Major League Baseball’s extended playoffs should have given many organizations and fan bases hope.
Now in its third season, the 12-team MLB playoff field has created a slingshot, capable of throwing an entire city into chaos.
The Detroit Tigers are the latest team to test how high they can rise if the No. 1 seed. 6 faces No. 2-seed Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series starting Saturday.
As a combined 12-5 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament, the number 6 and final seed in the MLB playoffs is not a handicap to be seen.
In 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies used the first 12-pack format to capture the final seed in the National League. Their inspired late-season run led them to the World Series, where they fell in six games to the Houston Astros.
Last year’s playoffs took things a step further when the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks destroyed the entire regular season by meeting in the World Series.
The Diamondbacks made it two No. 1 seeds. 6 NL in two seasons to make the title round in two extended playoffs, then lost to No. 5 in the American League.
This season, the Tigers are showing that a hot month and a couple of good weeks can hide past problems, as long as it’s the last six weeks.
The Tigers not only went an impressive 17-8 in September, they were an MLB-best 31-13 since Aug. 11 until the end of the regular season. They led the MLB with a 2.72 staff ERA during the same span, and no one had a better run differential than Detroit’s plus-62 mark from that date.
Charging into the playoffs with a full run, the Tigers roared past the host Houston Astros with a two-game sweep this week. Now comes a meeting with the AL Central champion Guardians, who the Tigers trailed by 6 1/2 games in the regular season.
In the 13-game season series between the teams, the Rangers hold a slim 7-6 advantage.
But Cleveland has never seen this version of Detroit. The teams last met on July 30 to end the streak when they met six times in nine days. The Guardians went 4-2 in this game.
July 30 is also the date the Tigers seem to be heading toward next year when they trade right-handed starter Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They ended up acquiring shortstop Trey Sweeney as part of their return package, and he made his MLB debut on August 16 while making significant contributions down the stretch.
Tarik Skubal led the staff as the AL Cy Young Award winner in hitting, and a dynamic bullpen has made the difference. The offense receives significant contributions from players such as Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Jake Rogers, Andy Ibanez and Colt Keith. Sweeney, Meadows and Keith are rookies.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch called his plan to use seven pitchers in Wednesday’s game against the Astros “a mess.”
Skubal and the kitchen sink don’t appear to be a stable lineup moving forward, but the Tigers may be ready to return right-hander Kenta Maeda to the playoff lineup.
“Who knows what we’re going to do,” Hinch said. “One of the things we are proud of is that we are not expected and our players buy into what leads to success. If you get a certain success, you win a series of lovers. He plays on the top stage. That reinforces that belief that we will try to chase with all the power we have.”
The Tigers aren’t crushing home runs like the Yankees, who lead baseball with 237, or even the Guardians, who had 185. They are just 162 short of finishing 24th in MLB and behind clubs like the Los Angeles Angels (165), Cincinnati Reds. (174) and the Oakland Athletics (196).
Instead, they use a relentless approach to the box, an aggressive base, and a lack of fear that belies their level of experience. There isn’t much star power outside of Skubal, and yet it works as teams can’t use his aggressive style against him.
“The mental grind of the season and putting it all together with this team, on this team, and not just the satisfaction of making the playoffs… I’m always grateful to be a Detroit Tiger,” Hinch said.