Detroit backed into the postseason after a September collapse, but a seasoned manager and an ace with a deadly changeup could flip the October script.
DETROIT, Michigan (AP) — The Detroit Tigers aren’t charging into October. They’re stumbling. After holding a commanding lead in the American League Central for most of the summer, the Tigers collapsed down the stretch, coughing up the division to the Cleveland Guardians and barely clinging to the last wild-card spot.
Now they’re here — battered, doubted, and written off in some corners. But if you look closer, there are reasons to believe this team could make noise in the playoffs.
Hinch brings October experience
A.J. Hinch knows October. The Tigers’ manager has taken teams to the World Series, won one, and navigated every kind of postseason game imaginable. For a roster short on playoff experience, that kind of steadying hand matters.
Playoff baseball is different. Every pitching change, every lineup tweak, every risk gets magnified. Hinch has shown he can pull the right strings in those moments. Just last year, he guided Detroit past Houston in the Wild Card round — against his old team, no less. If the Tigers are going to steady themselves now, Hinch will be the one to set the tone.
His biggest challenge will be managing a bullpen that melted down in September and keeping his young lineup from pressing. If he can do that, Detroit has a chance to shake off the slump that nearly ended its season.
Skubal’s ace-level arsenal
And then there’s Tarik Skubal. The left-hander is the kind of pitcher who can change a series all by himself. He just put together one of the best seasons in baseball — 13 wins, a 2.21 ERA, and more than 240 strikeouts. That’s the résumé of a true ace.
What makes Skubal truly dangerous is his changeup. It’s his best pitch, the one that makes hitters look helpless. Opponents batted just .174 against it this season, and nearly half the time they swung, they missed. When paired with his mid-90s fastball, the changeup keeps hitters off balance and guessing wrong.
Cleveland knows this all too well. Skubal faced the Guardians five times this year and dominated them, posting an 0.64 ERA and striking out 40 in 28 innings. If Detroit has any advantage in this series, it’s starting Game 1 with a pitcher who has already made Cleveland look ordinary.
Skubal has also shown he can handle the stage. He threw six scoreless innings against Houston in last year’s Wild Card opener. His career postseason ERA sits under 2.50. He doesn’t just have ace numbers — he has October poise.
The bigger picture
Of course, there are cracks. Detroit’s lineup has gone cold at times. Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson can carry an offense when they’re right, but the production hasn’t been steady. The bullpen has been unreliable, and the rotation behind Skubal doesn’t inspire much confidence. The Guardians, meanwhile, are young, hot, and confident — the exact opposite of a team limping into the postseason.
But October doesn’t always follow the script. It rewards teams that get big performances at the right moments. The Tigers have a manager who thrives in those moments and a pitcher who can tilt a series by himself. That alone makes them more dangerous than their September collapse suggests.
The Tigers don’t look like a powerhouse. They look like a team that barely survived the marathon. But in the postseason sprint, they don’t need to be perfect — they just need Hinch pushing the right buttons and Skubal throwing that changeup where nobody can touch it.
And if there’s one thing October has taught us before, it’s this: the teams that limp in are sometimes the hardest ones to knock out.
Up Next:
Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series is Tuesday at 1:08 p.m. ET at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Detroit will start Tarik Skubal (13–6, 2.21 ERA) against Cleveland’s Gavin Williams (12–5, 3.06 ERA).
The game will be televised on ESPN.
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