How red-hot Detroit Tigers landed in MLB playoff perch: 'No pressure, no fear'

BALTIMORE – Matt Vierling hasn’t been around that long, but he has seen some things.

At 28, he qualifies as the current elder of the Detroit Tigers lineup, and knows that after 156 games, there’s little sense in letting the mind wander too much when so much remains at stake in the final six.

Yet he also knows that what these Tigers are doing is so rare, so surprising and so much fun that yes, he can’t help but go there – to October, and the potential of a startling playoff appearance for a club that hasn’t had even a winning record in eight years.

“I have thought about that – how much fun it would be to get there with this team,” Vierling, the club’s left fielder and cleanup hitter, tells USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve tried to suppress those thoughts a little bit to focus on the day-to-day. That’s what makes this team great.

“But I’ve thought about it. I’ve been in that spot where you’re having a great time and celebrating all the hard work. It would be pretty incredible to do that.

“Here.”

With each passing day, the likelihood only seems to increase.

The Tigers have stunningly reached the final week of the regular season in playoff position, thanks to a raucous road trip in which they won five out of six games against fellow postseason inhabitants Kansas City and Baltimore. They are 27-11 since Aug. 11, the best record in the majors in that span, during which they also have the best ERA (2.74).

They are 30-18 since trading No. 2 starter Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a nominal waving of the white flag that reduced their stable of starting pitchers to two.

Since then?

It’s been a wave of bullpen games and bulk guys and dudes with 20-ish home run pop going yard at opportune times and young players – so many young players – taking significant steps forward.

“It wasn’t ideal trading Jack,” says Tigers closer Jason Foley of the deal swung just minutes before the July 30 trade deadline, when the Tigers were 52-56. “You don’t want to be sellers at the deadline. It means you’re obviously not in an opportune spot to make the postseason. But you still have to go out and perform and win each night and win each day.

“We started stacking some good games together, stacking some good weeks, stacking a couple good months, and next thing you know we find ourselves in a pretty decent spot to make a postseason push.”

And now they’re going home.

After improving to 82-74 – their best record since winning 86 games in 2016 – with a rousing 4-3 win before 44,040 at Camden Yards, the Tigers finish the season with six games at Comerica Park. Tuesday, presumed Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal opens a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays.

And while their margin for error is razor-thin – they're one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins for the final wild-card spot – they hold the 2024 equivalent of a golden ticket: Their final three games are against the 120-loss, historically terrible Chicago White Sox.

And recent history suggests they’re not just a live dog, but also a potentially dangerous one.

Playing with house money

A.J. Hinch knows of pennant drives and October drama. He managed the Houston Astros to two AL pennants and the 2017 World Series title, before the club’s sign-stealing scheme resulted in his firing.

Now in his fourth year managing the Tigers, Hinch presided over clubs that won 77, 66 and 78 games in his first three seasons. In short: A handful of decent prospects marinating around $140 million infielder Javy Baez, an offensive bust in his three three seasons with Detroit before departing Aug. 23 for season-ending hip surgery.

Yet despite an everyday lineup featuring three rookies and a second-year player, Hinch has seen enough: These guys are ready for the final lap.

“This (final) week is really no different than the last six weeks have been for us. We’ve been in all hands on deck mode, grind mode, playoff mode, whatever you want to say, for a long time now,” says Hinch, whose club went into Kansas City and swept the Royals last week, dragging them from a solid perch as the No. 2 wild card into the quagmire, now tied with the Tigers.

“We went to environments that were new. San Diego was rocking. (Baltimore) has been a fun experience. In Kansas City, we won all three games in a tough environment. I think this last week is the same – get dressed every day and try to win and see how many wins we total up at the end.”

Should they win one more game than the Twins or Royals – and the Tigers must, as they lose the tiebreaker to both clubs – be wary. Detroit represents the platonic ideal of a playoff team in this expanded era: A club that’s had to fight for its life for weeks, maybe months, and hits the postseason in a groove and with its heart rate already regulated for do-or-die play.

Vierling knows. He was a member of the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies who ushered in this trend, slipping into the playoffs with 87 wins before taking it all the way to Game 6 of the World Series.

Certainly, these Tigers don’t have nine-figure superstars like Bryce Harper or Zack Wheeler. But they have arguably the game’s best pitcher in Skubal to toss in a Game 1.

And perhaps most important, a devil-may-care vibe for a franchise whose last playoff berth came in 2014.

“In Philly, we felt the same way: We hadn’t been there in 11 years. We knew we had the talent, for sure. We just had to get in,” says Vierling. “It's kind of the same thing. Kind of playing with house money. No one expected this. We just want to keep this going and see what we can turn this into.

“Just gotta emphasize: No pressure, no fear.”

'I love this team'

Sunday’s series finale in Baltimore – and the clubs may very well match up in a best-of-three wild-card series – was emblematic of the club’s run. The club tossed a half-dozen pitchers at the Orioles, none recording more than seven outs. Kerry Carpenter smacked a pair of home runs, the second a tiebreaking shot giving Detroit the lead for good moments after second-year center fielder Parker Meadows robbed a two-run homer from Baltimore’s Colton Cowser.

All this looked like a mirage on July 30.

Flaherty posted a 2.95 ERA and averaged almost exactly six innings in his 18 starts; his trade to L.A. left Detroit with just two regular starters: Skubal and rookie right-hander Keider Montero.

Filling the gaps: A phalanx of semi-starters and openers.

These are not the Tigers of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander vintage, but rather Beau Brieske (no earned runs in his past 13 innings), Tyler Holton (started two of the last three games) and Sean Guenther (1.04 ERA in 14 games). Rookies like Brenan Hanifee and Ty Madden have taken on increasingly greater responsibilities.

And the Flaherty trade netted their current starting shortstop: Trey Sweeney, a spare part in the Dodgers organization but now a cog in Detroit.

Are you excited yet? Hinch certainly is.

“I love this team,” says Hinch. “I love what we’re doing to fight every game like it’s the last game of the season. That’s how we’ve operated and that’s how we’re going to continue to operate.

“We bring it every day.”

Earlier Sunday, Hinch did something his club hadn’t seen in weeks: He named all three starting pitchers for the Tampa Bay series. With right-hander Reese Olson’s recent return from an eight-week absence due to a shoulder injury, the Tigers put their old friend “TBA” on ice for the moment; Skubal, Montero and Olson will have at the Rays.

Not that improvisation hasn’t served the club well.

Vierling was musing about this the other day, thinking that just a couple months ago, Sweeney was toiling in Oklahoma City for the Dodgers’ Class AAA club. Now, he’s making game-saving catches.

“It’s just incredible to see what these guys came from and knowing it’s such a long year, right? A lot of things can happen. A lot of things can change.

“We’ve had our ups and downs. After the trade deadline, we stayed afloat and things kind of got going here. It’s been kind of cool to see how these guys have used that momentum and brought that energy to the team.”

No doubt, the Twins (11 losses in 16 games) and Royals (losers of seven in a row) have opened the door. But the Tigers have taken full advantage, playing with boundless conviction and not pausing to ponder their good fortune. Come next Sunday, they’ll likely be packing very large suitcases and pondering multiple destinations, the ride guaranteed to last so long as they maintain this delicate balance.

“We’re vibin’ here,” says Meadows. “Such good chemistry on this team and we’re having a lot of fun and have each others’ backs.

“It’s pretty surreal. But we’re going to keep doing our job and keep winning games.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Detroit Tigers' standings turnaround 'surreal' in MLB wild-card race