A Sense of Doubt blog post #3515 - THE DETROIT TIGERS WIN!!!!!!!!!! Post-season success - Onto the ALDS
I am behind on my blog, so I sad to report the days from now the Tigers lose the first game of the ALDS.
But that's the benefit of posting from the future. :-)
Gritty Tigers close out playoff sweep of Astros with 5-2 victory in Game 2 of Wild Card Series
https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap/_/gameId/401701017VID LINK
HOUSTON -- — Manager A.J. Hinch wanted his Detroit Tigers to embody their home city. Hard-working with a never-give-up attitude, but most of all a team that had grit.
That's how they stormed into October — and just kept going.
Andy Ibáñez hit a tiebreaking three-run double in Detroit’s four-run eighth inning, and the Tigers swept the Houston Astros with a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.
“Our city is built on grit,” a jubilant Hinch said in a prosecco-soaked clubhouse. “That’s what it is. I remember saying that I wanted to have a team that this city is proud of. I think the city is pretty proud of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and the fight that this team shows.”
Parker Meadows homered as Detroit ended Houston's run of seven consecutive appearances in the AL Championship Series. It was a sweet moment for Hinch, who led Houston to a championship in 2017 and was fired in the aftermath of the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
“This is what you play for,” he said. “Baseball’s great.”
Next up for the wild-card Tigers is a trip to Cleveland to take on the AL Central champions in a best-of-five AL Division Series. Game 1 is on Saturday.
“Regardless that nobody was rooting for us, regardless that nobody was putting us in the playoffs in a good spot, we didn’t care,” Ibáñez said. “We just put in hard work ... to make the results come.”
Kerry Carpenter sparked Detroit's eighth-inning rally with a one-out single off Ryan Pressly (0-1), who converted his first 14 postseason save opportunities. Carpenter advanced to third on a single by Matt Vierling and scored on a wild pitch, tying it at 2.
Pressly departed after Colt Keith reached on a two-out walk, and closer Josh Hader walked Spencer Torkelson to load the bases.
Hinch then sent Ibáñez up to hit for Zach McKinstry, and he lined a 1-2 sinker into the corner in left for a 5-2 lead.
Ibáñez hadn't driven in a run since Sept. 10. He hit just .167 in September.
“He’s had a tough stretch,” Hinch said. “But his season restarts in October, and he’s showing that.”
Vierling, Keith and Torkelson jumped around and high-fived in celebration after scoring on Ibáñez's clutch swing. Ibáñez raised his arms high above his head and smiled as he reached second.
Hader, who signed a $95 million, five-year contract with Houston in January, allowed three hits and walked two in 1 1/3 innings.
Detroit used seven different pitchers a day after pitching Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal got the win in the series opener. Sean Guenther pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win in Game 2, and Will Vest handled the ninth for the save.
In the postseason for the first time since 2014, Detroit also got a solo home run from Meadows in the sixth to help the franchise to its first playoff series win since the 2013 ALDS.
Just making it to the playoffs seemed improbable before Detroit went 31-13 down the stretch in the regular season, helped along by the leadership of Hinch — who knows a little something about October success from his time with the Astros.
“They did everything right to win the series,” Houston second baseman Jose Altuve said.
Eight of the first nine Wild Card Series since they began in 2002 have been sweeps. It’s the fourth sweep in postseason history for the Tigers, who previously swept the AL Championship Series in 1984, 2006 and 2012.
The Astros jumped in front in the seventh, but they lost their seventh straight postseason game at home. Houston's ALCS streak included four World Series appearances and two titles.
“It’s tough,” manager Joe Espada said. “But I want our guys to be proud of how far we’ve come. It was a very challenging season, and we reached the postseason — that’s our goal every year. We win the division, and then play deep into the playoffs. It didn’t happen for us this year, but I want our guys to be proud of their resiliency and how tough this season was."
The AL West champions failed to get the big hits they relied on in the regular season, but manufactured a pair of runs with hustle plays in the seventh.
Mauricio Dubón hit a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit a chopper that was fielded by first baseman Torkelson, who threw home from his knees. The throw was in front of the plate and not in time to beat Victor Caratini.
