Two more wins.
That’s how far the Detroit Tigers are from their fourth straight winning month.
Not two wins in the past, those games you wish they’d taken one more pitch, pushed one more run across. (AKA, those two losses to the Blue Jays this weekend.)
But two more wins in the two games remaining in August: Monday against the Twins and Tuesday against the Athletics. (Oddly enough, those teams will be looking for at least one win of their own to lock in a winning August; they’re both 13-12 entering Monday.)
UPDATE: Tigers ‘less optimistic’ about injured catcher Jake Rogers returning in 2021
Most recently for the Tigers, August has been when soaring temperatures (and humidity) and crashing hopes collide at Comerica Park for a thunderstorm of, well, disappointment, if we can wax weatherly for a moment. But if the Tigers can get those two wins, they’ll be 14-12 in the month, after going 38-70 in four previous Augusts combined.
Hello, and welcome to the Not-so-Dog Days of August Newsletter.
Then again, if you were blinded a bit by back-to-back one-run losses at Comerica Park — a sprinkle of disappointment, but hardly a downpour — August 2021 was actually a good month for baseball in Detroit.
Miguel Cabrera went from 497 homers to 501, gaining a bit of baseball immortality along the way. (We caught up with the crew he joined here.)
The kids from the Taylor North Little League went 4-0 in the Great Lakes regional and then 5-1 at the Little League World Series to win the whole darn thing. (Read more about Sunday’s title clincher here.)
And of course, the Tigers managed to get themselves to 12-12 despite dropping series to Cleveland (twice!), the Angels (a sweep) and the Jays. But they also took series from a decent Red Sox squad, those same Jays in Toronto and, uh, the Orioles. (This is where we thank MLB’s schedulers for spreading games against the O’s over two months. It’s not as record-boosting as, say, the Rays going 18-1 against them, but every bit helps.)
Then again, even those two losses to the Jays were good, in their own way; they were a reminder that while the Tigers can eye the postseason in 2022 and beyond (or at least say they are), they won’t get there without doing the work, without scratching out runs on offense and clawing out runners with sharp defense.
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That’s a big part of what manager AJ Hinch meant, when he offered up one of our personal August highlights: this quote (as reported by the Freep’s Evan Petzold): “We’re going to re-establish ourselves as a winning franchise and develop a winning culture. If you want to be a part of it, then you’ll come. If you don’t, then we’ll beat you.”
It’s a quote that’s part “Detroit vs. Everybody” sales pitch as the free agent market approaches in November, but there’s also a reminder to Hinch’s players: Every game counts, even the ones in godawful August. Because soon enough, it’ll be September, when the going (and a .532 strength of schedule) gets tough.
The 501 club
Did we mention Miguel Cabrera? Feels like we should talk some more about Miggy. As we noted last week, No. 500 departed the park in Toronto. That homer, and the 499 before it, prompted the Freep’s Jeff Seidel to ponder what has made Cabrera the face of the Tigers over the past decade; read here to find out when his essence truly shined through. And of course, Our Man Petzold has the story here of how MLB tracked the actual ball from No. 500 and why the man in charge called it “the greatest honor of my career.” We also looked back on the homers Miggy HASN’T hit in this piece, and thankfully No. 501 on Tuesday didn’t make us rewrite it.
And then there’s the future — not 3,000 hits, though we’ll note that he’s 39 away with 31 games left this season — but, instead, the postseason. Our Man Petzold has the scoop here on why Cabrera’s teammates are hoping the big man gets one more postseason run. There’s a deadline on that, too; on Wednesday, Cabrera confirmed here he’s planning on playing out the final two years of his contract — through 2023 — and calling it a career.
The push for ‘22
While Miggy looking to 2023, the Tigers organization is focusing in on 2022. That included freeing up some roster spots for youngsters who’ve played well in Toledo — no, really, not those youngsters — as Hinch looks toward building next year’s roster.
We’re pretty sure that roster will include Casey Mize, but the youngster has his own goal for the rest of this season: Being ready for the 2022 postseason, as Our Man Petzold reports here.
And then there’s young reliever Alex Lange, who is far from guaranteed a roster spot. The 25-year-old has a simple mantra, though, as Our Man Petzold explains: “Focus where your feet are.” Click here to find out what else Lange is focused on for the rest of the season.
3 to watch
Here are 3 more players fighting for spots on the fringes of the 2022 roster:
DAZ CAMERON: 24-year-old is the odd man out in a crowded outfield, for now.
DUSTIN GARNEAU: Holds onto backup catcher spot despite Eric Haase’s return.
WILY PERALTA: Fastball command suggests he’s finally a ‘complete pitcher.’
Party like it’s 2004
Speaking of youngsters, August brought a nearly unprecedented triumph for the kids of Taylor North Little League, as they became the second Michigan team to win the Little League World Series, 62 years after Hamtramck did it in 1959. Of course, there was at least one player at Comerica Park who knew exactly how they felt: Jonathan Schoop, who won it all with Curacao in 2004. Our Man Petzold relived Schoop’s breakthrough victory with the Tigers infielder; read to find out why Schoop says the championship game changed his life.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, Booooyyyyyyyyyyddddddd!
It wasn’t quite 17 years ago the last time Matthew Boyd pitched for the Tigers, but it felt a bit like it Sunday as he made his first start since June 14. Boyd pitched well enough to win, despite allowing two solo homers, but was on a pitch count and was pulled after four innings. (Perhaps the Tigers’ bats are on a pitch count, too, explaining why they managed just five runs the entire weekend.) Click here to find out from Our Man Petzold why Boyd is ‘honored’ to be in the rotation with Mize, Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal.
Happy birthday, Santi!
Longtime Tigers infielder Ramon Santiago, now coaching third base, turns 42 on Thursday. He had a moment in the spotlight on Saturday night, as he sent Victor Reyes home for the winning run on his inside-the-park homer. Read here for the praise from Hinch on the call.
Other Tigers birthdays this week: John Hicks (32 on Tuesday), Hideo Nomo (53 on Tuesday), Nate Robertson (44 on Friday), Luis Gonzalez (54 on Friday), Doyle Alexander (71 on Saturday),
Mark your calendar
It’s a seven-game week as the calendar turns from August to September, with a makeup of July 16’s rainout against the Twins on Monday, a three-game set against the Athletics at Comerica Park from Tuesday-Thursday and a three-game set against the Fightin’ Nick CastellanosesReds in Cincinnati from Friday-Saturday.
The lack of off days will jumble the rotation a bit, with Wily Peralta returning from the IL to start against the A’s on Wednesday. The Tigers’ sudden surplus of starting arms means Jose Urena — himself recently back from the IL — will likely work long relief every few days. Our Man Petzold broke down here why the Tigers (and Urena) feel that’s a better choice than shoehorning him into the rotation.
TL;DR
One final great thing in August: Tarik Skubal. The lefty has quietly struck out 27 batters with just three walks — good for fourth in the majors in strikeout-to-walk rate for the month among pitchers with at least 20 innings — while posting a 1.59 ERA over 22⅔ innings. He gets one more start in the month, too: Tuesday against the A’s.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.