Luckily for the younger generation of Detroit Tigers fans, they weren’t around for the 119-loss season in 2003 or the infamous Lions team that went winless five years later. By all accounts, they’ve been mildly spoiled in recent seasons, especially during Tarik Skubal’s consecutive Cy Young campaigns.
Not that this past weekend’s ugly four-game series against the Guardians should make things any easier. Despite leading for 26 of the 38 innings, Detroit dropped three of four, with all those losses coming in extra innings.
The Tigers season is over, but AJ Hinch still likes their fight
The Tigers woke up on Monday at 65-78 and 7.5 games back in the Wild Card race. Depending on how the final three weeks play out, they could finish with their first 90-loss season since 2022 and their fifth since 2017.
"I like our fight,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch nonetheless said. “I like [that] the guys are into it. We’re not going to quit. We’re not going to concede. We get to go home for a homestand. But this was a rough trip.”
Back on Aug. 13, the Tigers moved to 60-61 with a 3-0 victory over Cleveland. Hinch’s club had caught fire since the second half, and they’d left their 22-38 start long behind. Not even the Skubal trade looked to be a significant obstacle for a team seeking its third consecutive playoff appearance.
The Tigers were subsequently swept by the White Sox, and they haven't won a series since in over three weeks. Their recent misery includes another sweep, this time at the hands of the lowly Royals, and four walk-off losses.
The Tigers have been terrible in close games
Incredibly, Baseball-Reference believes the Tigers should be 77-66 because they’ve outscored opponents by 50 runs. That’d be enough to lead the AL Central and earn a first-round bye, which should only further infuriate fans. The talent is clearly there even without Skubal or Casey Mize, yet they’re 13-26 in one-run games.
“Close games don’t matter unless you win,” Hinch said Sunday.
For the sake of conversation, let’s say that the Tigers were 20-19 in one-run games. That’d put them at 72-71 and right in the thick of both the AL Central and Wild Card chases. Yikes. Talk about putting things in perspective.
Hinch and lead baseball executive Scott Harris deserve credit for helping get the Tigers back on track following a longer-than-intended rebuild. They inherited a team that had fallen so far since their early 2010s playoff runs, and the 77 wins Hinch recorded in 2021 marked the Tigers’ most since 2016.
As of Sept. 7, there have been no credible reports about either being on the hot seat. Hinch signed an extension last season, though the team did not disclose terms. Harris joined the Tigers following the 2022 season, and it is unclear how long his initial contract was for. It’s also worth noting that ownership never announced an extension, meaning that he could still be on that first contract.
If all parties believe that this year simply came down to bad luck in the late innings, then we’d expect them to run it back with the status quo in 2027. Otherwise, prepare to see history repeat itself next summer.
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