Motor City Kitties

“The blade that was broken shall return to Minas Tirith”. The Monarch from Old Dominion is back. Justin Verlander is coming home. 

Yes, Verlander is 42 years old. Yes, he is not the same MVP caliber player that led the Tigs to their best seasons since the 80’s. And yes, I am in love with the signing. 

Verlander posted a 3.85 ERA with 137 strikeouts last year with the Giants of San Francisco. But there has been some notable improvement over the last few years. Verlander started in 29 games in 2025, his highest since 2019. The 152 innings pitched made him a pretty decent starter in the Giants’ rotation, and the guy has playoff experience galore. With Reese Olsen now out for the year, which was a pretty brutal loss, Verlandner can now insert himself snugly into the Tigers’ rotation.

Verlander’s signature 4 seam fastball up still rakes, and while it’s not nearly used as much by him as previous years, it still takes up roughly 45% of his pitches, which is probably why his average exit velocity is the way that it is. Faster balls = harder contact. However that sweeper, which he only pulls out about 8% of the time, has a .053 BA against it. Not even Skubal has a pitch that is that deadly against hitters that chase. 

Now obviously, the man is turning 43 in eight days. There will most likely be some digression. But if we get a clean season, he might be the best three or four in the league based on experience alone. With 266 career wins, I would do anything to see him reach 300, but it might not be in the cards. But who knows, Satchel Paige pitched until he was like 60. 

So with Verlander making his retirement tour, and hopefully playing some quality baseball in 2025, the Tigers’ rotation is looking more and more terrifying by the day. Skubal, Valdez, Flaherty, Mize, and now JV mark what might be the best rotation in the AL. Now the only question is the offense. 

Harris apparently thinks the hits will come from within, which explains why he’s not making any big changes to the lineup this offseason. Riles is our star, we got Torres back, Meadows will break out, and with Clark and McGonigle waiting in the wings, the future seems bright, even if Skubs leaves. 

So overall, I mainly just wanted to touch on Verlander, but seeing as we have another injury to deal with, the rotation segment will probably be next week. 

I STILL BELIEVE IN TORK.

Los Lions

The hard thing in the offseason is that not everyone can stay. And with so much talent on offense and defense, we’re going to have to lose a few people this year. So this segment is going to be mainly bad news, but these are just predictions as to who will leave the Lions this offseason.

Alex Anzalone – It brings me a lot of sadness to have to see Anzalone go, but I think he’s gone. We’ve been in contract disputes with him for a while, and I think he’s just going to cost too much to keep. I love Anzalone, but it’s clear he is no longer the best linebacker on our team, with Jack Campbell boasting career highs in most categories, and Anzalone digressing. It’s Campbell’s defense now. And with Rodriguez coming back, I think we’re mainly focused on having the depth step up. I would love to see him retire as a Lion, but he’s getting old. One of the beating hearts of the defense will have to be passed on. 

David Montgomery – If Anzalone’s departure brings a tear to my eye, then Monty’s will bring a flood. Although he’s not a free agent, he’s still getting thrown around in trade rumors. The back half to the best running game in the NFL, Monty was the nose-to-the-grindstone run it straight down your throat power back, while still being pretty elusive. Monty started a total of 0 games this year, particularly because of the split backfield, but his role was diminished a tad within the offense this year. Granted, the O-line wasn’t as great and I think we can all agree that Gibbs is just better, but he was still a quintessential role within the Lions. His contract has him locked up until 2027, but with a career low 716 rushing yards and cryptic social media posts, he’s getting thrown around in a lot of trade rumors. I sadly think he leaves us, but at least we can get a good haul out of it. 

DJ Reader – Nope. No chance. I want him out. 32 years old, the D-Lineman totaled a whopping zero sacks and four QB hits in 2025. His tackle numbers were fine, but he’s getting old, and I think I’d rather just start fresh with someone else rather than hope there’s any chance of improvement. Not a priority to sign “The Librarian”.

Kalif Raymond – Man, I love Kalif. Our de-facto returner and former WR3, I think he just gets flat out replaced by TeSlaa in the wide receiver core, but he will be missed returning punts. Although this departure may open the door for Tom “The White Cheetah” Kennedy as our main returner, who I’m extremely fond of. Kalif still will be missed, and I hope he excels elsewhere, unless it’s Green Bay. I just don’t think we can afford to keep him.

