MLB’s expansion of the postseason was supposed to give more organizations and fans hope.
Now in its third season, the 12-team MLB playoffs have inadvertently created a slingshot that could send an entire metropolitan area into a frenzy.
The Detroit Tigers are the latest team to test how far they can fly, as the sixth-seeded team takes on the second-seeded Cleveland Guard in the American League Division Series starting Saturday.
Like the matchup of 12-5 seeds in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the No. 6 seed and last-place seed in the MLB playoffs doesn't appear to be much of an obstacle.
In 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies used the first 12-pack format to claim the last seed in the National League. Their late-season performance took them all the way to the World Series, where they lost to the Houston Astros in six games.
Last year's postseason went one step further, with the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks meeting in the World Series, destroying the entire regular season narrative.
The Diamondbacks were the NFC's sixth seed twice in two seasons and advanced to the championship game in two expansion playoffs before ultimately losing to the American League's fifth seed.
This season, the Tigers have shown that a hot month and a few extra weeks of good games can mask previous issues as long as it's the final six weeks.
Not only did the Tigers post an impressive 17-8 record in September, but from Aug. 11 through the end of the regular season, they were 31-13, the best record in MLB. optimal. They lead MLB with a 2.72 ERA in that same span, and from that day on, no one has a better mark than Detroit's +62.
The Tigers are making a strong push for the playoff starting line, defeating the host Houston Astros in a two-game sweep this week. Now set to face the AFC Central champion Guardians, whom the Tigers trailed by 6 1/2 games during the regular season.
The Guardians hold a slim 7-6 lead in the 13-game season series between the two teams.
But Cleveland has never seen this version of Detroit. The two teams last met on July 30, when they faced off six times in nine days. The Guardians went 4-2 in that round.
On July 30, the Tigers seemed to be looking forward to this day next year as they traded right-handed starter Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They ended up getting shortstop Trey Sweeney as part of the return package, and he made his MLB debut on August 16 while making valuable contributions late in the game.
Tarik Skubal leads the pitching staff as the presumptive winner of the AL Cy Young Award, and the versatile bullpen is a differentiating factor. Players such as Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows, Riley Green, Jake Rogers, Andy Ibanez and Colt Keith were key contributors to the offense. Sweeney, Meadows and Keys are all rookies.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch called his plan to use seven pitchers in Wednesday's decisive game against the Astros “chaos.”
Skubal and the kitchen sink don't seem like the most stable plan moving forward, but the Tigers may be ready to add right-hander Kenta Maeda back to the postseason roster.
“Who knows what we're going to do?” hinch says. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is our unpredictability, and our players believe that will lead to success. When you have some success, you win a few series. You're on the highest stage. Performance. This reinforces the belief that we will chase everything we can.
The Tigers didn't hit as many home runs as the Yankees, who hit 237, and not even the Defenders, who hit 185. They hit only 162 home runs, which ranked 24th in MLB, behind the Los Angeles Angels (165), Cincinnati Reds and other teams.
Instead, they employed a ruthless approach in the paint, aggressive baserunning, and a lack of fear that belied their experience level. There wasn't a lot of star power outside of Skubal, but it worked because the team couldn't use their aggressive style against them.
“The mental grind of this season and putting it all together with this team, this organization and not just being content with making the playoffs… I'm forever grateful to be a member of the Detroit Tigers, Xinqi said.