When the Tigers called up Buddy Kennedy in late April last season, there wasn't all that much to be excited about yet. The Tigers were 11-9 through April 19 — fine, but not great — and already in third place in the AL Central. Tarik Skubal was looking good and there were still reasons to believe Detroit would keep up throughout the long season, but there wasn't anything major to write home about yet.
Kennedy, who the Tigers had picked up on waivers from the Cardinals in the offseason, felt like a breath of fresh air when he picked up just his second major league home run - and a two-run shot, at that - on April 21 to help the Tigers pick up a series win against the Twins (he also had an RBI sac fly earlier that game).