Torkelson, who was given an error on the play, smacked the ground in disgust after Caratini touched home, tying it at 1.
Altuve then hit a flyball that Vierling caught in foul territory in right, but his throw home wasn’t in time to beat the speedy Jeremy Peña.
Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez returned for this series after sitting out since spraining his right knee Sept. 22. He had two hits Tuesday, but he went 0 for 3 with a walk in Game 2 while clearly still struggling with the injury.
Asked if he would have played if these were regular-season games, he said: “That's a really good question, I don't know.”
Houston starter Hunter Brown had allowed just one hit on a double in the second when Meadows smacked his home run off the foul pole in right field to start the sixth.
Brown struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings in his eighth postseason game and first start.
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Detroit Tigers epic run no flash in the pan: The organization is set for long-term success
CLEVELAND — The Detroit Tigers have been preaching something important in their minor leagues.
Specifically, at Double-A Erie.
It’s the importance of having a calm heartbeat in pressure situations.
“Gabe Alvarez (Erie's manager) would say it every day,” Tigers second baseman Colt Keith said Friday afternoon. “That was his thing, trying to stay calm.”
And yes, that philosophy flows right from Tigers manager A.J. Hinch right down to the prospects — it's like a unifying mantra.
Oh, the Tigers are teaching something else in their minor leagues.
ON THE MOUND:Tigers will start 'bully in the strike zone' Tyler Holton vs. Guardians in ALDS Game 1
The importance of winning.
And you can see the results at the big-league level, as the Tigers have advanced to the ALDS with a whole bunch of youngsters fresh from the minor leagues.
They will play Cleveland on Saturday in Game 1 (1:08 p.m., TBS) at Progressive Field.
How’d the Tigers turn misery into magic, climbing out of an August hole, making the playoffs and beating Houston in their American League wild-card series?
In some ways, it goes back to that idea of having a calm heartbeat.
Learning to handle pressure
Take Brant Hurter, the rookie reliever.
A little more than a year ago, he was pitching for the SeaWolves in the Eastern League championship game.
I actually went to that game, because it had been years since I'd seen success; I wanted to witness a champagne celebration. I figured Tigers fans deserved a chance to read about one again after so many years of losing.
DOUBLE-A DREAM:Champagne flying, players dancing — Erie SeaWolves celebration brings back golden memories
What I saw that day was a bunch of youngsters learning how to win.
Learning how to handle pressure.
And when those players got their championship rings, there was an inscription inside: Calm Heartbeats.
And yes, that message carries over. We are seeing it play out right now with the Tigers.
“I think a big thing in that championship game, I was nervous, but obviously, adrenaline was pumping, and I had to figure out a way to calm that,” Hurter said. “And I think those tools that I used for that kind of translate.”
One year later, he was pitching in the wild-card series against Houston in an absolutely crazy environment.
Hurter pitched in the middle of Game 2, throwing 1⅔ innings of scoreless ball, handling the pressure like he had been there before.
SECRET WEAPON:Tigers don't have a great offense, but they have a 3-headed X-factor
And in some ways, even though the stakes were far smaller and the lights were not as bright, he had been in that moment before. In the minor leagues.
“Just play like you're not nervous,” he said with a smile.
He has learned to go through breathing techniques, trying to calm himself down.
“I try to use them every time I pitch,” he said. “There's this thing called 'box breathing' where you breathe in for 4 seconds, you hold it for 4 seconds. You breathe out for 4 seconds, hold it for 4 seconds. That'll automatically calm your heart rate.”
He also concentrates on relaxing his face. Seriously.
“You don't notice it until you start paying attention to it," he said. "But the first thing that you tend to tense up under stress is your face."
So, if you see a bunch of Tigers with blank faces in the playoffs, it’s because they are relaxing their muscles. Trying not to stress.
At least, that’s the theory.
KID STUFF:A.J. Hinch 'can't wait' to get Jackson Jobe back on mound against Cleveland in ALDS
Learning to win together
The importance of winning has become contagious throughout the Tigers system.
“All those teams are taught to win, so it’s not new when you get up here,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “Once you get up here, all that matters is winning.”
