The Detroit Tigers have put together back-to-back playoff seasons for the first time in a decade. And while Tigers fans feel great about it, each of those postseasons ended with a tinge of disappointment.
Detroit won the American League Wild Card series each postseason but ended up with a loss in the AL Division Series — and both series went to five games. In 2024 they lost to their divisional rival, the Cleveland Guardians, while they lost to the Seattle Mariners last season.
The Tigers have bolstered their rotation with the signings of Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander, the latter a reunion that has been a decade in the making. Detroit could use more offense, but they had a potent lineup a season ago.
Will it be enough to get the Tigers over the hump? October will tell. But as manager A.J. Hinch talked to his entire roster for the first time on Sunday in Lakeland, Fla., his message was clear — they must start from the bottom again.
A.J. Hinch’s Spring Training Message
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, left, talks to pitcher Justin Verlander. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
This isn’t a rebuild of course. But the Tigers know that with Tarik Skubal entering free agency after the season, the time is now to strike. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press posted part of what Hinch said his message was to his players on X (formerly Twitter).
“The analogy that I’ll use is that we’re back at the bottom of the mountain again, with clear goals,” Hinch said. “This team is a good team. We’ve got to go stack a ton of days and a ton of games. Everybody wants to know what’s going to happen at the end of the year. I just want to know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We try not to draw too many conclusions, but for these guys to forecast that the expectations have risen over the past few years, and the people that have been in this room for five or six years with me and some of my staff feel it, and that’s a great thing period it’s great to have an opportunity to do good.”
Detroit should be in a heated race to win the AL Central with the Guardians. Both teams have made the postseason the past two years. Cleveland was Detroit’s victim in the Wild Card series this past season, so the Tigers got a measure of revenge for the Guardians bouncing them from the 2024 playoffs.
Still, winning the AL Pennant will be a difficult climb. The Seattle Mariners looked just as good as a year ago. Toronto, which won the pennant last year, signed pitcher Dylan Cease and retained most of its offense, which was one of the best in the Majors. And, of course, there’s the New York Yankees.
The analogy works. The Tigers will have to work their way up to achieve their dreams of winning a World Series title for the first time since the 1984. That was the point Hinch wanted to get across on Sunday.
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