Detroit Tigers
2024 record: 86-76
3rd place, AL Central
Team ERA: 3.61 (4th in MLB)
Team OPS: .685 (23rd in MLB)
What Went Right
On August 10th, the Tigers lost their third game in a row. Detroit was 6-12 in its last 18 games and 13.5 games back in the division with a 55-63 record. What followed was a finish to the season so spectacular that Tigers fans will never forget it. Detroit went 31-11 to clinch the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2014 on the last Friday of the regular season. Manager A.J. Hinch described Detroit’s pitching strategy, which included only one established starting pitcher in Tarik Skubal (2.83 xFIP), entering the playoffs as “chaos.” The magic continued as the Tigers beat the Astros in the Wild Card series and took a 2-1 series lead over the Guardians in the Division series before the clock struck midnight on this Cinderella story. Skubal, the presumptive Cy Young award winner in the American League, and Riley Greene (135 wRC+) were the team’s two All-Star representatives. Kerry Carpenter (160 wRC+) was by far the Tigers best power hitter as he hit .282 with 18 home runs and a .303 ISO in 296 plate appearances. Parker Meadows (111 wRC+) was a revelation in the last two months of the season. He hit .296/.340/.500 with six home runs and five stolen bases over his last 47 games of the season and made some of the best plays of the year in centerfield. Jack Flaherty (2.60 xFIP) and Reese Olson (3.72 xFIP) gave the Tigers a solid top three starting pitchers in the first four months of the season before Flaherty was traded and Olson went down with a shoulder injury. The late season push was largely driven by a bullpen that featured Tyler Holton (2.19 ERA), Will Vest (2.82 ERA), Brant Hurter (2.58 ERA), Brenan Hanifee (1.84 ERA), and Sean Guenther (0.84 ERA).
What Went Wrong
The Tigers couldn’t score enough runs, which put too much pressure on their pitching staff and ultimately spelled the end of their magical run. Spencer Torkelson (92 wRC+) hit 31 home runs in 2023, but he spent almost two months of 2024 in the minors and hit just .219 with 10 home runs in 92 games. Javier Baez (43 wRC+) was the worst hitter in all of baseball who qualified for the batting title before he went down with an injury and didn’t play enough to qualify. Colt Keith (97 wRC+) got off to a slow start hitting .152 with no home runs in his first 30 games. Even when he got going, hitting .285 with a .144 ISO in his last 118 games, he didn’t hit…