Tigers Today podcast: Alex Avila talks 2026 'pressure' — and his new book
Tony Paul talks to ex-Tiger Alex Avila his new book with Tom Gage: "Your Detroit Tigers: The Great, The Good, and The Neither."
In this edition of the Tigers Today podcast, Tony Paul talks to former Tigers catcher Alex Avila about the high expectations for the 2026 Tigers and they discuss Alex's new book with former News reporter Tom Gage: "Your Detroit Tigers: The Great, The Good, and The Neither. " The book, which be available March 31 , ranks the top 400 Tigers of all-time. Avila ranked 75th overall and the sixth-best catcher in history.
Here are other highlights from the podcast: :00: Varsity Ford of Ann Arbor 4:00: Alex Avila joins the podcast 6:10: Catching new pitchers in spring training 8:10: Justin Verlander to start on Easter 9:40: Avila's first opening day "was a blur" in 2010 15:30: Favored Tigers face a "different kind of pressure" 19:20: Last year's team displayed "fortitude, character" 26:20: World Baseball Classic "a big experiment" 30:30: Should WBC be played in middle of the season? 33:20: Avila would be "shocked" if Kevin McGonigle didn't make the team 36:50: Avila co-authors new book with Tom Gage 40:10: Avila "honored" to be sixth-best catcher in team history Previous podcasts ▶ Adam Graham, Tony Paul draft baseball movie characters ▶ Tigers prospect guru Emily Waldon opens up on her latest cancer battle ▶ MLB Network's Steve Phillips talks Tiger Stadium, outlook for '26, more ▶ Did Scott Harris do enough? 97.
1's Jeff Riger has thoughts ▶ John Keating talks televisino career, ’06 Tigers, and more ▶ Alex Avila on what Justin Verlander reunion means to Tigers ▶ Keith Law talks Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, all things prospects ▶ AJ Hinch joins the show, talks Skubal, prospects and more ▶ Arbitration expert breaks down the Tarik Skubal saga Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers podcast: Alex Avila, Opening Day preview