Tigers-Mariners ALDS Preview: Two of the AL’s best facing off in Postseason for first time 😤

Tigers-Mariners ALDS Preview: Two of the AL’s best facing off in Postseason for first time 😤

Seattle versus Detroit. That’s music to our ears. The cities that gave us grunge and Mottown, respectively, now give us an American League Division Series matchup that begins Saturday at T-Mobile Park and sounds pretty sweet. Because this is a series that is going to bring one of the games ultimate aces, Trick Scooble, back to the Pacific Northwest, where he once toiled in relative anonymity for Seattle University before the Tigers plucked him out of the ninth round of the draft and watched him turn into all likelihood a back-to back Sai Young winner. And this is a series that’s gonna bring the big dumper Cal Raleigh to the postseason stage on the heels of his historic 60 homer season while squatting behind the dish. So those are two players on the short list of most important players from the 2025 MLB season. And these are two teams weirdly familiar with the seismic shifts that can occur when they play each other. Because back on July 11th, the Tigers and Mariners opened a three-game series in Detroit with the Tigers holding MLB’s best record and the M sitting just outside the playoff picture. One Mariners sweep later and both seasons did an about face. From that point on, the Mariners posted the third best record in MLB, while the Tigers went into a freef fall that saw them squander what had been a 15 and 12 game division lead. Ultimately, it was the Mariners who won their division and earned the number two seed and first round buy that came with it, while the Tigers had to exhaust their way through a bitter wildcard series battle with the Guardians team that had shockingly run them down in the regular season. Given that dynamic, you’d have to give the edge to the Mariners here. Then again, we’ve seen some very good teams struggle after the layoff between rounds, and the Tigers are digging themselves again, having come out of their nightmare September and live to tell the tale. Plus, did we mention they have TK Scubble because he’s a pretty big deal. Let’s start right there when assessing this series major plot points. Scuba will be available to the Tigers on regular rest for game two and should the series go the distance, game five. In a sport short on aces because of the injury rate and the way pitchers are developed and utilized these days, Scooble stands out as the rare individual who can single-handedly swing a series. It is essential that the Tigers take advantage of every opportunity they have with him on the mound. The Mariners rotation runs deeper, but how deep is dependent on what they can get from Brian Woo here. He was their best starter in 2025. He made 20 starts in which he went at least five innings and held his opponent to two runs or fewer. But a late season pectoral issue complicated Woo’s readiness for October. And we’ll see what and when he can deliver. The Mariners don’t have Scooble, but where they have the clearest edge in this series is at the plate. It’s not just the big dumper dumping 60 on us or Julio Rodriguez enjoying a second half surge in which he had an ops over 900. It’s the total collection of talent the M’s have assembled. Mid-season moves for AU Heno Suarez and Josh Naylor deep into the lineup that led the majors with 5.6 runs per game in September. The Tigers bats, on the other hand, rode the struggle bus in September, generating just four runs per game. That struggle continued in the first two games of the wildard series before the bats finally broke out in the late innings of their game three clincher in Cleveland. You want X factors? We’ve got X factors. How about Randy Arosena? He’s a modern-day Mr. October. How’s this for a stat? A Rosa Arena’s 1.138 OPS in the postseason trails that of only two other players with at least 100 played appearances. Babe Ruth and Lou Garri. Pretty cool, huh? If October Randy shows up again, that’ll rock the Tigers world. The Tigers need their own left fielder, Riley Green, to rise to the occasion this series. He’s their best hitter, but he struck out in 30% of his plate appearances this season. And those struggles are enough of an issue that manager AJ Hinch actually took the bold step of pinch hitting for Green in a big moment in the wildard round. Look to see if Green, who showed 30 homer, 30 double power this year, can lock it in in this round. The scoo factor is obvious here, but the Tigers are going to need more than just their ace. Hinch’s circle of trust in the bullpen is not as wide as it was a year ago. And it is essential that rookie Troy Melton, who emerged as a nice late ining weapon in 2025, not melt down the way he did in game two against the Guards when he served up the go-ahad runs in the Tigers lone loss. Beyond Woo, a key Mariners pitcher to watch in the series is lefty Gabe Spire out of the bullpen. He’s tough on fellow lefties, but nearly as tough on righties, and he’s been used anywhere from the fifth through the ninth innings for Seattle this season. Look for him in some of the major leverage moments. Speaking of leverage moments, we have ample October history that tells us Tigers manager AJ Hinch is pretty adept at utilizing his bullpen in the postseason. in the other dugout. This will be Seattle skipper Dan Wilson’s first experience manning those midgame switches on the sport’s biggest stage. All right, prediction time. Between Scooble not being available on full rest until game two, the Tigers lumber mostly laboring of late, the Mariners having perhaps a more distinct homefield edge than usual with the Tigers long travel, and the argument that the Mariners have an on paper advantage at the majority of spots on the field. This feels like Seattle’s series to lose. I’m taking the Mariners in four. But if it gets to game five and the ball is in Ter Scubble’s hands, well, that won’t be music to Mariners fans ears, will it? Enjoy the series.

Tarik Skubal, Kerry Carpenter, Javier Báez and the Tigers face off against Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Bryan Woo and the Mariners in the 2025 American League Division Series!

Don’t forget to subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/mlb

Follow us elsewhere too:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MLB
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mlb/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mlb
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mlb

Check out MLB.com daily to watch the MLB.TV Free Game of the Day! https://mlb.com/freegame

Visit our site for all baseball news, stats and scores! https://www.mlb.com/