DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers are going back to the playoffs.
Six weeks ago, this team wasn’t even an afterthought in the race. The Tigers weren’t on anyone’s mind at all.
When fans woke up on Aug. 11, their Tigers had a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs. They were eight games below .500.
Let’s be honest: Even the front office didn’t think this team could make a run. That’s why they traded Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers and a trio of other contributors to Texas and San Francisco at the deadline.
But their skepticism was justified, because teams simply don’t come back from 10 games out of the playoff race in the middle of August. It’s inconceivable. Impossible.
Not for these Tigers.
As recently as Aug. 23, Detroit had playoff odds below 1% -- it was below 10% just 12 days ago.
But the Tigers have done nothing but win over the past 40 games. More specifically, they’re an unfathomable 31-11 since Aug. 10.
This impossible, magical run reached a crescendo on Friday night at Comerica Park, when a sold-out crowd watched the Tigers clinch a playoff spot for the first time in a decade.
The Tigers beat the White Sox to improve to 86-74 and ensure that, at the very least, they will have the third and final wild card spot.
There’s still a chance to finish with an even better seed, but either way, the Tigers are in, and that’s what matters.
Electric Friday night at Comerica Park
Playoff race baseball returned to Detroit this week, and Tigers fans did not disappoint.
Friday night was the first chance to clinch, and Comerica Park was sold out by early afternoon. The Tigers even sold standing room only tickets for $75 each, and the railings in the outfield were lined with those who took advantage.
Garrett Crochet kept the Tigers off the board for four innings, but as soon as he got pulled, the flood gates opened.
Detroit scored a pair of runs in the fifth on a wild pitch and a sac fly. Chicago pulled within a run in the top of the sixth, but then Riley Greene doubled off the wall in dead center to make it 3-1, and another wild pitch made it 4-1.
It’s only fitting that the Tigers clinched on a bullpen day. Brenan Hanifee threw two scoreless innings and turned it over to Brant Hurter who allowed just two hits and one run in four innings.
Will Vest fired a scoreless seventh and got two more outs in the eighth. Tyler Holton got the Tigers within one out of the win, and Jason Foley slammed the door.
The game ended with Wenceel Perez squeezing the final out despite a mini collision with Parker Meadows.
10 years of struggles
Tigers fans deserve this.
The last 10 years have been tough to watch. It’s not just that the Tigers were tied for the longest playoff drought in baseball -- it’s that seven straight summers came and went without even a glimmer of hope.
After 2016, the Tigers went seven years without a winning record, and there was never a hint of a playoff race. They finished between 16 and 53.5 games out of first place between 2018 and 2022, excluding the COVID season, when they managed to finish 12 back in a 60-game season.
Then, when A.J. Hinch arrived, the seasons improved, but they still didn’t come with any meaningful games.
The Tigers got off to a 9-24 start in 2021. They were 9-23 the following season. They actually hovered around .500 early in 2023 before a 2-13 stretch ended the season in mid-June.
First half of this season
The beat went on for most of 2024. The Tigers carried a winning record into the first week of June but then fell as many as nine games below .500 in July.
There was some excitement when they won eight of their last 10 games before the All-Star break, but that quickly evaporated during a 3-9 stretch that dropped them to 55-63 from July 28 to Aug. 10.
You know what else happened during that stretch? The trade deadline. Scott Harris sent Flaherty to the Dodgers, Mark Canha to the Giants, and Andrew Chafin and Carson Kelly to the Rangers.
It feels like years ago that Canha and Flaherty and Kelly were playing for the Tigers. Because the group of players responsible for this current run are unrecognizable.
Before the trade deadline, the lineup featured veterans like Canha, Kelly, Gio Urshela, and Javier Baez. We saw cameos from the likes of Akil Baddoo, Ryan Vilade, Ryan Kreidler, and Bligh Madris.
The Tigers were struggling to score runs and, frankly, struggling to keep fans interested. They badly needed a reset.
Offensive overhaul
If you stopped watching the Tigers when they were no longer on Bally Sports Detroit in May, and then tuned back in when they reached a deal heading into August, you might have asked yourself whether it was even the same season.
In the span of two weeks -- from Aug. 3 to Aug. 18 -- the Tigers inserted six key pieces into their lineup.
Parker Meadows
The first was, in my opinion, the most important. After spending 47 games at Triple-A and then another month on the injured list, Meadows returned for good on Aug. 3.
I’m sure you’ve heard the stat by now, but in case you haven’t: The Tigers are 54-26 in games Meadows played in this season. That’s not a coincidence, either. He might be the most valuable player on the roster (not named Tarik Skubal).
Meadows is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. He’s got excellent range, a strong arm, and elite speed. Those tools were never in question. The Tigers just needed to know if he could hit.
For as much as he struggled, the Tigers gave Meadows a really long leash over the first month. He didn’t get demoted until his average fell to .096 (7-for-73) with only four extra-base hits on May 6.
Meadows went to Triple-A and got to work. He hit .298 with a .904 OPS, 21 extra-base hits, and 19 steals over 47 games.
But when he returned to the MLB roster on July 5, Meadows made it just three games before going on the injured list for nearly a month.
His return was worth the wait. Meadows brought that elite speed and defense back to the lineup immediately, but he also began to rake.
In 44 games since rejoining the Tigers on Aug. 3, Meadows is slashing .297/.340/.514 with 10 doubles, five triples, six homers, and five steals. He’s only striking out in 20.6% of his at-bats, too.
This version of Meadows is one of the very best players in baseball. The Tigers suddenly had a top-notch defender at a premium position and a dangerous leadoff hitter.
Yeah, that’s a start.
Kerry Carpenter
Ten days later, the Tigers welcomed their top power threat back to the lineup.
