back in my era, that I was younger just going out there and just hitting, just not worrying about stuff,” the 27-year-old said. “Just not worrying by my swing, not worrying about striding too far. Everything just feels good and I’m just going.”
After a four-RBI night against Boston in his fourth game back, Chisholm made the unusual assertion he was thriving by giving 70% effort and not stressing.
With New York seeking to reopen a 1½-game AL East lead, he drove a first-pitch sinker from former Yankee Luis Severino into the right-field seats for a 1-0, second-inning lead. Ever exuberant, he raised his right hand and made a peace sign toward the Yankees bullpen after rounding first.
Chisholm snagged Jacob Wilson‘s two-hopper with two on and one out in the third, bounded off third base for the forceout and balletically arced a throw to first for an inning-ending double play.
With the bases loaded in the bottom half, Chisholm hit a changeup to the right-center gap that rolled past center fielder Denzel Clarke. He pulled into third base standing up and raised three fingers.
“It’s like a blackout situation,” Chisholm said. “I didn’t even realize I put up three at third base.”
With the bases loaded in the sixth, he made a diving stop near the dirt behind third on Luis Urías‘ 102.1 mph smash, popped up and followed with a one-hop throw to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Then he caught Tyler Soderstrom‘s foul pop in the eighth inning while falling against netting in the narrow space next to the rolled-up tarp.
“Jazz’s defense I think was better than even his day at the plate,” said pitcher Marcus Stroman, who won in his return from a 2½-month injury layoff. “He was incredible over there: a bunch of huge plays that helped me out in big spots, plays that are not normal plays.”
New York acquired Chisholm from Miami last July 27 for three minor leaguers. Since then, he has hit .257 with 24 homers, 58 RBIs and 28 stolen bases in 99 games.
“His game’s so electric, and he can change the game and kind of affect the game in so many different ways in a dynamic fashion,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So, when he is playing at a high level, I think it does energize everyone.”
Chisholm briefly caused worry in the sixth. He grimaced in pain after stopping his swing at a 1-2 fastball from Elvis Alvarado, which sailed high and outside. Chisholm went to the dugout and immediately up the tunnel to the clubhouse.
Then he reappeared at third base for the start of the seventh.
“The bat kind of slipped out of my hand and hit me on the finger,” he said. “It just hit the bone and when you get hit on the bone, it’s kind of funny, it’s just feels weird. So, it was kind of scary at first, but we’re good.”
Judge, meanwhile, didn’t allow Athletics reliever Tyler Ferguson to make good on last year’s wish of striking out the Yankees slugger.
Ferguson, who set his goal last year after making his debut with the Athletics following nine seasons in the minor leagues, was one strike away in his first matchup with Judge on Sunday. Instead, he gave up a two-run shot off a 95.5 mph four-seam fastball in the seventh to become the 261st pitcher to give up a homer to the slugger.
Judge said he had been unaware of Ferguson’s comment.
Ferguson turned around and watched the 426-foot drive as YES Network play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco proclaimed: “The King of Fresno.”
“That’s why you don’t talk in public,” YES Network analyst and former reliever Jeff Nelson said on the telecast. “You don’t make a comment that I want to strike out Judge in public. You keep it to yourself.”
Ferguson graduated from Clovis West High School in Fresno when Judge batted .308 as a sophomore at Fresno State in 2012.
“First time facing him, best hitter in the league,” Ferguson said. “So I was looking forward to that at-bat. I was able to get ahead and then wasn’t able to execute a couple of pitches and he was able to get it back to 3-2 and I didn’t get the ball quite as high as I would have liked and he made a good swing on it.”
Judge reached 30 homers for the fifth straight season and fourth time before All-Star break. He also became the sixth player in team history with six 30-homer seasons, and he joined Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio as just the third to do so in the first 10 years of his career.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If you picked the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers to be the first team to win 50 games this MLB season, you weren’t alone.
You were also wrong.
If you picked the Detroit Tigers, congratulations! We’re not sure we believe you, but we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
The Tigers won their 50th game on Tuesday, a full day before the Dodgers, and they got there thanks to big contributions all season from ace Tarik Skubal, the red-hot Riley Greene and the resurgent Javier Baez, among many others.
But are they really as good as they’ve played so far? Are they even the American League’s best team? Could they defeat the Dodgers (or whichever team comes out of a stacked National League) in the World Series?
