Despite all the winning the Detroit Tigers have done over the past two months, deep down inside I really did not think that they stood a chance against the Houston Astros in the Wild Card series. I thought they could win the game that future Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal pitched, but after that I thought it would be an uphill battle. Myself and many others were wrong, because the Tigers continue to beat the odds and play winning baseball, just like they’ve done the past few months.
To understand the Tigers run, you have to go back to the July 30 trade deadline. After being shutout 5-0 to the Cleveland Guardians earlier in the day to move the Tigers record to 52-57, the Tigers second best pitcher, Jack Flaherty, was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers for catching prospect Thayron Liranzo, and shortstop prospect Trey Sweeney.
The Flaherty trade felt like the dagger in the Tigers’ season. To lose a starting pitcher who had an ERA under three, felt like the beginning of the end. On July 30, the Tigers playoff odds dropped to 1.3% according to baseball website Fangraphs
Between Aug. 4-9, the Tigers lost the lead in the ninth inning three times in five games, talk about another gut punch to the season. On Aug. 10, the Tigers playoff odds dropped to 0.2% according to Fangraphs after the team’s record fell to 55-63. The Tigers were 10 games behind the Royals with little time left.
The one bright spot for the Tigers was the schedule did get a little bit easier as the season went on, after sweeping the Mariners and beating the Yankees in a series, which included a walk-off hit in the Little League World Series game, the Tigers had momentum. A rough series in Wrigley was made up for by a sweep against the lowly White Sox to bring the Tigers record to an even .500 on Aug. 26 with a record of 66-66.
After beating the Red Sox in an important series, the Tigers took on the San Diego Padres, who were red-hot entering the series. I believe this series had the moment where everything changed for the Tigers, despite them losing two of three games.
Top of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs, rookie Parker Meadows at the plate, three rookies on base, a closer with an era of 1.93 on the mound, and a full count. After seeing five straight fastballs over 100 mph, Meadows drilled the sixth one over the wall in left field to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. No other moment in the season quite defined the second half Tigers like the Meadows home run against San Diego.
The Tigers didn’t stop winning, beating the Athletics in a series, the Rockies and the Orioles. Entering their series against the Royals on Sept. 16, the Tigers were only 2.5 games behind the Twins, and five games behind Kansas City. With their season potentially on the line, the Tigers went into Kansas City and swept them, to officially tie the Twins record.
The Tigers beat the Orioles in a series once again and now controlled their own destiny with six games left in the season. In his last start of the season, Skubal delivered a pitching gem, going seven innings and allowing just two hits and no earned runs to give the Tigers the win, pushing their record to an astonishing 83-74.
After beating the Rays 7-1 in game two of the series, the Tigers showed their grit, coming back in the eighth inning to steal a win from Tampa to give the Tigers a much needed sweep.
Heading into the final three games, the Tigers needed to win just one game against arguably the worst team in baseball history, the Chicago White Sox. 44,435 Tiger fans were packed into Comerica Park in downtown Detroit to watch the Tigers potentially clinch a playoff Spot for the first time in 10 years.
With everybody on their feet, closer Jason Foley delivered a 97 mph sinker to White Sox designated hitter Andrew Vaughn, who hit a fly ball to right fielder Wenceel Perez to end the game. It was official, the Tigers were headed to the postseason.
“Go Get ‘Em Tigers” from the 1968 World Series blasted through the speakers of Comerica Park as the players celebrated on the field, the moment felt surreal. From 0.2% on Aug. 10, to clinching a postseason with two games left to spare, how did they end up here? On the 28-man roster in September, 12 of the players were rookies.
A large part of the Tigers’ thanks has to be sent toward the Minnesota Twins, who had a monumental second half collapse, including a 13-inning loss to the Marlins, who gave up on their season in April. But, not all of it was because of the Twins, the Tigers did not end the season 31-13 by a fluke, there was something else.
Because I am not in the Tigers’ clubhouse nor am I manager A.J. Hinch, I do not have the exact answer of how they pulled this off. But, my guess as to how they pulled this off boils down to the Tigers simply having too many young guys on the team for them to understand pressure. A lot of the players on the team have nothing to lose, as a majority of them were in the minor leagues at some point in the season. Not once did the Tigers look like they folded under pressure. Even if they lost a game, they’d get right back up the next day and win.
According to OptaStats, the Tigers were the first MLB team ever to make the playoffs in a 162-game season with no players with 150+ hits, no players with 75+ RBI, no players with 25+ home runs, and no players with 25+ stolen bases. Also according to OptaStats, the 1973 New York Mets were the only other MLB team to make the playoffs in a non-shortened season after being 8+ games under .500 in August. These are the stats that verify that the Tigers really are defining the odds.
The odds continued to be defied when the Tigers took on the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card round. For those unaware, the postseason Astros are a lot different than the regular season Astros, and the regular season Astros are no joke either. Dating back to 2017, the Astros had made seven straight Championship Series appearances.
Heading into the series against Hinch’s old squad, Houston had 581 games of postseason experience on their roster, the Tigers had 12, all of which belonged to Matt Vierling who played on the 2022 Phillies.
But, with Skubal on the mound for game one, it gave the Tigers their best chance to win. Skubal lived up to the expectations, throwing six shutout frames in a 3-1 victory for the Tigers who were now just one win away from advancing to the divisional series.
Before the series Hinch said the pitching plan was, “Tarik Skubal tomorrow and pitching chaos the rest of the way.” Game two was the “chaos” Hinch was referring to, where the Tigers would keep rotating pitchers to give them the best chance of winning. After a homerun by Meadows in top of the sixth to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead, Detroit turned to top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe, who came into the game with four innings of MLB experience. It went as expected, Jobe gave up two earned runs and the Tigers trailed heading into the eighth inning.
After a wild pitch scored Kerry Carpenter, the Astros turned to their big reliever signing, Josh Hader. After a walk to Spencer Torkelson to load the bases, second baseman Andy Ibanez pinch hit for the Tigers. On 1-2 count with the bases loaded and two outs, Ibanez smacked the ball into the left fielder corner, clearing the bases and giving the Tigers a 5-2 lead, arguably the most important and iconic Tigers hit in the last decade.
That was all the Tigers needed, sweeping the Astros to end their ALCS streak. The combined salary of the Tigers playoff roster comes out to $18.8 million per year. Hader, who let in the runs to the Tigers, makes $19 million per year. I don’t think it was their intention, but the Tigers are playing Oakland A’s moneyball here, and it’s working.
Before the series against Houston, I was firmly in the “just happy to be here” crowd. But, after beating the Astros, I’ll have to change my stance to the “let’s win the pennant” crowd, which if that happens it means I’ll be in the “we’re winning the World Series” crowd.
The Tigers will take on their division rivals in the Cleveland Guardians for a chance to go to the ALCS. The Tigers went 6-7 against Cleveland in the regular season, but Detroit did not face Cleveland after Aug. 10. The cities separated by just about 170 miles and years of history, will face off in the postseason for the first time ever. On the other side of the bracket for the American League is the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals.
Even if this is the end of the road for the Tigers, it’s been a season to remember. It’s been a season that revived a franchise that has looked to be a shell of its old self for the past decade, a season that brought hope for the future. But, the story isn’t done yet, and there’s still plenty of ball to be played. The Tigers have shown there’s no quit in the team, and I don’t expect them to change that against Cleveland.