Kerry Carpenter missed two and a half months from May 26 through Aug. 12, a period when the Tigers were desperate for any semblance of offense.
Fortunately, he picked up right where he left off. Since Aug. 13, Carpenter is batting .295 with a .355 on-base percentage, nine homers, and six doubles.
Jace Jung
One of the organization’s top hitting prospects made his debut three days later, on Aug. 16.
Jace Jung hasn’t put up the most impressive stats since his promotion, but the at-bats are phenomenal, and he adds a ton of depth to the Tigers’ lineup.
Jung is sporting a .356 OBP in his first taste of MLB action, and that’s exactly what Harris vowed his teams would value when he took over as general manager.
Trey Sweeney
Let’s have the Trey Sweeney conversation without talking about the player he replaced at shortstop.
Sweeney raked as soon as he got to Toledo, batting .381 with two homers and six doubles in 11 games. He basically gave the team no choice but to call him up alongside Jung.
Again, his stat line doesn’t jump off the page. But Sweeney already has a knack for coming through with timely hits, and his defense has been tremendous.
The Tigers are 25-9 with Sweeney in the lineup, and he’s already at 0.8 WAR through 34 games, which would translate to about a 3.5-WAR player over a full season.
Spencer Torkelson
Like Meadows, Torkelson was sent down early in the season to work on his swing, and like Meadows, he’s been much better since his return.
But it hasn’t been quite as smooth of a transition. Torkelson didn’t dominate Triple-A pitching, hitting .239 over 58 games. But he posted a .356 OBP and hit 11 homers and 13 doubles.
So the Tigers brought him back on Aug. 17, and he’s been an above-average hitter since. Torkelson’s batting .246 with a .774 OPS, six homers, and six doubles in 35 games since his return.
Riley Greene
If you take away any team’s best player, it’s going to hurt. And the Tigers sorely missed Riley Greene while he was on the injured list from July 26 through Aug. 17.
He hasn’t quite been first-half Riley Greene since his return, but he’s still got a .331 OBP, an .808 OPS, and 13 extra-base hits in 33 games.
Greene is a plus defender in left field and an incredibly reliable bat at the heart of the order. His return was the final piece of the offense we see today.
Other than Matt Vierling and Colt Keith, who lead the team with more than 140 games played, the Tigers’ lineup is made up of players who weren’t here during the trade deadline.
It was going to take a complete transformation to save this offense, and that’s exactly what Harris and Hinch dialed up.
Innovative pitching approach
When the Tigers traded Flaherty at the deadline, they were also without Reese Olson and Casey Mize due to injury. Kenta Maeda had been demoted to the bullpen because of performance, and Skubal was standing there like the Fresh Prince in his empty living room.
How were the Tigers going to piece together a starting rotation? Turns out they just... didn’t.
To be fair, Keider Montero had been with the team through July, so Skubal technically wasn’t the only starter on the staff. But Montero is a rookie, and he’s been a bit volatile.
But other than Skubal and Montero, the Tigers just decided to throw the entire concept of the starting pitcher out the window.
It was time for openers and bulk relievers, baby!
I know, not too exciting. In fact, MLB wants to ban the concept and force starters to pitch deeper into games.
But Hinch’s mastery of in-game matchups gave the Tigers a distinct advantage using this strategy. Tyler Holton, Beau Brieske, or Brenan Hanifee “start,” and then the bulk guy comes in and faces the heart of the order one fewer time.
This wouldn’t work without the Tigers’ organizational depth at both starting pitcher and long reliever. They’ve asked a lot of these unproven pitchers -- well, they’re not unproven anymore.
- Beau Brieske: 65.2 innings, 3.56 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 68 strikeouts.
- Brenan Hanifee: 27.1 innings, 1.98 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 23 strikeouts.
- Ty Madden: 20 innings, 3.60 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 15 strikeouts.
- Brant Hurter: 41.1 innings, 2.61 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 37 strikeouts.
- Sean Guenther: 20 innings, 0.90 ERA, 0.55 WHIP, 11 strikeouts.
- Bryan Sammons: 27.1 innings, 3.62 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 18 strikeouts.
These guys aren’t overpowering hitters, but altogether, that’s 201.2 extremely valuable innings. They consistently gave the Tigers a chance to win.
But the player who really holds it all together is Holton. He’s Hinch’s secret weapon.
Holton has quietly racked up 93.1 innings this season while posting a 2.22 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. In terms of WAR, he’s the most valuable player on the team behind Skubal and Greene.
Holton has started nine games and pitched in relief 56 times. He can go multiple innings and dominate both lefties and righties.
The Tigers have the most versatile bullpen in baseball, and Holton is the ringleader.
45 games to remember
You know the way people talk about that 35-5 stretch to start the season in 1984? If these Tigers make a deep playoff run, the last 45 games of 2024 should be equally revered.
No matter how the final two games go, this type of winning streak is once-in-a-lifetime. The Tigers have won 32 of their last 43 games -- the same Tigers who were 55-63 and sold at the deadline!
The winning percentage is lower than 35-5, but I’m guessing this run feels just as special, because it was so much more unexpected.
Looking ahead to playoffs
This season is already a resounding success because the Tigers have ended their playoff drought, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make more noise in the postseason.
With Skubal ready for Game 1 of the wild card round, the Tigers have to love their chances to jump out to a 1-0 lead. That’s critical in a three-game series.
The next two games aren’t meaningless, though. The Tigers and Royals are still jockeying for seeding, and as of now, there’s still an outside chance of the Tigers getting the top wild card spot (if the Orioles get swept by the Twins).
So enjoy this last weekend, Tigers fans. Because on Tuesday, the Old English D returns to postseason baseball.
Where it belongs.
