Fastball

American League Central Rivals to Put Historic Youth on Display During ALDS

The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers will both rely on young players as they look to advance to the American League Championship series.

Brady Farkas

Cleveland Guardians center fielder Tyler Freeman (2) dives into second base after hitting a double against the Detroit Tigers in the seventh inning at Comerica Park on July 30.
Cleveland Guardians center fielder Tyler Freeman (2) dives into second base after hitting a double against the Detroit Tigers in the seventh inning at Comerica Park on July 30. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers will begin the American League Division Series on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

The Tigers reached the round after beating the Houston Astros in two games during the wild card round. The Guardians won the American League Central, earning the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye.

As both teams look to advance to the American League Championship Series, they'll be relying on a historic amount of youth.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

the Tigers were MLB’s youngest team
Guardians were 3rd-youngest

the ALDS will be 1st postseason series between 2 of the 5 youngest teams in MLB that season (by end-of-season rosters)

h/t @EliasSports

The Tigers have been going through a rebuild for years but appear to have come out the other side a year or two earlier than expected. Rookie Colt Keith is a huge part of the roster, as is Riley Greene. Spencer Torkelson and Jackson Jobe are also on the roster.

The Tigers traded away veterans like Andrew Chafin, Mark Canha and Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline.

For the Guardians, they lost veteran ace Shane Bieber earlier in the year because of Tommy John surgery. Jose Ramirez still leads the charge, but he has an exciting cast of young teammates around him.

First pitch on Saturday is set for 1:08 p.m. ET. The Tigers will deploy opener Tyler Holton while the Guardians will go with Tanner Bibee.

The Yankees and Royals are the other ALDS and that game begins at 6:38 p.m. ET.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our FanNation on SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

Published
Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

Home/History