The Detroit Tigers have been baseball’s hottest team, rattling off 31 wins in 43 games to go from eight games under .500 to 11 games over and into the postseason for the first time in a decade. That they’ve done so is nothing short of remarkable. Not only were most outside expectations relatively low coming into the campaign, the A.J. Hinch-led team has dominated September with a starting staff largely comprising of Tarik Skubal, unheralded rookie Keider Montero, and an array of openers. On the season, Detroit Tigers starters have thrown 748-and-a-third innings, the fewest in the majors (notably with a 3.66 ERA, fourth best in the majors). There is obviously more to why the Tigers have emerged as a surprise team — not to mention a legitimate postseason contender — than the presence of an ace left-hander and Hinch’s expertise in mixing and matching starters and relievers. That is a deeper dive than fits here in Sunday Notes, but I did ask the “Why are the Tigers good?” question to three people who saw them sweep a series just this past week. I asked a second question as well: “What was the atmosphere like at Comerica Park?”
“From an atmosphere standpoint it was one of the best we’ve seen this year,” said Tampa Bay Rays broadcaster Andy Freed. “What impressed me most is that our first game there was supposed to be a night game, and because of rain coming in it was moved to the day. We thought, ‘What are they going to get, 5,000 people?’ It was a Tuesday and school was in session, but they got a great crowd. People decided they were still going to come to the baseball game. It reminded me how great of a sports town Detroit is. And they were into every pitch. It was the closest I’ve felt to a postseason atmosphere all year, except for maybe Philadelphia.
“People should know what’s going on with the Detroit Tigers right now,” continued Freed. “I think that’s a fascinating team. What they’ve done with one starter and bull-penning the rest is revolutionary. We’ve done some of that, but the Tigers are doing it more than the Rays ever have. Imagine facing them in a three-game series. Skubal starts game one and they’re unpredictable for the next two days. How in the world do you plan for that?”
“Great atmosphere,” said Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash. “They showed up at one o’clock for a game was supposed to be at six. It got loud there. It probably helped that Skubal was on the mound. We had some exciting games and their fans really got engaged when they got some stuff going. That won’t be an inviting place for teams to go [in the playoffs]. Why are they so good? Skubal and the way their pitching is able to match up. They’ve got some very talented right-handed relievers and left-handed relievers. A.J. understands what makes those guys good. He’s going to do everything he can to maximize that.”
“When I was there, the only time we had an atmosphere like that was when Miggy was doing something cool,” said left-hander Tyler Alexander, who is in his first year with the Rays after pitching for the Tigers from 2019-2023. “When he was one homer away from 500, I think we had a sellout. When he was one hit away from 3,000 [hits], same thing. Those were fun home crowds.
“I don’t really know why they’re winning. They’re young. They’re situationally hitting. They’re just finding ways to win. They’ve always thrown the ball well. The Detroit fans have wanted that team to be good for a long time, so I’m glad they’re finally showing them a good baseball team. It was loud. And Detroit fans are smart, so they know when to be loud. I’m happy for them.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Wes Parker went 6 for 17 against Turk Farrell. Jim Lefebvre went 6 for 9 against Bo Belinsky. Maury Wills went 14 for 27 against Roy Face. Jim Gilliam went 12 for 31 against Roger Craig. John Roseboro went 14 for 97 against Juan Marichal.
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The Twins were eight games over .500 and still firmly in the hunt when they beat Boston in 12 innings on September 20 at Fenway Park. With Cleveland postseason bound, and Minnesota, Detroit, and Kansas City then competing for the final two Wild Card berths, I asked Rocco Baldelli for this thoughts on the American League Central.
“It’s been a wild year,” said Minnesota’s manager. “It’s been incredibly competitive from the start. You go to play these teams and you really have to be ready to go. You have an MVP candidate on one team in Bobby Witt Jr. You have exceptional pitching around the division. There is some real talent, and the way they’re executing has shown up. And it’s shown up pretty quickly. Some groups, including our own… I mean, there has been a lot of change over the last year or two. It’s challenging to go out there and win a game, win a series, right now in the division. I think it’s good for everyone.”
The stretch run was anything but good for Baldelli’s squad. The Twins will miss the postseason after qualifying last season while posting the division’s only winning record. Four AL Central clubs will finish over .500 this year, and while that includes the defending champs, disappointment nonetheless abounds in the Twin Cities.
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A quiz: John Franco and Jesse Orosco are two of the three left-handed pitchers to have recorded 100 or more saves with the New York Mets. Who is the third? (A hint: He is better known for his success with another team.) The answer can be found below.
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NEW NOTES
Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be the new manager of the Cape Cod League’s Falmouth Commodores beginning next season. John Baumgartner, a third baseman who played in seven games for the Detroit Tigers in 1953, died earlier this week at age 93. The University of Alabama product went 5-for-27 in his brief big-league career. The sixth annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference was held virtually on September 20-22, You can watch highlights here.
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The answer to the quiz is Billy Wagner, who had 101 of his 422 career saves while wearing a Mets uniform. If you guessed Tug McGraw, he had 86 of his 180 career saves as a Met.
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Freddy Fermin batted in the leadoff position when Royals played the Tigers in Detroit on August 8, prompting a Kansas City beat writer to ask why in a pregame media session. Fermin, a DH on that particular day, is a backup catcher, albeit one who’d gone 8-for-12 over the past three games. “What is typical?” Quatraro replied rhetorically. “There was a certain era where there was a certain type of hitter. Now it’s a little different. My message to Freddy is just, ‘Do your thing.’ I mean, if goes up there and swings at the first pitch and hits it hard, that’s a good at-bat. If he takes a couple of pitches… just have a good at-bat like he’s been doing all along. You only lead off once, right? The rest of the game is dictated by how these guys do, so I don’t want to put too much into it.”
Being part of that day’s scrum, I proceeded to ask the Manager-of-the-Year candidate if, philosophically speaking, a leadoff hitter would ideally be a high-OBP guy? Maximizing the number of plate appearances he gets would be one of the reasons why. “I would agree with that,” said Quatraro. “But not every team… back in the ‘80s, early ‘90s, everybody that hit at the top of the order was a speed guy. They were trying to just put the ball on the ground for the most part. But typical now is that not every team is doing the same thing. People change it up day to day. There are more matchup-based leadoff guys. Not every team has a high on-base-percentage guy they can put in that spot. There is also more of a premium on…”
