For the first time in several years, the Detroit Tigers are a serious playoff contender. The last time the Tigers had a winning record was in 2016 when they went 86-75 and finished second in their division. Even though most people didn’t know it, that would be the last year Detroit would be considered a MLB playoff contender.
The year after, in 2017, the Tigers decided to trade Justin Verlander, Ian Kinsler, Justin Upton and J.D. Martinez. Seven years later, the Detroit Tigers have not found a way to recover since trading off all their pieces ever since that historically bad season. Up to last year, the Detroit Tigers have gone 419-610 which would equal a historically bad 40.7% Win Percentage. But this year the Tigers have overcome a lot, including one of the worst seasons in MLB history where the Tigers found themselves ending the 2019 season going 47-114. A few years later in 2022 with high hopes, the Tigers finally thought they had a playoff caliber team with former ace Eduardo Rodriguez and All-Star Shortstop Javier Baez which ended up being another disaster where Detroit ended in a 66-96 overall record. The Detroit Tigers were able to storm back and finish 78-84 in 2023 before finally taking the next step this year to get their team where they needed to be.
This season, expectations weren’t as high for the Tigers who have not had a winning season in eight years. But regardless of expectations, the Tigers were able to get off to a 3-0 start after winning three close one run games against the White Sox and then taking two out of three games against the Mets to start 5-1. After that, the Tigers slowly started to trend down and hover around .500 before finishing 47-50 at the All-Star Break and at least giving themselves a shot at making the playoffs.
After a nice All-Star Break where the Tigers saw themselves on the very edge of the playoff picture, the hype started to get real. Most people though still weren’t as high on the Tigers thanks to Detroit having one of the worst batting averages in the MLB. But thanks to the piching and the bullpen, Detroit has slowly crawled their way into the playoffs. At the trade deadline the Tigers only decided to trade away Jack Flaherty, but Tigers fans thought that General Manager Scott Harris was trying to rebuild the team after the mess Al Avila left him with. But thanks to keeping Tarik Skubal and other players, Detroit was able to storm all the way up to a 83-74 record and now find themselves in a playoff spot for the first time in ten years.
Even if the Detroit Tigers don’t make the playoffs, they still are in a great spot. With one of their best seasons Tigers fans have seen with lots of optimism surrounding the team, there’s no doubt the Tigers could go ever further this year. And the energy keeps going; Tarik Skubal who is now one of the best pitchers in the MLB, has overcome a lot of low expectations and has put up a 2.48 ERA ( Earned Runs Allowed ) and a 17-4 record. Skubal is also projected to be the first pitcher since 2013 for the Detroit Tigers to win the Cy Young which is an award for the best pitcher in the MLB. Even though the batting hasn’t been great, the bullpen has seen some of the best pitching in years. If rookies Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith can keep the bats going, the Tigers could definitely see themselves exceeding expectations once again.
Sitting at 83-74, the Detrot Tigers find themselves in a position they haven’t seen in years. And if the pitching, the hitting and the team in general can stay hot and finish strong at the end of the line, the Tigers could see themselves in the MLB Playoffs. The Tigers finish their season with two more games at home against the Rays before playing the White Sox who are one of the worst teams in the MLB and find themselves with a 37-120 record. If the Tigers can just win three of their last five games of the season, they will find themselves in a great spot. On August 10 the Tigers were 55-63 with a 0.2% chance of making the MLB Playoffs according to fangraphs.com, now that number has skyrocketed up to a 86.8% chance. If the Tigers can finish the year strong, there is no doubt that people won’t only be talking about Detroit as a playoff team, but as a World Series contender.
