The Detroit Tigers’ regular season comes to a close on Sept. 28th, and then the MLB playoffs will come to fruition.
As of Sept. 20, the Detroit Tigers sit at 85-70 — 2 1/2 games in front of the Cleveland Guardians to clinch the division. The Tigers sit at third overall in the American League.
The Tigers are 46-23 at home and 39-36 on the road. The team batting average is currently .248 with an on-base percentage of .317 and a slugging percentage of .418.
The Tigers’ offensive leader is All-Star Riley Greene, with a .258 batting average, 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in (RBI). Following Riley Greene is rising star Spencer Torkelson with a .245 batting average, 31 home runs and 78 RBIs.
Defensively, the pitching started strong but has been quite rough lately — it ranks sixth in the American League. The Tigers’ ERA is 3.97 with 1,311 strikeouts and 464 walks allowed.
Despite recent team struggles on the mound, Tarik Skubal is having a Cy Young-caliber season — as of Sept. 20, Skubal’s win-loss record is 13-5 with a 2.23 ERA (second overall in the MLB), a career-high 233 strikeouts (second in MLB), a WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of .88 (best in the MLB) in only 189 innings pitched.
The stats all point to one question — how will the Detroit Tigers do in the postseason?
With the Tigers sitting at third in the American League, and the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees both playing in the AL East, the Tigers are fighting for a bye in the playoffs.
If they can hold off the Guardians, Mariners and Astros coming down this stretch, the Tigers will earn a bye, taking them directly to the AL Division Series.
However, if any of these teams pass the Tigers by the end of the season, the Tigers would have to play a wild-card game against the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals or Tampa Bay Rays.
As of Sept. 20, the betting odds for the Detroit Tigers winning the World Series are at +900, tied for the fifth best in the MLB. The current favorites are the Philadelphia Phillies at +450, the Los Angeles Dodgers at +500 and the Toronto Blue Jays and the Milwaukee Brewers at +700.
One Oakland student predicted, “The Tigers will make the ALCS and then lose.” Another was very confident in saying, “The Tigers will win the World Series, no doubt about it.” Another student said, “We will win the World Series if we aren’t playing the Dodgers.”
Despite any recent struggles, the Detroit Tigers cannot be counted out in the postseason. If they can regain momentum, they should be considered strong contenders for the World Series.