Keith noticed a change when Ryan Garko, the Tigers vice president of player development, took over the minor league system.
“Since Garko came in, I noticed a change,” Keith said. “We really are trying to win at every level. It just changed. It was more important to people to win. And, yeah, that kind of rubbed off on everybody. The coaches wanted us to win more, and that kind of made us want to win more. And the importance of winning was just a big deal for us.”
The success is spreading.
Four of Detroit's minor-league affiliates reached the postseason this season:
Double A Erie won the Eastern League championship for the second straight year.
The FCL Tigers won the Florida Complex League.
Low-A Lakeland advanced to the Florida State League championship series.
And the DSL Tigers 2 advanced to the Dominican Summer League playoffs.
And overall, Tigers minor-league teams had a 396-318 record this season, which was the best among all MLB organizations.
What does that suggest?
This sudden success is not a flash in the pan. This organization has the foundation for it to continue.
“There's something to be said about an organization valuing winning in the minor leagues, trying to juggle winning and development at the same time,” said Greg Gania, who is Erie's play-by-play broadcaster.
Gania has an interesting perspective, considering he has seen all these prospects roll through the Tigers system and right onto the big-league club. At the same time, he has occasionally handled radio duties in Detroit as well.
“They really tried to rebuild the farm system, and they've done a phenomenal job with it,” Gania said. “They're breeding winners. And it starts with the minor league staffs.”
There are different waves of players — first, there was Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Jake Rogers.
And another wave — they were followed by Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter.
And now there's the latest wave — Dingler, Hurter, Keith and Ty Madden, as well as others.
“They learn to win together, they learn how to lose together and learn how to be teammates together,” Gania said. “It was important for them to experience the highs and the lows all while slugging through the minor leagues.”
Breeding winners.
Doing it with a calm heartbeat.
And it's working.
It has taken them all the way to the ALDS.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.
The secret to Detroit Tigers unconventional 2024 success? The fella with the mustache
Shawn Windsor
CLEVELAND — There has been a lot of talk recently about the Detroit Tigers’ pitchers and hitters who come to the park every day not knowing when — or if — they were going to play. For good reason, too — this is history.
Not to mention radical.
And while the Tigers aren’t the first team to throw “bullpen games" or run out lineups without traditional leadoff and cleanup hitters, no team in recent memory has entered a playoff series — an actual series, like the ALDS the Tigers are about to play against the Cleveland Guardians — with a single starting pitcher.
So, yeah, history.
But also: What about the catcher who makes all this possible?
FOR OPENERS:Tigers will start 'bully in the strike zone' Tyler Holton vs. Guardians in ALDS Game 1
What’s it like to come to the park knowing you’ll catch four, five, six, even seven “starting” pitchers, as Jake Rogers caught Wednesday afternoon in Houston, when the Tigers clinched their American League wild-card series against the Astros?
“To me,” said Rogers, “this is normal.”
That says something, no? That what felt so different two months ago is the new reality for the player who makes the “bullpen games" possible.
“It’s not that difficult, you know, knowing all these (pitchers) now, and have caught them a few times,” Rogers said Friday from Progressive Field. “It’s just going after (hitters) with (the pitchers) strengths and knowing the game plan before that and just trying to find holes, man. I think it’s harder for them not knowing when they’re coming in.”
Rogers is being modest here. True, the adjustment was considerable for the pitchers, so many of whom have either been starters or were bred to be starters and now are being used as “closers” ... no matter the inning.
But let’s think about what Rogers has to do here. From inning to inning, he has to connect every hitter’s strength and weaknesses to every pitcher’s strength and weaknesses, all while thinking about how the hitter did the last time up ... against a different pitcher.
Now, that can be freeing, too, as manager A.J. Hinch noted, because hitters don’t get to the chance to see what a given pitcher has inning after inning; even the best pitchers struggle to get through the lineup a third time around because hitters develop rhythms and sense patterns.
“As a catcher, you know, you're no longer held hostage to having to set up a hitter or not show a hitter everything in the first at-bat or sort of worry too much about exposing your guys' stuff,” he said. “You can attack (the hitter) kind of like you do out of the bullpen and realize you can do anything you want, and you're probably not going to see (the hitter face the same pitcher) again. If you are going to see him again, maybe it's only one other time.”
