The motto “Be like the Royals” has become a rallying cry for at least one MLB team at the bottom of the standings, hoping to finish the season with momentum into 2025.
Maybe the tagline could be changed to “Roar like a Tiger.”
The Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins of the American League Central Division have earned a certain amount of respect for continuing to compete for the wild card until the end of the season, but the Detroit Tigers are currently in the league’s final stages in the baseball world. They are one of the hottest teams. American League playoff berth.
Faster than it took to get into playoff contention, the biggest surprise team of 2024 became the team no one wanted to play against by the time the postseason rolled around.
And if you think about it, the Tigers were getting disrespected less than two months ago. Choosing not to trade left-hander Tarik Skubal In search of a prospect package during what seemed like another lost season.
Detroit was 52-57 at the end of the July 30 trade deadline. The Motor City baseball team had some horsepower, but it was wasted with shot suspension and worn tires.
At the time, the Tigers had lost five in a row, falling to 52 wins and 59 losses. Less than two weeks later, they were 55-63 and eight games below .500.
It makes more sense to park that muscle car in your garage and cancel your insurance than drive it around town and burn more fuel.
But as Tigers anchor Jason Benetti said Thursday after the Tigers cut the magic number for a playoff berth to two with a win, “There’s no baseball team in a city that doesn’t care about the odds that can match that.” be”.
While Skubal will be in the rotation, center fielder Parker Meadows has been attracting attention since returning to the major leagues after a rough start to the season. Since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 3, the Tigers have gone 32-12, with Detroit’s wide center field playing a role in offensive and defensive bravado.
The Tigers’ 673 RBIs ranked 19th in baseball through Thursday’s game, and their 161 home runs ranked 24th. They offset that with a 3.60 ERA, second-best in the American League and third-best among all MLB teams.
In the bullpen, 28-year-old left-hander Sean Gunter has emerged after having just 14 games of major league experience and zero after 2021. Of his 16 games played this season, 15 have been his first since August 22nd. He pitched to an ERA of 0.48.
Detroit’s relievers have pitched an MLB-leading 675 2/3 innings, but their bullpen ERA is 4th in baseball and 2nd in the American League with a 3.56 ERA.
Promising pitching candidate Jackson Jobe made his debut on Wednesday By keeping a scoreless game as a reliever, he was able to get time to contribute as a teammate in what is expected to be a long major league career.
The Tigers are on a five-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 10 games, and will look to build on their momentum in their third straight game against the hapless Chicago White Sox in the final weekend, as well as at home.
As recently as three weeks ago, the Tigers were a .500 team. They are now candidates for a long October run in a season without superteams, hoping to ride a wave similar to the one that saw both the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks reach the World Series last season. It is said that
So while it’s surprising the Tigers have made it this far, it shouldn’t shock anyone right now.
