The State of Detroit Sports Teams: 2022 year-in-review

 

    As the year comes to an end, I think it is only fair that we take a look back at the 2022 year for our beloved Detroit sports teams. 2022 has been an up-and-down year to say the least. That includes these young, inexperience Detroit teams. With that being said, let's dive right in and get started.

Detroit Tigers: Injury Bug and Disappointments

    The hopes for this 2022 Detroit Tigers team were high going into the season as the offseason prior to the start of the year was the busiest for the franchise in quite a few years. The most notable of moves were the trades made for both Tucker Barnhart, the Red's gold-glove catcher, and Austin Meadows, the young Ray's slugging outfielder and the signings of all-star shortstop Javier Baez and stud-pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. With these offseason additions along with the promising young talent the Tigers had coming into the season, such as Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, these Tigers seems to be on a collision course with becoming one of the best young, talented teams in the Major Leagues. However, as we know this would not be the case. The Tigers would finish 66-96, good for fourth in the A.L. Central. We would see struggles all season, from Spencer Torkelson basically forgetting how to hit a baseball, to having 17 different pitchers starting ball games for the club this year as our entire pitching staff seemed to deal with injuries all season. Akil Baddoo would have a bad year after finishing last season as one of the most talked-about young players on the Tigers. Javier Baez had a down season and at one point the 39-year old Miguel Cabrera was the best hitter on the team again. There were two bright spots that came out of this disappointing season, Riley Greene emerged as a defensive force in centerfield and Tarik Skubal solidified his position as a top young pitching talent. 2023 will be an interesting season for the Tigers as they have already signed Matt Boyd to a one-year deal after having traded him before the 2022 season, Spencer Turnbull should be returning from Tommy John surgery after missing the entire 2022 season and they signed Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal to bolster the pitching for this young team. A potential starting rotation of Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Boyd, Michael Lorenzen, Matt Manning and Spencer Turnbull, with both Skubal and Mize starting the season on the IL, the pitching for this team looks promising, the hitting leaves a little to be desired, but I expect the Tigers to either improve by 5-10 games or to finish the same as they did in 2022, in 2023.

Detroit Pistons: Young and Hungry

    The Detroit Pistons have a lot to look forward to in the next 3-5 years with their average age on this team being the fourth youngest in the league at 24.7 years old. However the Pistons finished an abysmal 2021-22 campaign at 23-59, 14th in the Eastern conference. The 21-22 campaign would have some promising outcomes as Cade Cunningham and Sadiq Bey would prove to be the future cornerstones in this franchise for the foreseeable future.  As the 2022 offseason rolled around, Troy Weaver would begin making moves as he was apart of a four-team trade between the Pistons, Bucks, Clippers and Kings, where the Pistons would trade away Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and a 2023 and 2024 second-round picks, and received Marvin Bagley III, a 23 year old big man. The next big move made by Weaver was to trade star player Jerami Grant and the 46th 2022 draft pick to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for the 36th pick in the 2022 draft, along with a 2025 first-round pick via Milwaukee, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 second round pick. Weaver was not done yet as he jumped in on a three-team trade with the Hornets and Knicks. The trade would play out as follows:

• Knicks Receive:
• Conditional 2025 1st round-pick from the Pistons (via Milwaukee)
• Pistons Receive:
• 2022 draft rights to Jalen Duren (via Charlotte)
• Kemba Walker (via New York)
• Hornets Receive:
• 2023 first-round pick (from Denver via Oklahoma City and New York)
• 2023 second-round pick (via New York)
• 2023 second-round pick (via Utah)
• 2023 second-round pick (most favorable of Dallas/Miami)
• 2024 second-round pick (via New York)

    This was huge for the Pistons as they already used their 5th overall pick to draft guard Jaden Ivey from Purdue, they were able to get big man Jalen Duren as well. Weaver would make one final splash before the season as he traded Saben Lee and Kelly Olynyk to the Jazz in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic. The Pistons have not gotten off to a good start this year, as Cade Cunningham will be out for the season due to having season ending surgery to fix an injury sustained early in the season. However this season turns out, the future is bright for the Pistons.

Detroit Lions: Question Marks

    Let's set the record straight, the Lions franchise has been horrible for 65 years, winning just one playoff game in that time frame, in 1991. I do not blame this on any of the players we have had over the years, obviously having arguably the best running back and wide receiver ever in Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, I do not blame it on the coaching staffs we have had, I don't even blame it on the general managers we've had in the front office. The number one enemy of the Lions has been the ownership, the Fords. The only thing that the Fords have been concerned with is making money, and the sad part is, this fanbase is so loyal that they continue to pay their hard earned money to watch these teams. Okay, tangent aside, this team has had many questions marks throughout this season. Is Dan Campbell the coach we need? Is Jared Goff the quarterback for the foreseeable future? Can this young team be good fast enough?

    The Lions finished the 2021-22 campaign at 3-13-1 good for 4th in the NFC north division. This was expected a bit after Dan Campbell taking over what was a horrible crop of talent from the Quintricia years. The hopes were high going into the 2022 draft where the Lions had 8 picks, including 2 first round picks, their own and the Rams from the Matthew Stafford Trade. The Lions and new GM Brad Holmes used those picks to draft as follows:

• Round 1, Pick 2 - EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
• Round 1, Pick 12 - WR Jameson Williams, Alabama
• Round 2, Pick 46 - EDGE Josh Paschal, Kentucky
• Round 3, Pick 97 - S Kerby Joseph, Illinois
• Round 5, Pick 177 - TE James Mitchell, Virginia Tech
• Round 6, Pick 188 - LB Malcom Rodriguez, Oklahoma State
• Round 6, Pick 217 - EDGE James Houston, Jackson State
• Round 7, Pick 237 - CB Chase Lucas, Arizona State

    We are currently in Week 15 of the 2022-23 season, and after going 1-6 in the first 7 games of the season, they have managed to go 5-1 in the last 6, and every single one of these rookies have made an impact in one way or another in the course of this season. This has to be the best draft the Lions have had in the history of the team. Brad Holmes has proved he truly is the draft guru everyone was saying he was when he was with the Rams front office. They have a matchup with a tough Jets team that has been a shock this year as well this Sunday. The Lions have shown much improvement in the last 6 games and could ride this wave of momentum to a wild card playoff birth. Watch out for this team in the coming years.

Detroit Red Wings: More Detroit Youth

    The Red Wings have been somewhat of a disappointment in recent years compared to the 1990's and 2000's teams that made the playoffs every year for 25 years straight from the 1990-91 season to the 2015-16 season. Since then the Red Wings have not had a winning season, let alone a playoff birth. However, I think they are finally finding the right pieces, between players, coaches, and front office staff. The ownership has brought in a Detroit Red Wings legend to be their general manager in Steve Yzerman. Since 2019 when Yzerman has taken over, there has been a major over hall to this team. Steve Yzerman has brought in a lot of young talent to this team with the average age being 26 years old. Some of the notable young players he has brought in including 2021 rookie of the year Moritz Seider, Elmer Soderblom, and Lucas Raymond. These player have made an impact alongside veteran players Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. This Red Wings team has been fun to watch at the start of this season, but have hit a skid as of late. I think this team could be fun to watch for the next few years.

    Overall the state of Detroit sports is currently hitting its turn around and is back on the rise with each team being fun to watch, at the very least. I am excited to see where these teams go in the coming years. Stay tuned as I am sure I'll be watching and covering them for the foreseeable future.