Levi Onwizirke and Marcus Davenport – I decided to group these two together just because they fall under the same category of underperforming defensive linemen I don’t want to keep. They had a combined 2.5 sacks this year, and with Davenport turning 30 and Onwizirke just underperforming since his injury, I can’t say we’ll drop both, given the fact that three of our four D-Linemen would be leaving, but one of them is gone for sure.

I don’t really want any of these guys back, except for Monty and Anzalone, but knowing Brad, he’ll probably keep one or two. There are obviously many more free agents, but these are the main ones I wanted to cover, and the ones I think will be departing.

Happy that Darnold got the job done.

The ‘Stons

Bad. Boys. Are. Back. 

In case you missed it, the Pistons trip to Charlotte to face off against the white hot Hornets ended in a full-on brawl, one that we haven’t seen in years. 

Basically Duren got in Moussa Diabate’s face, causing a bit of a scuffle that caused Diabate to swing on Duren. Miles Bridges, another Hornet, tried to join the scrap, but JD was kind of pushed off to the side to avoid Bridges getting knocked out. Diabate then tried to swing on Duren again, causing another break up.

So that’s where it ends. Just kidding, Isaiah Stewart then comes out of nowhere and boxes with Bridges for a few seconds before all four players got thrown out of the game. 

Paul Reed came in and lit it up, helping lead the Pistons past the Hornets, who had, up to that point, won nine in a row. 

So what does this say about us? Well, besides being the most physically imposing team in the NBA, we are a force to be reckoned with, not just in basketball. Donning the previous identity of the late 80’s and early 90’s Bad Boy Pistons, I think it just speaks to how hard we play, and how hard we are to beat.

We’ll punish you down low, we’ll kick it out up top, there are too many avenues for us on offense, and clearly on defense as well.

With one of the best center rotations in the NBA, Duren and Stew came alive for each other, which also speaks to the culture in the locker room that JB has created. Our guys will fight and die for each other out there, and you just love to see it. I can’t express enough how impressive it is to have this large of a turnaround in this short of a time.

Pistons are back, we’re getting that 1 seed, and I would kill for a first round matchup with Charlotte.

“You expect me to stay on the bench? The f*** was I drafted in Detroit for?” – Beef Stew.

Chills. Literal chills.

JD and Cade are both all-stars by the way, no surprise there.

Wings, Red

Didn’t really know what to do this week for the Olympic break, so why not discuss the Olympic break? Team USA is loaded this year and could very well make a bid to win it all. However, some other countries stand in their way. So if you’re a hockey fanatic, or just excited for a moral way to root for the US, here are the three and a half Red Wings you can find at this Olympics.

Dylan Larkin – Team USA. Should have gotten captain. Still bitter about that, but Auston Matthews is still really good, even if his stats this year don’t back it up as much. Larkin headlines one of the many seasoned vets for this USA squad, and off of a very impressive performance in last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, will be lethal to any skater in his path. Larkin is still really fast. And while the main concern for the Wings over the years is that they lack a certified #2 on offense, Larkin can now be like the #5. Which, given his immense talent, gives him a lot of room to shine with the best players in the world surrounding him. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had a goal or two.

Moritz Seider – Team Germany. Mo got named to an alternate captain, with the German Doctor Leon Draisaitl being captain, as he should be. But I’m still happy that Mo got a captain-y role in the team, because he deserves it. The kid is one of the top defensemen in the league, and probably the best on Germany. Germany is a tough squad, not only do they have some of the best coaching in the Olympics, but any team with Leon Draisaitl is scary to play against. The US faces off against the Germans in the third and final group stage match, and I think we’ll win, but it will definitely be the hardest of the three.

Lucas Raymond – Team Sweden. The Swedes also have an extremely tough squad, with an impeccable goalie rotation and some quality defensemen, but the real threat is that offense. They just have so many big names to watch out for. Nylander, Kempe, Pettersson, Eriksson and Raymond are only a few, but with how deadly Raymond is in open space, he should get a lot of good looks with his squad. Wouldn’t be surprised if the US saw them in the playoffs, and that would be a scary matchup for us.

Simon Edvinsson – Team Sweden (kinda). Huge disclaimer: Edvinsson is not on Team Sweden. But if not for the lower back injury, he would have been. I just want to throw the prediction that he’s an alternate captain in a few years with this squad, because the sky is the limit with Edvinsson. He was also dynamite when he was in the World Junior Olympics with Sweden awhile back, so he’s got experience with the squad and the coaching staff, and I think he’s going to be really good for the Swedes in the future. He’ll be there in spirit.

Go USA! (in the Olympics).