The Detroit Tigers were once the top team in all of baseball, reaching 60 wins before any other team, and looking like a top World Series contender. But, after a disastrous second half, they’re now on the cusp of losing the AL Central, and potentially being bounced out of the postseason before it even begins.
While Detroit would need to have a lot go wrong to miss the postseason, the fact that it’s within the realm of possibility is a sign of how bad this collapse has been.
Amid this historic collapse, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch revealed in a piece from Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic that he knows “exactly” what is going wrong with the Tigers, but wouldn’t share what exactly was going wrong.
A.J. Hinch says he knows ‘exactly’ what’s going wrong with Detroit amid historic collapse
“As a baseball person,” Hinch said. “I know exactly what’s going on and what has gone on. I’ll have plenty of time to process all this in due time. But I try to get these guys ready to play the next day because it is the day that we can control and the day we can right the ship and get back in the win column.”
Hinch hinted at the ongoing issue with the Tigers, but he also didn’t state what said issue is, or how to fix it. Detroit’s collapse isn’t a short-term, one-series thing. It’s been a long, drawn-out collapse that’s been agonizing to watch.
From being up 15.5 games at one point this season, and even being up 10.5 games in September, to now being a full game back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central, with just four games left.
A Guardians win over Detroit on Thursday night would effectively end the Tigers’ chances of winning the Central. Cleveland’s magic number would be one with the tie-breaker over Detroit.
With how lifeless the Tigers have looked recently, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Cleveland sweep Detroit. The Tigers have lost 11 of their last 12 games, including five to the Guardians.
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This collapse, if the Tigers can mount a comeback in the final four games of the year, would officially be the worst blown division lead (15.5 games) by any team in baseball history.
The only thing sparing the Tigers at this point from total and complete embarrassment is that they will still likely make the postseason. While Detroit’s collapse is the headliner, the Houston Astros’ collapse is also catastrophic.
Houston would effectively need to win out to supplant the Tigers in the wild card. And while Detroit has floundered lately, it’s not very likely that Houston gets hot out of nowhere, and the Tigers can’t scrounge together at least one win.
Regardless of how the postseason standings work out, this collapse is one that the Tigers will have to evaluate in the offseason. But, for Hinch, he knows what’s going wrong with this team.
This comment from Hinch seems to point to something not apparent to the onlooker. Whatever Hinch sees, he’s running out of time to address it. And while Detroit will still liekly make the playoffs, there will be a lot to answer for this winter, especially if Detroit is bounced out of the first round of the postseason.
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