This Year's Detroit Tigers Reminiscent of Another AJ Hinch Managed Team
The Detroit Tigers were written off by the All-Star Break, with many expecting yet another season without a postseason appearance.
Two months and 39 wins later, the Tigers were punching their ticket to October, claiming the third Wild Card berth on the American League side of the bracket.
It was an unlikely push down the stretch that saw the club make its first trip to the playoffs since 2014, ending a nine-campaign stretch of early vacations for their roster.
In 2015, the first year of Detroit's postseason drought, another American League team snapped their own nine-season stretch of missing out on the playoffs: the Houston Astros.
AJ Hinch was only in his third year as a Major League manager, and first since manning the helm for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. He was now leading a team that rostered a 25-year-old Jose Altuve, the American League Rookie of the Year in Carlos Correa, and the American League Cy Young in Dallas Keuchel.
2024 marked Hinch's 11th season as a Major League manager, and his fourth with the Tigers. Offensively, the team was led this year by the 23-year-old Riley Greene. While they did not have the Rookie of the Year, the club did employ the American League Cy Young in Tarik Skubal, who is a lefty much like Keuchel.
Both Detroit this year and the 2015 Astros finished their years with 86-76 records, good enough for second in their respective divisions (though the Tigers would be tied for second).
After making the postseason, Houston would win their Wild Card game against the New York Yankees to advance to the ALDS where they would meet the American League Central champion.
Detroit won their Wild Card Series this year against the Astros, advancing to the ALDS where they would meet the American League Central champion.
Both teams lost their ALDS matchups, each needing all five games.
This is a familiar tale for AJ Hinch, one that he has lived before and that we could be on the precipice of right now.
That Houston squad missed out on October baseball in 2016, but made it back to the promised land in 2017, winning the World Series. They have not missed the postseason since and won another World Series in 2022.
We have not seen how the story ends for the Tigers yet, but their current tale is highly reminiscent of that other AJ Hinch-led team that has since become a dynasty.
