Detroit Tigers 'Playing Like Hungry Predators' in Their Hunt for October

The Detroit Tigers have not won a World Series in 40 years, but with how they are playing of late, that could change this year.

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In a surprising turn of events, the Detroit Tigers enter Friday tied with the Minnesota Twins, a divisional rival, for the third and final Wild Card spot of the 2024 MLB Playoffs.

Entering the season, ESPN projected the Tigers to finish the season with a 78-84 record and placed them in 22nd in their preseason power rankings.

Now, after winning eight of their last 10 games, Detroit sits with an 80-73 record, and they do not look to be slowing down any time soon.

Like an actual tiger on the hunt, the Motor City Kitties smell blood and are closing in on their definition of "a kill," a chance at their first World Series victory since 1984.

"The Tigers are playing like hungry predators," writes Will Leitch for MLB.com.

"But whether they make it to October or not," continues Leitch, "this late-season surge augurs very well for them moving forward."

The Tigers carry a young roster, with 11 of the 28 members currently on the active roster being 25 years old or younger.

With their entire core either entering arbitration for the first time this off-season or next, Detroit has nowhere to go but up from the heights they have already risen to in 2024.

And none of that even mentions American League Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal.

Skubal had a breakout season in 2023, albeit injury-shortened when he put up a 2.80 ERA across 80 1/3 innings in 15 games.

The young lefty has been even better in 2024, leading the American League in wins (17), ERA (2.48), ERA+ (164), FIP (2.53), and strikeouts (221), while ranking second in WHIP (0.94), and third in innings pitched (185).

Skubal's fantastic season earned him his first All-Star nod of surely many to come.

While pitching has been a strong suit for the Motor City Kitties in this campaign, the offense has more room to grow.

Entering play Friday ranked 22nd in MLB with a team OPS of .686 in 2024, it is a wonder how the Tigers have climbed so high and remained in playoff contention this late into the season.

The offense has turned a corner of late, however, batting to a combined .722 OPS over the last 30 days, a stretch that has seen Detroit go 18-8, the second-best record in MLB in that time, while the Wild Card teams ahead of them have combined to go 31-56 in that same stretch.

The Tigers have certainly smelled blood over the last month.

And with the club getting hot at the right time, the sky is the limit should they reach the postseason.