We asked MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Tim Keown, Jeff Passan and David Schoenfield to tackle all things Tigers before they play host to the Minnesota Twins on “Sunday Night Baseball” (7 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN2).
Who is the biggest threat to Detroit in the AL — and would you take the Tigers to beat them in an ALCS showdown?
Doolittle: The Yankees still have the AL’s best roster and remain the favorites in the circuit, even with the Rays and Astros closing in fast on both Detroit and New York. This feels like a season in which, by the time we get to October, there’s not going to be a clear-cut front-runner in the AL. But if we zero in on a possible Tigers-Yankees ALCS, I like the interchangeability of the Detroit staff, which we saw in action late last year. Max Fried and Skubal cancel each other out, so it really comes down to the number of favorable matchups A.J. Hinch can manipulate during a series of games between two postseason offenses likely predicated on timely multi-run homers.
Keown: It’s obviously the Yankees — unless it’s the Rays. Tampa’s lineup is deep and insistent, and the pitching staff is exactly what it always seems to be: consistent, stingy and comprised of guys only hardcore fans can identify. They’re really, really good — by far the best big league team playing in a minor league ballpark.
Passan: It’s still the New York Yankees. They’ve got Aaron Judge, they’ve got Fried and Carlos Rodon for four starts, they’ve got better lineup depth than Detroit. Who wins the theoretical matchup could depend on how aggressively each team pursues improvement at the trade deadline. Suffice to say, the Tigers will not be trading Jack Flaherty this year.
Schoenfield: I was going to say the Yankees as well, but as I’m writing this I just watched the Astros sweep the Phillies, holding them to one run in three games. As great as Skubal has been, Hunter Brown has been just as good — if not better. (A couple of Brown-Skubal matchups in the ALCS would be super fun.) Throw in Framber Valdez and you have two aces plus one of the best late-game bullpens in the biz. The offense? Nothing great. The difference-maker is clear: getting Yordan Alvarez healthy and hitting again.
Who is the biggest threat to Detroit in the NL — and would you take the Tigers to beat them in a World Series matchup?
Doolittle: The Dodgers are the team to beat, full stop. In many ways, their uneven start to the season, caused by so many pitching injuries, represents the lower tier of L.A.’s possible range of outcomes. And the Dodgers still are right there at the top of the majors. I can’t think of any good reason to pick against them in any 2025 competitive context. In a Tigers-Dodgers World Series — which would somehow be the first one ever — I just can’t see the Tigers scoring enough to beat L.A. four times.
Keown: The Dodgers. No need to get cute here. The Dodgers are the biggest threat to just about everything baseball-related. And while the matchup would be a hell of a lot of fun, filled with all those contradictory juxtapositions that makes a series riveting, let’s just say L.A. in seven.
Passan: It’s still the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’re getting healthier, with Shohei Ohtani back on the mound and still hitting more home runs than anyone in the National League. Will Smith is having the quietest .300/.400/.500 season in memory. Freddie Freeman is doing Freddie Freeman things. Andy Pages is playing All-Star-caliber baseball. Even Max Muncy is hitting now. And, yes, the pitching has been a problem, but they’ve got enough depth — and enough minor league depth to use in trades — that they’re bound to find 13 more-than-viable arms to use in October.
Schoenfield: A Tigers-Dodgers showdown would be a classic Original 16 matchup and those always feel a little more special. Although who wouldn’t want to see a rematch of the 1945, 1935, 1908 or 1907 World Series between the Tigers and Cubs? Those were split 2-2, so we need a tiebreaker. But I digress. Yes, the Dodgers are still the team to beat in the NL — especially since we’ve seen the Phillies’ issues on offense, the Cubs’ lack of pitching depth and the Mets’ inconsistency. The Dodgers have injuries to deal with, but there is still time for Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow and everyone else to get back.
One game, season on the line, who would you want on the mound for your team: Tarik Skubal or any other ace in the sport?
Doolittle: I’d go with Skubal by a hair over Zack Wheeler, with Paul Skenes lurking in the three-hole. The way things are going, by the end of the year it might be Jacob Misiorowski, but I’m probably getting ahead of myself. Anyway, Skubal has carried last season’s consistent dominance over and he’s just in that rare zone that great starters reach where you’re surprised when someone actually scores against them. He and Wheeler are tied with the most game scores of 70 or better (18) since the start of last season. Their teams are both 17-1 in those games. It’s a coin flip, but give me Skubal.
