Tigers Coming Home in ALDS: What Will Detroit Do?

Tigers Coming Home in ALDS: What Will Detroit Do?

The Tigers split in Seattle. What does that mean for the rest of the ALDS? We’ll talk about that and much more all today on Locked on Tigers. You are Locked on Tigers, your daily Detroit Tigers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What is up everybody? Welcome back to another edition of Locked On Tigers. I’m of course your host, Scott Bentley. Today is Tuesday, October 7th, 2025. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Tigers your first listen every single day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every single day. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown MLB for $20 off of your first purchase. Welcome in, welcome all. Happy Tuesday to everybody. We are going to talk shocker about the American League Divisional Series in which the Detroit Tigers are currently, at the time of this recording, tied one to one against the Seattle Mariners. So, what is the outlook the rest of the series? Do we feel good about it? Do we feel bad about it? What do the Tigers need to do in order to for more people to feel good about it and to potentially advance to the ALCS? All of that and more on today’s show. So, for starters, and and we laid this out yesterday, and a lot of people have, I’m sure, laid it out a million different times just from when I’m recording this to when you’re actually listening to it. But the Tigers are set up very nicely here on paper. Now you have to execute and that’s the scary part. But it’s it’s it’s really really fun to sit here and say, “Wow, look how you know nice they they sit and look how great of a situation the Tigers are in.” Whatever. Actually watching them execute when they strike out every other at bat is mildly concerning. So we’ll talk about that a little later. But on paper, there are three games remaining. Two of them are at Com Park and one is in Seattle and it’s TK school starting. That is pretty much best case scenario, dare I say, for the Tigers. I guess best case scenario in the series is obviously a sweep and that would require them to have one on Sunday. I’m not saying they’re necessarily in the best case scenario right now. Um, but they have set themselves up very nicely. I’m not sure you can get too much better in a now basically a makeshift three-game series than two games at home and then your ace in the non-home game is my point. So, because it’s a split, that’s where you find yourself. Also, because it’s split, the winner of game three doesn’t, how do I word this? Doesn’t have that much of an upper hand to me because game five, nothing that previously happened really matters. That that that’s a oneame sample size. Anything can happen. We’ve seen it time and time again. So, if you win, what I’m saying is if the Tigers go out there and win game three, that’s awesome. Okay, that’s fantastic. But the series is very far from over. And if they lose game three, it’s very far from over. It’s just we’re we’re working with margins that are paper thin at this point in the postseason. All you have to do to combat a three game a game three loss rather is is win two games in a row, which to a major league team, especially one of the caliber of teams left in the postseason is not very far-fetched. So, it should be close. It should be fun. What do we want to see from the Detroit Tigers in this game? Obviously, the answer to that is a win. For starters, they haven’t won a home game in about a month. That’s a real stat, unfortunately. So, I’m talking about, you know, babbling about how nice it is to have two home games and then a scoo start. It’s like, well, on paper, but again, the execution matters obviously. And it has literally been about a month since the Detroit Tigers have won a game at Kame Park, which may not be called that relatively soon. We’ll talk about that at the end of the show. So, what do the Tigers need to do to change that? Well, this is going to shock you. They need to hit better with runners in scoring position. Um, that that’s we won’t spend too much more time on it. I know that your ears are bleeding with how often myself and every other Tigers media person and and beat writer etc is talking about the missed opportunities with runners in scoring position. Um the thing I will say is that the Mariners have been quiet in that regard as well. I think the difference is that and I’m not saying that Mariners fans are sitting like uber confident necessarily, but I I think the difference from maybe a third party that doesn’t have a rooting interest in either of these teams that have known nothing but pain for the better part of 40 years is that the Mariners have a lot of guys with a track record of hitting or at least a lot more of a legitimate track record than a large percentage of the Tigers lineup. And I think more third-party fans and and uh analysts, front office people, whatever people around the game of baseball are probably going to be under the assumption that if you’re just waiting it out to see which offense explodes first, you’re probably going to assume that the Mariners off lineup would just be the one to do that before the Tigers simply because it’s bigger and better names and honestly ly in the regular season, especially post trade deadline after the acquisitions they made, the Mariners had one of the best lineups in the entire American League in the second half of the season. From the Tigers perspective, please, for the love of everything, strike out less. A and that’s really easy for me to say and a lot harder