So, while the catcher may lose the chance to gain feel, as he would have with a starter throwing six or more innings, the freedom to throw everything at a batter every time has its advantages.
The tradeoff is working, clearly.
And now?
“I’m just going to try to use our stuff to the game plan and go from there.”
THE KID:A.J. Hinch 'can't wait' to get Jackson Jobe back on mound against Cleveland in ALDS
Rogers is, by default less than design, the closest thing these young pitchers have to a leader. Tarik Skubal leads by talent and routine and is happy to offer advice. But Rogers is, at 29, the sage and the encyclopedia, and critical to Hinch’s grand design.
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| Rogers-Hanifee Wild Card Game 2 |
“You love having that guy back there,” said Will Vest, another piece of the relief rotation who happily sprints when the bullpen phone rings. “You know he's got a good game plan. He's unbelievable at just reading the game, reading what the hitters have done early and also matching that with what your strengths are.”
And?
“He doesn't have an ego as far as, you know, if you don't agree with him on a certain pitch or you want to shake,” said Vest, “and he's always open to kind of talking about things, or he's going to let you know why he wanted to do certain things.”
That's all critical to the relationship between a pitcher and a catcher. Rogers just happens to have it with every pitcher. The synergy matters most in high leverage moments.
This matters a bit, too:
“The best thing about (Rogers) is just his ability to keep things light,” said Vest. “You know, with such a young team, I think you gotta have that. I think that's what kind of keeps that energy alive is not taking things too seriously or putting too much pressure, which once you get to these situations, that could be easy to do.”
How Detroit Tigers built miniscule payroll into thrilling 2024 MLB playoff run
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2024/10/03/detroit-tigers-payroll-how-tigers-put-together-mlb-playoff-roster/75495698007/
Jared Ramsey
The Detroit Tigers scratched and clawed their way through an arduous rebuild and the result has finally arrived: The Motor City is home to an October winner again.
The Tigers advanced in MLB's postseason for the first time since 2013 after sweeping the Houston Astros 2-0 in the AL wild-card series. Detroit brought its brand of baseball into the home of the American League kings for the better part of the last decade, and squeezed them out of the World Series equation.
Outside of likely Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal pitching a six-inning gem in Game 1, the Tigers did it with a group that didn't garner much attention outside of the state of Michigan.
That is, until now, after they demanded the attention for two months straight with a miracle 31-11 stretch to lock up a playoff berth. The Tigers put the run together with a full team effort, and manager A.J. Hinch and the coaching staff leveraged each player on the roster to maximize their potential. And the result has been a young and talented group putting it all together and winning nearly nonstop.
DREAMING YET?:Inside a crazy clubhouse I saw a champagne rainbow linking 1984 Tigers to 2024 team
Here is a rundown of some of the aspects of how the Tigers constructed this playoff roster, from a buy-in to a message of grit, to how Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris went all-in on the Tigers' youth.
How the 'Gritty Tigs' were constructed
They have found every way to win, whether riding Skubal to a Game 1 win or Andy Ibáñez's winning three-run double to deliver a Game 2 win in a bullpen outing where seven pitchers were used. They were just the latest winning moments in this team's run, joining the Parker Meadows grand slam in San Diego, Trey Sweeney's bone-bruising catch in Baltimore, or the comeback win in the final week against Tampa Bay.
From a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs in early August to now facing the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, the hungry Tigers have found a way despite the odds time and time again. They have earned the nickname "Gritty Tigs" because of their resilience, matching a winning ethos in Detroit.
“I mean, our city's built on grit,” Hinch told reporters Wednesday in Houston. “I mean, that's what it is. And, you know, I remember saying that I wanted to have a team that the city was proud of. I think the city is pretty proud of what we're doing and how we're doing it, and the fight that this team shows, and we get to advance.”
This has been the plan laid out by Harris and it has unfolded quickly. Rather than going all-in on top free agents last winter, he stayed firm in leaving spots open for young players and adding on the fringes instead. (This, uh, did not work well for Troy Weaver and the Detroit Pistons.) The focus was to maximize the development of players in-house and see what the high-ranked farm system could produce, both short- and long-term, to try to build a sustained winner.