Keown: Skubal. There are plenty of other candidates — Wheeler, Fried, Jacob deGrom, and how about some love for Logan Webb? — but I’m all but certain a poll of big league hitters would reveal Skubal as the one they’d least like to face with everything riding on the outcome.
Passan: Give me Skubal. Even if others have the experience and pedigree, I’m going to bet on stuff. And nobody’s stuff — not even Skenes’ — is at Skubal’s level right now. He doesn’t walk anyone. He strikes out everyone. He suppresses home runs. If you could build a pitcher in a lab, he would look a lot like Skubal.
Schoenfield: I’m going with Wheeler, just based on his postseason track record: He has a 2.18 ERA over 70⅓ career innings in October, allowing no runs or one run in five of his 11 career starts. Those are all since 2022, so it’s not like we’re looking at accomplishments from a decade ago. And Wheeler is arguably pitching better than ever, with a career-low OPS allowed and a career-high strikeout rate.
What is Detroit’s biggest weakness that could be exposed in October?
Doolittle: I think elite October-level pitching might expose an overachieving offense. It’s a solid lineup but the team’s leading run producers — Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Zach McKinstry, Baez, etc. — can pile up the whiffs in a hurry. If that happens, this is a team that doesn’t run at all, and that lack of versatility concerns me.
Keown: The Tigers are the odd team that doesn’t have a glaring weakness or an especially glaring strength. They have a lot of really good players but just one great one in Skubal. (We’re keeping a second spot warm for Riley Greene.) They’re managed by someone who knows how to navigate the postseason, and they’ve rolled the confidence they gained with last season’s remarkable playoff run into this season. So take your pick: Any aspect of the game could propel them to a title, and any aspect could be their demise. And no, that doesn’t answer the question.
Passan: The left side of Detroit’s infield is not what one might consider championship-caliber. With Trey Sweeney getting most of the at-bats at shortstop, the Tigers are running out a sub-replacement player on most days. Third base is even worse: Detroit’s third basemen are barely OPSing .600, and while they might have found their answer in McKinstry, relying on a 30-year-old who until this year had never hit is a risky proposition.
Schoenfield: I’m not completely sold on their late-game bullpen — or their bullpen in general. No doubt, Will Vest and changeup specialist Tommy Kahnle have done the job so far, but neither has a dominant strikeout rate for a 2025 closer and overall the Detroit bullpen ranks just 25th in the majors in strikeout rate. How will that play in the postseason against better lineups?
With one month left until the trade deadline, what is the one move the Tigers should make to put themselves over the top?
Doolittle: The big-ticket additions would be a No. 3 or better starting pitcher or a bona fide closer — the same stuff all the contenders would like to add. A lower-profile move that would really help would be to target a shortstop like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, whose bat actually improves what Detroit has gotten from the position just in terms of raw production. But he also adds contact ability, another stolen base threat and a plus glove. For the Tigers to maximize the title chances produced by their great start, they need to think in terms of multiple roster-filling moves, not one big splash.
Keown: Prevailing wisdom says to beef up the bullpen and improve the offense at third base, which would put names like Pete Fairbanks and Nolan Arenado at the top of the list. But the pitching and offense are both top-10 in nearly every meaningful statistic, and I contend there’s an equally good case to be made for the Tigers to go all in on a top-line starting pitcher. Providing Sandy Alcantara a fresh environment would deepen the rotation and lighten the psychic load on Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. (Every word of this becomes moot if the MLB return of 34-year-old KBO vet Dietrich Enns is actually the answer.)
Passan: Bring Eugenio Suarez home. The third baseman, who currently has 25 home runs and is slugging .569, signed with Detroit as an amateur in 2008 and spent five years in the minors before debuting in 2014. That winter, the Tigers traded him to Cincinnati for right-hander Alfredo Simon, who, in his only season in Detroit, posted a 5.05 ERA in 187 innings. Suarez’s power would fit perfectly in the Tigers’ lineup and is robust enough to get over the fence at Comerica Park, one of the largest stadiums in MLB.
Schoenfield: This is the beauty of the Tigers: They can go in any direction. As good as the offense has been, it feels like several of these guys are ripe for regression in the second half: Baez, McKinstry, maybe Torkelson and Gleyber Torres. That group is all way over their 2024 level of production. If those guys fade, an impact bat might be the answer. But is one available? Arenado certainly isn’t an impact bat anymore and might not be traded anyway. Maybe Eugenio Suarez if the Diamondbacks fade. But the likeliest and easiest answer: bullpen help.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike