Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers 2016 Player of the Year: Justin Verlander

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Detroit Tigers finished in second place in the AL Central, just missing a playoff berth, and their ace starting pitcher is their 2016 Player of the Year.

For the Detroit Tigers, the 2016 season was one of near misses. The club finished at 86-75, and fell a bit short in both the AL Central and American League Wild Card playoff races. In the division, the Tigers were as close as just two games out as late as the start of August. They were still just 4.5 games back in early September.

But an 11-13 finish doomed the club. They finished eight games behind the eventual AL champion Cleveland Indians in the division race, just 2.5 back of the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays for a Wild Card berth.

The leader of the offensive attack was, as usual, first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Miggy hit for a .316/.393/.563 slash line with 38 home runs, 31 doubles, 108 RBI, and 92 runs scored.

The surefire future Hall of Famer made his seventh straight AL All-Star team, his 11th overall MLB All-Star nod. He also won his seventh career Silver Slugger Award.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler hit .288 with 28 homers, 29 doubles, 83 RBI, 14 steals, and a team-high 117 runs scored. He led the club’s position players with a 6.1 WAR mark, and was just awarded his first career Gold Glove Award.

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Cameron Maybin was traded away to the Los Angeles Angels just two weeks ago. Before leaving, the center fielder put together a .315 average and .383 on-base percentage with 43 RBI, 65 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases in just 391 plate appearances after missing the first month and a half of the season.

Injury kept right fielder J.D. Martinez out of the lineup from mid-June and all of July. He put together a .307/.373/.535 season with 22 homers, 68 RBI, 69 runs scored and a team-high 35 doubles in just 120 games.

Veteran DH Victor Martinez produced another strong season at age 37, hitting for a .289/.351/.476 slash line with 27 homers and 86 RBI.

In the Tigers rotation, Michael Fulmer was named the AL Rookie of the Year. He went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.119 WHIP, allowing just 136 hits over 159 innings with a 132/42 K:BB ratio.

Leading the way in the bullpen was 34-year-old closer Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod recorded 44 saves with a 3.24 ERA and 1.131 WHIP over 61 games. He allowed 45 hits in 58.1 innings, and struck out 52 batters.

But the search for this season’s top player on the Tigers stops at their longtime pitching ace. Justin Verlander was a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award, which would have been his second career honors. He won back in 2011, when he was also the AL MVP.

Verlander went 16-9 with a 3.04 ERA and a league-leading 1.001 WHIP. He allowed just 171 hits over 227.1 innings with an AL-best 254 strikeouts over his 34 starts. He allowed three runs or fewer in 17 of his last 18 outings.

Just one week ago, Verlander was selected by the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America as the Tiger of the Year for the third time in his career.

Fulmer credited Verlander with much of his success during the former’s Rookie of the Year campaign. In winning the honors, Fulmer became the first Tiger to take the AL ROY since Verlander did it back in 2006.

“He basically brought me back to his rookie year and told me everything he wished he would have done,” said Fulmer per Anthony Fenech at Detroit Free Press. “He was an open book. I had a ton of questions and he answered every single one of them.”

It was another strong season in what is now a 12-year big league career for Verlander, who turns 34 years old in Spring Training. It will be hard for him to top this season in which he is the Detroit Tigers 2016 Player of the Year.