The Detroit Tigers deserve to be the most compelling team in this year's postseason.
Detroit went from less than a 1 percent chance of making the playoffs to a wild-card berth in less than two months. The club also ended its nine-year playoff drought and tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the longest active season in the major leagues.
The Tigers will face the Baltimore Orioles or Houston Astros in the best-of-three wild-card round and will be an easy team to root for as they try to win their first American League pennant in 12 years and their first world championship.
But Detroit's incredible rise casts an even darker shadow over the Kansas City Royals, the most underappreciated team in this year's postseason.
Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. rightly received a ton of attention in his MVP-caliber campaign, but he and his teammates quietly put together one of the best comebacks in baseball history.
Kansas City enters Sunday's regular-season finale with 85 wins a year after posting the franchise's worst record at 56-106. The Royals will visit either Houston or Baltimore in the wild-card round.
Kansas City added 29 wins (or 30, pending Sunday's results) from last year to this season, the most in the majors. It was also the largest full season in franchise history, surpassing the 20-win increase from 1970 to 1971.
Still not impressed?
MLB research ranks the Royals as just the second team to reach the playoffs in an entire season after suffering at least 100 losses.
Of course, Witt was instrumental in the team's turnaround, but many other contributors also put together solid seasons that were too impressive to ignore.
Salvador Perez was the lone holdover from the 2015 Kansas City World Series team, using his original glove at catcher and first base, hitting 27 home runs and 104 RBIs.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who had scored 97 points in 131 games, suffered a broken thumb on Aug. 29 that ruled him out for the remainder of the regular season. If the Royals do well in the postseason, the first baseman could return.
Meanwhile, two veteran starting pitchers look like they will never age after signing with Kansas City in December.
Longtime reliever Seth Lugo, 34, threw a career-high 206 2/3 innings in his third season as a starter while posting the 10th-lowest start in the majors. Posted by ERA (3.00). 33-year-old right-hander Michael Wacha is hitting 166 2/3, the second-highest ERA of his 12-year career, with an ERA of 3.35.
As for younger players, left-hander Cole Ragans solidified himself as a rising star in his age-26 season, posting a 3.14 ERA and 186 1/3 innings pitched.
and manager matt quatraro Also worth a thumbs up.
The 50-year-old, who has led the Royals to prominence in just his second season as captain, has kept the club steady with his “Today” mantra of focusing on the present rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
If you haven't been following Kansas City's turnaround this year, that's okay. The Royals' impressive campaign has been largely overshadowed by a slew of other storylines at the AL Center, especially in recent weeks.
Detroit's stellar run coincided with Minnesota's stunning collapse. The Twins went from shooting 95.8 percent in the postseason on Sept. 2 to completely out of contention on Friday.
Minnesota's 12-26 record since Aug. 17 is still 1 1/2 games better than the Chicago White Sox, who may be the most watched ball in baseball during a record-breaking 121-loss season. Team.
Then there's the Cleveland Guardians, who bounced back from last year's third-place finish to capture the AFC Central title and second seed in the playoffs under first-year head coach Stephen Vogt.
Yes, that's a lot for a department. I don't blame you for overlooking Kansas City's sudden success.
Look, I can't judge your fan base this October, and I'm not forcing you to support a certain team if you're still on the fence. But at the very least, I’m asking you to appreciate how special the Royals season is while it’s still here.