to execute. Major League pitching is the best it’s ever been in the history of baseball. Um, but 26 strikeouts in two games is nuts, dude. Okay, there there’s 27 outs in a game. Now, game one went into extras, so obviously that’s not true necessarily in this series, but they have recorded almost an entire nine in games worth of outs as strikeouts in 20 innings of baseball. That is diabolical. Okay, that just simply cannot happen. And you are not going to go on a playoff run that lasts too much longer if that continues to be the case. You got to figure out how to cut down on the strikeouts. Now, I say that and again, a lot easier said than done. One of the reasons why it’s a lot easier said than done is because uh you face Logan Gilbert in game three. He may strike out like 25 people. He he may have the record for strikeouts in a game. He may have the first ever perfect perfect game with 27 strikeouts. Um this is a guy that has one of the highest strikeout rates in all of baseball. He has one of the highest whiff rates in all of baseball. And he pairs it with a low walk rate, a a well below league average walk rate, sub6%. [Music] He’s really good. Okay. He’s a frontline starter. He’s one of the best starting pitchers that the American League has to offer. And in a a game in which at home you desperately not only want to win, but need to cut down on the whiffs and strikeouts, you’re now faced with a guy that does almost exclusively that on the mound. It’s going to be an uphill battle. Okay, let’s talk about that more a little bit. what makes Logan Gilbert great and then we’ll obviously talk more about the Tigers and what we want to see from them going forward. We’ll do all of that right after this. First though, got to talk to you’all about our friends over at Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all of their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. 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And we will, of course, be back tomorrow recapping game three of the American League Divisional Series against the Seattle Mariners. It’s good to be talking postseason ball, man. I know this seems very frustrating and has been for the better part of two months. Um, but they find themselves in a nice position to to make another go at this series and advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2013. Man, man. Wow. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. Got some work to do first. Obviously, it is going to be an uphill battle with a guy like Logan Gilbert on the mound. Uh we talked before the break about his peripherals. Uh the fast ball he has is one of the best in the sport and I think that that is going to be an interesting storyline. So there’s a chance that he just overpowers the entire lineup, right? And that he’s just Logan Gilbert and his fast ball is just different than everybody else’s. He’s got the elite extension along with it. That’s one of the many reasons why it’s so valuable. Um I I think he is literally the 100th percentile of extension actually. I’m pretty sure that’s true. I’m pretty sure he is literally the the extendiest starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, which means that he’s letting go of the ball closer to home plate than anybody. And the fast ball goes 95 96 miles an hour. Very tough to hit for a reason. Now, the one silver lining there is the Tigers actually have hit fast balls relatively well throughout the course of the season, but not everyone is Logan Gilbert. So, it’s a kind of a a give and take. The also other thing with that is the Tigers really struggle by and large against nearly everything else. They’ve hit fast balls again relatively well. There’s been ups and downs. Certainly, there’s been a lot more downs than ups here in the month of September and going into October, but they have by and large hit well against the fast ball top to bottom. The secondary stuff has been an Achilles heel for a lot of hitters on this team. So, we’ll see what Gilbert offers in terms of game plan. You know what I mean? It’ll just be interesting to see if he just sticks with his guns, fastball heavy, and he’s confident that he can blow it by this lineup. I I’d be relatively confident in that as well if I were him. Um, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if he went out there and threw a lot of secondary stuff knowing that there’s a good chunk of this lineup that struggles against anything that’s not a fast ball, especially at the very bottom of the lineup and even like Glaver Torres at the top of it. Now, another kind of crack in the armor here for Gilbert is that he traditionally does not go very deep into ball games on the season. Logan Gilbert has only thrown past the fifth inning 13 times and he has only thrown past the sixth inning um well only past the sixth inning three times. So, most of his outings are only five innings. And that’s again obviously 13 times he pitched into the sixth inning only three times into the seventh inning and he has not pitched in the eighth or ninth inning yet this season. Also even when he has pitched into those innings he has struggled. His erra in the sixth inning on the year is 9.58 and in the three times the threeame sample size he has thrown into the seventh inning his RA is 10.8. So you’re talking about between the sixth and seventh inning combined an RA of about 10 just under 10. So, even if okay, you’re still striking out every other at bat, make sure he’s at least throwing a lot of pitches and working for it because he doesn’t walk people despite these numbers. Make sure