ATLANTA – It’s only late April, but the Detroit Tigers are facing their toughest test in the Atlanta Braves.
This is an early measuring-stick series.
The Tigers have been hovering around .500 for the first month of the 2026 season, entering Tuesday, April 28, at a 15-14 record with 17.9% of the 162-game schedule in the books.
“It’s not ‘OK’ in April but ‘not OK’ in June, July, August and September,” manager A.J. Hinch said, reflecting on the ups and downs of the first 29 games. “It’s chipping away at a 162-game marathon one game at a time, assessing where you need to put your energy on getting better as a group.”
Despite their record, the Tigers control first place in the American League Central – ahead of the Cleveland Guardians by a half-game, the Minnesota Twins by two games, the Chicago White Sox by three games and the Kansas City Royals by 3½ games. Only the Tigers (plus-10) and the Twins (plus-7) have a positive run differential among the five division rivals.
From 2022-25, the AL Central champion has averaged 90 wins.
That’s how many wins the Tigers could need to win the AL Central for the first time since 2014.
“For me, obviously, I’m paying attention to everything,” Hinch said before Tuesday’s series opener against the Braves at Truist Park. “You got to win as many games as you can. If you can win as many in April, all the better. If you don’t, it doesn’t mean the season is over. But I’ve never met a manager who’s not assessing daily on what you need to do to be better, regardless of the month.”
The next three games will be the toughest yet.
The Braves have a 20-9 record, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most wins among the 30 MLB teams.
The offense has been led by Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin, Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies, all while waiting for superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. and star Austin Riley to heat up, though Acuña still has an 18-game on-base streak. The starting rotation has been anchored by potential Hall of Fame starter Chris Sale, and the bullpen has been carried by veteran closers Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias.
There’s a lot to like about the Braves.
Just ask Hinch.
“They’re a good team. They have really good players,” Hinch said. “This team is not just about one or two players being good. They play winning baseball. They put the ball in play. They do a ton of damage. They have a very versatile pitching staff that can do a lot of different things. They got to love handing the ball to Chris Sale every five days. That’s been very good for them. And they’ve got a deep roster. Their handedness comes to their advantage quite a bit. Their lefties handle lefties in their lineup. They’re always a threat to get back into games if they’ve fallen out of the lead, and they can extend leads with power. I think they’re dynamic. There are plenty of reasons why they lead the league in wins. But I see it as an opportunity to test ourselves against a team who’s found ways to win a lot.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers have early measuring-stick series vs MLB-best Braves
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