The plan looked bleak by midsummer with the Tigers struggling and trading three of those signings, Andrew Chafin, Mark Canha and Jack Flaherty, in exchange for prospects (including playoff starting shortstop Trey Sweeney). But, the youth movement worked and the Tigers bought into the plan and reacted well to Hinch's vision.
Young hitters like Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Parker Meadows rejoined the team after IL stints or a trip down to Triple-A to provide left-handed pop and clutch hitting.
Spencer Torkelson came back from Triple-A and hit .308 in 14 August games, and the stable of pitchers around Skubal turned into the most dynamic bullpen arsenal in baseball.
Here's what Tigers leadership told Free Press columnist Jeff Seidel last Friday about the plan, while wearing champagne-soaked shirts after clinching a playoff spot.
Harris: “Very satisfying. Our job is to adapt our strategy to the players we have. We have a pitching staff right now that is long on stuff and depth and really short on experience. So how do we change our approach to pitching, to put these guys in more comfortable positions, to allow them to help our team win? This is what we came up with and A.J. has done a masterful job of executing the plan, and more than that, the players deserve a ton of credit for the buy-in, and they understand why they're being used in certain situations.”
Tigers owner Chris Illitch: “I knew it was going to happen at some point. I'm not in the business of predicting, but you can see the tremendous progress up and down the organization, at the lowest levels, at the mid-levels, Low-A, High-A, Double-A — you're seeing it everywhere, and we're seeing it now at the major-league level. It's very, very exciting.”
FULL SCOOP:Give Scott Harris credit: His plan is clearly working for Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers playoff payroll 2024
Now, let's crack open the books and see how this breaks down.
Shock trickled through the baseball internet Wednesday when it was pointed out the Tigers wild-card roster was being paid less collectively in 2024 than Astros reliever Josh Hader — the shutdown lefty who blew Game 2 in the eighth inning. The Tigers' 26-man wild-card roster costs $18.8 million collectively, compared with Hader's $19 million AAV (average annual value) this season. Three other Astros, Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve, also fit this description.
The Tigers being as young as they are (25.7 is the average age of the 26-man wild-card roster) coupled with baseball's salary construction for players entering the league are the main reasons why. Most players are still early in their careers in the first six years of service time under team control, and are limited to how much they can make through the pre-arbitration and arbitration process.
The Tigers only had four players — Keith ($2.83 million), Skubal ($2.65 million), Rogers ($1.7 million) and Mize ($830,000) — on the playoff roster making $800,000 or more. Keith signed a long-term contract in January before his MLB debut; Skubal, Mize and Rogers signed one-year deals to avoid arbitration. The rest of the roster falls between the MLB minimum salary of $740,000 and $766,300, with closer Jason Foley and Greene on the high end.
Detroit Tigers' 2024 payroll
That $18.8 million figure paints a different picture than reality, however.
The Tigers' payroll ranked 23rd in the 2024 season, at $106.5 million, nearly $60 million lower than the average of all 30 teams, but far greater than what the Tigers are working with now.
Of course, this boils down to missed free-agent signings of past and present Tigers regimes.
The Tigers' highest-paid player is shortstop Javier Báez, making $25 million in 2024 as a part of the six-year, $140 million contract drawn by former general manager Al Avila. Báez has been on the injured list since late August and underwent hip surgery.
Second on the list is pitcher Kenta Maeda, who did not make the wild-card roster after being pulled from the rotation in the summer and going 3-7 with a 6.09 ERA this season. He received a two-year, $24 million deal before the season and is making $14 million in 2024.
So what has been the key to overcoming all of this? Well, in the words of Hinch, it's a gritty mindset, along with playing for everyone else in the clubhouse making the same sacrifices as them.
INSIDER:It's not easy to change in baseball. But that's what the Tigers did, amazingly
"If you can switch the psyche and maybe take a tick of the pride and ego out of it, anything's possible," Hinch told reporters Wednesday. "You can make decisions that put guys in a position to be successful.”
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2410.02 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 3379 days ago & DAD = 035 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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