you’re going deep into counts, you’re fighting. Get him out of there before the fifth inning even, right? That’s going to be a key here. A and that’s been similar to a lot of the postseason. I’m not telling you any, you know, like mind-boggling new information necessarily, but getting him out of the game early is is going to be huge. Especially if, for the love of everything, you have an opportunity to score in those first four or five innings, you have to take advantage. That would be the ultimate counter strike here. Okay, we’re going to strike out, you know, 12 times in in four innings, right? great. But if you can just get a even if it’s just one or two runs across against him, knock him out after the fifth inning and then go up against a already very taxed Mariners bullpen, even with the off day on Monday, a very taxed bullpen. That’s an opportunity and that’s a situation that I think we will take 10 out of 10 times given how the team has performed offensively over the last month. Pitching matchups for the Tigers. They are going to go with Jack Flity in game three, Casey Meis in game four. We’ll start with Flity just because chronological Flity’s numbers are kind of all over the place, so it’s hard to analyze. I I’m almost just at a point where I’m just going to kind of throw up my hands and be like, well, it’s either going to be really good Jack Flity or the Jack Flity that has struggled. Like, I I don’t know which version you’re really going to get. In Cleveland, he was good enough. Um, will he do that again? I I I think for Jay Flair, it it it pretty much comes down to fast fall and and that’s something, man, I can remember when the Tigers signed Flity for the fir the first time, not the the most recent time, I guess. They signed him for the first time two winters ago, talking about how, well, when the fast ball’s good, he’s good. The fast ball’s fallen off, so he’s fallen off. That’s really nothing has changed in that regard. the breaking stuff is always going to be there and it’s a relatively consistent offering in terms of the numbers against it. The fast ball it continues to be inconsistent and it has been his whole career. So if that thing’s 94 and being located well then it should be a good day and if it’s not then then we might be in trouble already off rip. Casey Mai in game three. Mai struggled with command a lot in Cleveland. only went a little over two innings. Uh he’s also been relatively hit or miss. I think that’s fair to say. Uh he was he’s pitching at home obviously in this game for he has been better at home than the road for whatever that’s worth to you. He’s been about half a run erra wise better at home than on the road in 2025. So that’s something. Hopefully that translates to the postseason as well. But this is a similar conversation, man, just with a different pitch. If the splitter is located well and moving well, then it’s going to be a pretty darn good day for Casey Mai. If it’s not, then you might be in for a long one, or I guess a really short one because Hinch is going to pull him relatively early. The fast ball is a a pitch that now consistently sits mid 90s. He he’s he has made it so that and and made adjustments rather so that that is something he can consistently do. It doesn’t get very much swing and miss, but it sets up the splitter. That’s the whole point of having it. He gets called strikes on it because he can throw at the knees when people are sitting splitter and vice versa. The slider was the best I’ve ever seen it in Boston in the regular season. Really, that outing was some of the best pure stuff that I’ve ever seen from Casey M. I thought he was stellar. Was kind of all over the place in Cleveland, however. So, we’ll we’ll see which version of both of these guys we get. I would imagine that both starters have pretty short leashes. Um Scooble went seven on Sunday. You have an off day on Monday. Obviously, you play then Tuesday, Thursday, and then you have another off day no matter what happens on Thursday. So, and then scooble if needed Friday, but you’d empty the clip, you know, in a winner or go home game five anyway. So, I I I really think that these are going to be short leashes and and maybe relatively short outings. Now, if if they’re dominating, they’re dominating. Okay, then you just let them go for as long as you feel comfortable. But you can kind of afford to empty the clip with relievers over the next two days. And I think that that’s an advantage for the Tigers, not only just because they’ve done that so much over the last two seasons, but again, Seattle has already taxed their bullpen so much. Munoz is is in the middle of like the the most uh like the most usage in a stretch that he’s had in in like his entire career and we’re like two games into it. But we’ll see how the both bullpens are managed kind of the rest of the way. Another X factor here is going back to the offensive side of the ball for Detroit and for Seattle is power and we will do that right after this. 