It’s crazy how the Detroit Tigers' clubhouse held so many different personalities in 2026.
Let’s start with Justin Verlander, a true alpha dog who walked into a room and you felt his presence. Always exuding extreme confidence. Verlander was a living legend who pitched for two decades in the big leagues, married a supermodel, earned more than $400 million in his career and had a magical, storybook walk-off moment to end his career.
Then, there was Drew Sommers, a 26-year-old relief pitcher who describes himself as a shy introvert: “I always say that my brain is five years behind my actual age,” he said. “I'm a little on the childish side, I'll admit that.”
He spends his down time collecting Pokémon cards, playing video games and painting miniature
figures. “My most confident point in my life is on that mound,” he said. The mound is his happy place. The place where he feels alive and comfortable and in control. “Off the mound, I'm timid, shy all the time,” he said. “I barely go out. But when I'm on that mound, I am the most confident person I am.”
Interesting, no? How different people can fit into the same game.
But then, something really cool happened. Because baseball has a way of bringing people together. People from different worlds. Different experiences.
And Verlander started giving advice to this young reliever.
“He's given me some advice here and there, good advice,” Sommers said. “Mostly just like situations, what pitch to throw, what pitches to throw in certain situations. A great example was, I can't remember exactly what game it was, but I came into the game with a runner on second and third, a two-outs situation.”
Sommers’ main pitch is his sinker. So, he went to that. But Verlander questioned it. “He told me that in those situations where I'm looking for a strike, I should go with my higher whiff pitch, which right now is the four seam,” Sommers said. “He mentioned, go for the strikeout. Go with the pitch that gets the most whiff.”
Let’s call it the Verlander effect.
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Because his impact on this team is going to last for years.
And now, Sommers has grown confident enough to admit something else. Something that happened to him watching Verlander’s final game. “It was emotional,” Sommers said after watching Verlander exit with his daughter. “I will admit that right now, I got teary from it. Just being able to play as long as he has, having the choice to go out on your terms. It's something special, and not many guys get to do it. Then on top of all that, just having your daughter run out to you for one last time. I couldn't hold back the tears. I’ll admit that now. It was tears of joy.”
In the spirit of all of this truth telling, let me admit something.
I root for Drew Sommers. Because he’s just so genuine, likeable and unique.
How Drew Sommers transformed
Baseball can do something else.
It can change people.
Sometimes, in a seriously cool way.
Because over the last year, Sommers started changing, growing more confident, not just on the baseball field, but in real life. I had several conversations with him over the last few months, and I gotta say, I find him fascinating.
“How would you describe Sommers?” I asked Brant Hurter, another reliever.
He laughed. “You could write a book on that,” he said. “I mean, who even knows? I don't even know how to describe him. He's just – he's just one of one.”
“He described himself as an introvert,” I said, “and then we had a fascinating conversation.”
“He’s the most talkative introvert I've ever met,” Hurter laughed.
Growing from a crash
The Tigers got Sommers in a transaction that didn’t exactly draw much attention.
Sommers was originally selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. The Tigers traded for him on Feb. 12, 2025, sending right‑handed reliever Mason Englert to Tampa Bay in exchange for this big lefty.
Sommers started with Double‑A Erie, was promoted to Triple‑A Toledo and made his MLB debut on Aug. 22, 2025.
Yes, it was a stunning race through the Tigers minor league system.
But it ended with a flop.
He pitched in four games for the Tigers in 2025, giving up six runs in just three innings, allowing seven hits and three walks. He ended the season with an 18.00 ERA. Not exactly the kind of number you want on the back of your baseball card.
“I mean, I can't do any worse than I did last year to be honest – 18 ERA, gave up a bunch of hits, hit a bunch of guys,” he said, leaning back in a chair. “It can't be worse than that, right?”
Upon reflection, he realized he was trying to be too perfect, afraid of making mistakes. But it was something else. “I will admit I didn't feel that confident in myself,” he said.
But he took that experience and grew from it. He went on a strict diet and lost weight. He worked his butt off. “I came back the next spring training, went to Triple-A and just keep working hard,” he said.
He also vowed something else: when he made it back to the big leagues, if he ever did, he would stop thinking. He would just let it rip.
Sommers proved he belongs
After starting the season in Toledo, he got called up to Detroit at the end of May.
And this year, at least in comparison, Sommers was phenomenal. He pitched in 43 games for the Tigers, striking out 62 while walking just 14. He had a 3.63 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP. It was so impressive that Tigers president Scott Harris mentioned Sommers without prompting in his season-ending press conference.
“We are currently growing more back-end relievers,” Harris said on Monday, Sept. 28. “I think Drew Sommers ended up with the fifth-highest punch rate in all of baseball, and he's controllable for a really long time. We're going to grow that type of back-end bullpen that's going to give us more depth.”
He's not just a great success story. He's an example of what the Tigers want to replicate.
Sommers deserves credit for his development of course. For all of his hard work.
But some of the credit should also go to the Tigers pitching department.
“I think this year, he has shown a lot of resilience because he's learning,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said in mid- September. “He's getting thrown into the fire. He's pitching a lot of important innings. He's run into some bad luck, and he's always come back for more. He's a resilient kid, who I think is always trying to prove to himself first where he fits in a bullpen and on this team. He's really been able to develop a lot of confidence in himself, and then in turn, us as a staff have a ton of confidence giving him the ball because we know the work that goes into it.
“It's not just show up and see what happens. There's a lot of work behind the scenes. There's a lot of delivery tweaks, the usage tweaks, the information provided to him where he gets his swing and miss. He starts to realize where he can pitch. I think he expects to get outs now and I think that is a great story to tell the next young reliever who is arguably doubted when he first gets here and learns he belongs.”
So, if I had to name one Tiger who improved the most from 2025 to 2026, the guy who grew in the most significant way, not just on the field but off of it, it’s not really hard.
It’s Drew Sommers.
From being doubted to proving that he belongs.
What a beautiful transformation.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' most improved player is an easy choice
