The Detroit Tigers won their first series of the season against the San Diego Padres and now move on to the next leg of the 2026 campaign-opening road trip at the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, starting on Monday night.
So far, in an obviously limited sample size, AJ Hinch’s team is in the lower half of the MLB offensive standings, ranking 23rd in batting average (.202), 16th in on-base percentage (.319), 29th in slugging (.263) and 23rd in OPS (.582).
On the flip side, the Motor City Kitties are
among the best when it comes to pitching, ranking second in ERA (1.38), eighth in WHIP (1.12) and ninth in batting average against (.204). The team’s performance on the mound is not too surprising, given that it was clearly a strength coming in.
The fourth man in the rotation this year for the Tigers is none other than future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, who takes the mound on Monday wearing the Olde English D for the first time since 2017. Opposite him is Michael Soroka, who left the Chicago Cubs for the desert as a free agent this past offseason.
Here is a look at how they match up in Game 1 of the series.
Detroit Tigers (2-1) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (0-3)
Time (ET): 10:10 p.m. ET
Place: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
SB Nation Site: AZ Snake Pit
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 4: RHP Justin Verlander (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Soroka (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
* Note: Stats in the table below are Fangraphs’ 2026 projections
VERLANDER
SOROKA