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So, download the Game Time app, create an account, use code lockdown MLB for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code L O C K D O N MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download game time today. All right, everybody. Welcome back here. Third and final segment locked on Tigers. Appreciate you all for tuning in as always as we talk about the dynamic of the ALDS going forward. The last thing I want to talk about before we move on here, I think power at the plate is could I mean you could argue is going to be the deciding factor in this series. Both offenses have been pretty quiet so far. The Tigers have been really bad with runners and scoring position and limiting strikeouts as we’ve talked about blah blah blah. What’s the only thing that can counteract being terrible in those two departments? It’s hitting home runs, right? That’s that’s your pull in case of emergency. That’s the only thing that can mitigate just being completely incompetent in those two in those two areas. You don’t have to hit with runners in scoring position to put a run on the board if it goes over the wall. And you can strike out all you want as long as the three or four hits you do have go over the wall. It’s the only option left. Again, I’m not saying to like sell out for power. They they clearly have not earned the right to do that. I’m saying if there is a difference maker between these two teams in a very limited sample the rest of the way, it might just be power because neither team is putting the ball in play a whole lot so far. So, Green, Torqulson, Carrie Carpenter. Carpenter obviously had the big home run in Seattle. Um, but Green and Tolson have been pretty quiet in that department up to this point in the postseason. That is something that would go an awfully long way and would help uh not feel the burden of those two shortcomings nearly as much if the Tigers were able to do that. Okay, game three is 400 PM Tuesday. Today, as you listen to this, game four is 300 PM. So, you’re doing a reverse there on Wednesday and then no matter what happens, they’re not playing baseball on Thursday. Whether they split those two games and there’s going to be a game five or whether they win both, lose both, doesn’t matter. There will be no baseball for the Tigers on Thursday. The Tigers are doing an orange out on game three at least. I’m I’m not sure. So, they haven’t announced what the plan is for game four yet, but for game three, the Tigers will be doing an orange out. So, if you are attending, make sure you wear all orange. We’re going to try to make Kica Park rocking with, you know, 40 45,000 people all in orange. Okay, cool. Other news and notes, the Arizona Fall League kicks off uh on Monday. So yesterday as you listen to this tonight as I record this um so we got we already talked about a couple of weeks ago the Tigers prospects that they’re sending to the AFL and when the Tigers season ends whenever that is we’ll obviously talk about that a little bit more in depth and kind of what it looks like etc. Very cool though. Kevin McGonagal at shortstop over there. So you get to see him play. Always a fun league. A lot of offense. Only other thing I really want to talk about from the Tigers perspective is the fact that Comica Park may not be named Kria Park much longer. Um Com Bank was bought out I think by Fifth Third Bank and uh was absorbed in that regard. So we’ll see. Uh there’s rumors that even by like two seasons from now that the a name change could be imminent. Um yeah, we’ll see. I mean, we’ve seen that with a couple other, you know, parks around baseball is is, you know, in Houston just uh what was that last season or was that this season the first year that they weren’t Minutem made anymore? So, um yeah, I mean, we’ve seen that around and and that’s something that could be happening to the Tigers. I doesn’t really I don’t really care too terribly much. Um, yeah, that it’s not something that really like bothers me or or like enlightens me. Either way, I’m I’m cool. Whatever. The the it it’s a brand name anyway, man. Like, it’s not like they’re taking it away from Tiger Stadium or or, you know, like Detroit Field or something like it’s, you know what I mean? It’s it it’s a brand anyway. Like, whatever. I it’s it’s it’s a bidding war ultimately. I don’t really care. Um, the park inside the park is what I care about and I I I do love Kameria Park and have a lot of memories there. So, that’s all that matters to me. Around the league, got a lot of good postseason action. I’m about to end this so that I can go watch Dodgers Phillies, which has been very exciting so far. Cubs Brewers as well. you know, that that’s a fun storyline series just because of the the like Craig Council situation. You know, new team faces old team. I think that’s kind of cool. Dodgers Phillies, I mean, there’s some pundits out there that think that’s just the World Series and whoever wins that series is just going to going to win it all this year. And uh it’s hard to argue against that really. Um I I think baseball postseason is a little bit more um dare I say random for that to happen, right? Anything can really happen. So, not sure I’d go that far, but it’s it’s hard to to counter that point. And then the other American League series has been wildly uncompetitive so far as the Toronto Blue Jays have just smacked around the New York Yankees two games in. Their backs are against the wall. Uh Toronto’s one win away from an American League Championship Series appearance, their first one in quite some time. Okay, let’s go win a ball game, man. Let’s go win a ball game. Thanks for making it lockdown, Tigers. Your first listen every single day. Shout out to the everyday that do tune in every day. And we will of course be back tomorrow recapping game three of the American League Divisional Series. Peace and love. Going to the dope and I’ll catch you all tomorrow, baby. Go Tigers.

Today we discuss the Detroit Tigers ALDS against the Seattle Mariners. We talk Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty, and more!

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