How Tigers turned around season to secure first postseason berth since 2014

This story was updated to add new information.

The Detroit Tigers were sellers at the trade deadline, parting ways with veterans Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin and Mark Canha. After Aug. 10, the Tigers were buried eight games under .500 and 10 games back in the wild-card race, with a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs, according to Fangraphs.

Less than 50 days later, the Tigers are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2014.

The Tigers needed one win in three games against the Chicago White Sox to clinch an American League wild-card spot. They didn't waste any time, winning 4-1 in Friday's series opener to advance beyond the regular season.

The regular season ends Sunday.

"We feel really good about how we're doing it, not just what we're doing," manager A.J. Hinch said before Friday's game. "We put a lot of work in to play as consistently as we can and bring it every day. The DNA, the personality of this club is very special. We don't think much of it. We really just come to play and win. We've done a lot of that recently, and we hope to do more."

But the Tigers — in Hinch's fourth year as manager — will open the postseason Tuesday, against either the Houston Astros or the Baltimore Orioles. The opponent and location for the three-game wild-card series will be determined by the seeding of the three wild-card teams, which might not be finalized until Sunday evening.

Tarik Skubal, the front-runner to win the AL Cy Young Award, is expected to start Game 1 of the wild-card series. The southpaw has a 2.39 ERA with 228 strikeouts in 31 starts.

"It's why you play the game, to pitch in the postseason and to hopefully win the big one," Skubal said before Thursday's game. "That's the most important thing in this game, and that's the most important thing to me. Awards, you care about them, but I'd like the World Series ring more than anything."

To get to the playoffs, the Tigers turned on the jets with a 31-11 record in 42 games since Aug. 11. At the same time, the Minnesota Twins posted a 12-24 record in 36 games since Aug. 18 to freefall out of the playoff picture.

The epic failure of the Twins opened the door for the red-hot Tigers to catch up.

Sure enough, the Tigers joined the 1973 New York Mets as the only teams to make the playoffs after being at least eight games under .500 through 115 games.

Pitching was the biggest difference between the Tigers and the Twins in their respective end-of-season trends. Since Aug. 11, the Tigers lead MLB with a 2.60 ERA. Since Aug. 18, the Twins rank 25th in MLB with a 4.65 ERA.

What else sparked the Tigers' winning ways? A top-tier pitching staff comprised of openers and bulk relievers despite only two starters in the rotation for more than a month, the return of several position players from injuries, an increase in aggressiveness on the bases and a World Series-winning manager who pushes all the right buttons to set players up for success.

"I've been managing like Game 7 for two months, is what it feels like," Hinch said. "We want to win today's game, and we're going to use the guys that can help us win today's game. You're going to see us play the same brand that we've been playing with that has got us to this point. ... We got to play the nine innings, and we got to play to win. Whatever the game calls for is what we're going to try to do."

As of Friday's game, the Tigers had the youngest roster among the 30 MLB teams, an average age of 26.3. Only two players on the roster — outfielder Matt Vierling and right-handed reliever Kenta Maeda — have postseason experience.

'No pressure, no fear': How red-hot Detroit Tigers turned it around

The Tigers snapped a nine-year drought — tied for the longest active streak in MLB — by reaching the postseason in 2024, the second year under president of baseball operations Scott Harris. The Tigers hired Harris on Sept. 19, 2022, after firing general manager Al Avila.

In their last postseason experience, the Tigers were swept in three games by the Orioles in the 2014 AL Division Series, despite starts from Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Price.

The franchise has now made the playoffs in 17 of its 125 seasons, winning the World Series in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. Since the 1984 championship, though, the Tigers advanced to the playoffs in just seven of the last 40 seasons.

While seeding needs to be determined, the six AL teams are locked in for the postseason: New York Yankees (AL East), Cleveland Guardians (AL Central), Astros (AL West), Orioles (wild card), Tigers (wild card) and Kansas City Royals (wild card).

Of those teams, the Tigers took the most improbable route to the playoffs.

The magical run continues.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers returning to MLB playoffs for first time since 2014