And so another Detroit Tigers season comes to a close.
This wraps up the fourth season we’ve been doing this newsletter and, well, we certainly can’t say there’s been a pattern.
2019, with its mere 47 wins (and the very real shot at the AL loss record), was just a six-month dumpster fire. (Though that might be unkind to dumpster fires, which at least provide light and warmth, unlike that Tigers mess).
We had to wait four extra months for the 2020 season, thanks to the pandemic, and got a Tigers team above .500 on Sept. 1! We also got a Tigers team that went 6-19 the rest of the way, a finish so bad manager Ron Gardenhire didn’t even stick around for the final week.
That brought A.J. Hinch into the fold for 2021 and, after a dreadful 9-24 start, the Tigers actually looked like a team on the rise, finishing at 77-85.
And then there was 2022, which had the 9-24 start of 2021, a brief hopeful crest like 2020 (maybe it was Opening Day, or even the day Miggy hit No. 3,000), and then a 2019-esque dumpster-fire finish that included a fired GM, a franchise-record 17 different starting pitchers and one of the worst offenses of the past 50 seasons, all to finish at 66-96 and a game out of the AL Central cellar.
(You can relive it all here, straight from the Freep’s Evan Petzold, if you must.*)
*Maybe not the best argument for reading, but, hey, you’ve stuck with us for this long.
Are we sure we can’t wait for 2023?
Hello, and welcome to the “Wait Till Next Year” Newsletter. (Also known as the final Detroit Tigers Newsletter of the year, or at least until free agency starts in November.)
That said, it wasn’t all bad. No, really. We went back over the schedule and found at least 10 fantastic Tigers games from 2022 (and, OK, one that had a little bit of everything). Here’s our list:
11. July 27: The Tigers entered the ninth inning at Comerica Park trailing the San Diego Padres, 3-2. But Jeimer Candelario led off with a double to left-center, and after two outs, Jonathan Schoop’s roller to third stopped on the edge of the wet infield grass to give him an infield single. Victor Reyes then lined a shot to right over the head of ex-Tiger Nomar Mazara and off the fence. As Mazara chased after the ball, pinch-runner Akil Baddoo scored from third and Schoop came all the way around for the winning run and the Tigers’ fourth walk-off win of the season.
10. July 4-6: A May rainout packed four games against the eventual AL Central-winning Cleveland Guardians into just three days, beginning with a doubleheader on the Fourth of July. The Tigers swept that twinbill behind a two-hit debut from Garrett Hill on the mound in Game 1 and a homer from Eric Haase in Game 2, then pounded out 19 runs combined over the final two games of the series.
9. Sept. 7: The Tigers avoided a series sweep in Anaheim with some big days at the plate — Haase went 5-for-5 with two doubles and a homer (just missing a triple for the cycle), and rookies Kerry Carpenter and Ryan Kreidler homered back-to-back in the ninth inning to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead and an eventual win. The homer was Kreidler’s first, and especially sweet for the California native and UCLA alumnus.
T-7. May 15/June 1: Tarik Skubal missed the final two months of the season after undergoing flexor tendon surgery in his left arm, but his season arguably peaked with a pair of starts at Comerica Park two weeks apart. In May, he needed just six innings to strike out 11 Baltimore Orioles, allowing three hits and walking two. Still, the lefty wasn’t entirely impressed by his outing against a righty-heavy lineup: “You know, strikeouts come, but I’m not really going to be focused on them. It’s good to get to two strikes and then get guys on those counts, too.” He did just that to open June, holding the Minnesota Twins to two hits over seven innings, though he only struck out six. Skubal allowed just three baserunners: a single and walk in the first, and a single in the fourth.
6. July 2: The Tigers were already playing out the string, sitting 12½ out of first place before the Fourth of July. But rookie Riley Greene (with a little help from Reyes) made the Tigers’ future seem bright at Comerica Park. With one out in the bottom of the ninth and trailing the Kansas City Royals, 3-2, Reyes launched a 1-0 pitch from righty Joel Payamps deep into the right-field seats. Just two pitches later, Greene crushed a ball to deep center — near where he’d tripled in the first inning — and started running. He didn’t need to; the ball easily cleared the fence to land in the center-field bushes for his first career homer. “I was running decently hard down the line, just in case, but once I saw it go out, it was awesome,” Greene said. “The adrenaline rush going through me, I didn’t know what to do.”
5. Aug. 6: An event delayed more than two years because of the coronavirus pandemic (and arguably for far too long before that, considering his place among the franchise’s stars) went off without a hitch as the Tigers finally retired the No. 1 of Lou Whitaker. His place of honor on the Comerica Park wall in left-center sat, fittingly, right next to that of his double-play partner Alan Trammell, who said, “there wouldn’t be a No. 3 on the wall without the No. 1.” The game against the Rays was pretty good, too, as eight of nine Tigers starters had at least one hit in a 9-1 over the Tampa Bay Rays.
4. June 18: In perhaps the most awaited debut by a Tigers rookie hitter in 15 years, Greene didn’t disappoint. Hitting seventh against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park, he singled in the first inning, walked in the fifth and sixth and singled again in the seventh. In beating the Rangers 14-7, the Tigers scored as many runs as they had in their nine previous games combined, and Greene became the first player in franchise history with two hits and two walks in his debut.
