It has been a weird season for Detroit Tigers leadoff hitters.
When Jahmai Jones hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning of Sunday’s 8-4 loss against the Cincinnati Reds, he provided something that has been a challenge for the Tigers this season: production from the leadoff position.
As a team, the Tigers have a top-10 offense in baseball by many metrics, standing ninth in MLB with a .732 OPS through Sunday’s games. But the leadoff spot is dragging that number down, with Tigers leadoff hitters 21st in the league with a .702 OPS.
The right-handed Jones, who is 8-for-14 over eight games with Detroit, got the start leading off against Reds’ lefty Wade Miley on Sunday. According to Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, he’ll get a couple more opportunities to lead off in the upcoming series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Pirates scheduled to throw lefties on Tuesday (Bailey Falter) and Wednesday (Andrew Heaney).
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“He’s a threat against lefties,” Hinch said. “He brings a lot of energy, and he’ll continue to get that opportunity.”
Jones has started three games from the leadoff position in 2025, twice in a series against the Baltimore Orioles (against lefties Cade Povich and Keegan Akin). He said he feels comfortable leading off and doesn’t think too much about where he’s batting in the order.
“The at-bats are the same,” he said. “Whether I’m leading off or hitting nine, the job is still the same. Whatever the team needs and whatever (Hinch) thinks is going to help us win the most that day.”
Hinch, who his peers consider “one of the best managers in the game,” has had to execute creative gameplans throughout his tenure in Detroit, most notably with the string of “pitching chaos” from a resurgent 2024 season.
And now that creativity is extending to the team’s leadoff position.
Tigers leadoff hitter options
The Tigers have started eight different players in the leadoff position in 2025: Kerry Carpenter (30 starts), Justyn-Henry Malloy (16), Gleyber Torres (10), Parker Meadows (eight), Zach McKinstry (four), Jones (three), Andy Ibanez (1) and Matt Vierling (1).
With a catcher, that lineup could fill out a full defense.
The eight different starting leadoff hitters the Tigers have featured in 2025 is the same number as the team started all of last season, and tied for the second-most of all MLB teams in 2025 behind the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates (nine).
Matt Vierling got the most starts at the leadoff position for the Tigers in 2024 (50), with Parker Meadows second at 36 games. But with both players missing significant time this season due to injury, the Tigers have pivoted to a carousel of batters at the top of the order.
Carpenter has the most starts as a leadoff hitter for the Tigers this year, smacking five home runs and 11 RBIs from that spot in the order. But he has been more successful elsewhere in the lineup, batting 1.066 in 51 plate appearances in the No. 2 spot compared to .727 in 134 plate appearances in the No. 1 spot, often as a designated hitter.
In a way, the Tigers’ leadoff hitter predicament is emblematic of league trends.
Traditionally, the leadoff position was reserved for a speedy player, often a center fielder or middle infielder, and almost never for a power-hitting DH like Carpenter. But the Tigers have led off with a designated hitter 30 times this season, mostly with Carpenter, third most in the league through Sunday’s games.
The team with the most number of games, through Sunday, leading off with a DH in 2025, 72, is the Los Angeles Dodgers with reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani. Fittingly, the Dodgers also have the highest OPS (1.040) from the leadoff position in MLB, more than 100 points higher than second-place Arizona (.906, with Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte taking most of the leadoff plate appearances).
It’s been an active season at the top of the order for the Tigers. But how much does that matter for a team with World Series aspirations?
‘We’re just trying to beat the team we’re playing’
When asked about his team’s different looks at the leadoff position after Sunday’s game, Hinch didn’t go into specifics about strategy or team philosophy.
“We’re just trying to beat the team we’re playing,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll put some pressure on them from the get-go, either at the beginning of the game or when the lineup rolls around.”
While it’s not clear how much the Tigers have been strategizing about the top of their lineup, the offense has found success overall with so many different looks at the top.
With relatively few offseason offensive additions (the big one being Torres), the Tigers have raised their team OPS from .685 in 2024 (24th in MLB) to .732 so far in 2025 (ninth). They’re hitting more home runs per game, striking out less and walking more, in part thanks to resurgent seasons from Javier Báez and Spencer Torkelson — two players who have not led off a game for the Tigers this season.
So while the Tigers still have room for improvement at the top of the lineup, it may not be a serious focus for a team that still has the best record in baseball (46-27). And with no indication that any player will soon crystallize in the leadoff role, the different looks at the top of the lineup may continue throughout the summer in Detroit.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers have a glaring weakness in their batting order. What’s the fix?
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