3. April 8: The Tigers’ run to playoff contention started on Opening Day at Comerica Park against the White Sox — in the ninth inning, at least, after mustering just two hits over the first seven frames. But with one out, Eric Haase homered to tie it, and with two outs, Austin Meadows (a Tiger for less than a week at the time) tripled to bring Javier Báez to the plate. He lofted the second pitch of the at-bat to deep right, where it grazed the fence before (eventually) landing in right fielder AJ Pollock’s glove. Originally ruled an out, the replay showed the contact with the fence, bringing Meadows home and starting a celebration of what turned out to be the Tigers’ only day above .500.
2. April 26: Billed as a showdown between Báez and fellow free-agency target Carlos Correa, the Tigers’ first game in Minnesota delivered on its promise — and foreshadowed the painful remainder of 2022. With two on, one out and the Tigers trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Báez crushed a 1-0 pitch into the Tigers bullpen in center field for a 4-3 lead. But closer Gregory Soto couldn’t hold on in the bottom of the ninth — with some “help” from his defense. Soto threw eight straight balls to put the winning run on first, then struck out Max Kepler and got Miguel Sano to line it to Robbie Grossman in right. After the ball skipped off Grossman’s glove — but was ruled a single — the Tigers got the ball to Haase at home in time to keep anyone from scoring, and even appeared to have at least one out in hand as two Twins were at third base. But the catcher airmailed the throw to third, allowing BOTH to score in walk-off fashion. We were tempted to make this No. 1 — it certainly seemed to encapsulate the Tigers’ season. But, c’mon. There was only one real contender for the best Tigers game of 2022 …
1. April 23: After Miguel Cabrera picked up hit No. 2,999 with a three-hit game on April 20, the slugger — and Tigers fans — had to wait two excruciating days for No. 3,000, a delay which included a key intentional walk from the Yankees and a Friday night rainout. Finally, on a sunny Saturday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies — featuring three of his fellow Venezuelans in the lineup (fitting, as he’ll suit up for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic one last time in March) — Cabrera delivered a bit of history in front of 37,566 at Comerica Park, singling on the ground to right on the third pitch from right-hander Antonio Senzatela. “I was really nervous,” Cabrera said afterward. “I wanted to get my 3,000th hit here in Detroit because of what happened last year with 500 (home runs) on the road. This one was really special for me because I wanted to do it here for my fans in my hometown here in Detroit.” His teammates chipped in some hits, too, as the Tigers beat the Rockies, 13-0, in Game 1 of their doubleheader. The win put the Tigers at 6-7 — the closest they’d be to .500 the rest of the season.
Front-office bromance
OK, enough with 2022; let’s move on to 2023, or at least to the offseason. The Tigers’ season ended Wednesday, which means new president of baseball operations Scott Harris officially took over Thursday. It has been less than a month since he was hired, but Harris and manager A.J. Hinch seem to be bonding already. Dare we say, another bromance is blooming? At least, that’s what the Freep’s Jeff Seidel saw as the club wrapped things up at Comerica Park on Friday. Head here to find out all the ways the views of Harris and Hinch line up — and why that’s so encouraging.
A hopeful Hinch
After that sit-down with the media, Hinch headed home to Texas for the offseason. But he won’t be resting that much. Our Man Petzold has the report on his winter plans — and why the disappointments of 2022 already have him hungering for 2023.
Slumbering lumber
Of course, Hinch and Harris — can we call them, in fine Detroit fashion, the H&H Boys? — took their first steps toward fixing 2022’s No. 1 problem, the lack of offense, on Thursday in firing hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh. (It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but if you want to review the reasons, head here.)
The next step will be reworking the Tigers’ hitting approach organization-wide — get ready to read/hear “control the strike zone” a lot over the next few months — with some new hires. What’s the plan there? Our Man Petzold breaks it down here, in a process similar to how the team’s pitchers are getting their instructions in one virtual voice.
Decisions to make
That hire won’t be the only tough call coming up this winter. A few of the others:
JEIMER CANDELARIO: All signs point to 2021’s MLB leader in doubles being either non-tendered or re-signed at a discount rate for 2023.
ANDREW CHAFIN: The mustachioed lefty has his choice of $6.5 million for 2023 from the Tigers, or a third straight dip into free agency.
Mark your calendar
The Tigers are done, but MLB’s postseason carries on, with Division Series games beginning Tuesday (including Justin Verlander taking the mound for the Astros), League Championship Series games on Oct. 18, the World Series on Oct. 28, and every thing wrapping up as early as Nov. 1 and as late as Nov. 5. (You can check out the times and TV assignments here.) And then, five days after the Series ends, free agency begins. Whew.
And, of course, once the free agent frenzy has died down — or perhaps once it’s heating up again — in December, it’ll be time for MLB’s annual winter meetings. This year’s edition comes with a twist: The first ever MLB draft lottery. The Tigers finished with the sixth-worst record in baseball, but could wind up picking anywhere from No. 1 to No. 12 in next July’s draft, thanks to the process that puts the top six spots up for grabs So what are the odds of the Tigers picking No. 1 for the third time in six years? You’ll just have to head here to find out.
Tigers birthdays this week: Placido Polanco (47 on Monday), Grayson Greiner (30 on Tuesday), Dmitri Young (49 on Tuesday), Jim Price (81 on Thursday), Jonathan Schoop (31 on Sunday), Goose Goslin (would have been 122 on Sunday; died in 1971).
TL;DR
All that moaning about the past and looking toward the draft … who put the Lions fans in charge of writing this newsletter?