A Positive Detroit Tigers Development That's Being Completely Overlooked
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The Detroit Tigers have struggled to play good baseball since May began. Currently sitting at 20-28, it's concerning for a team with a top 10 payroll. However, despite the ongoing issues, there is still reason for optimism about their potential to turn things around.
A handful of players are nearing returns, such as Gleyber Torres, Kerry Carpenter, Beau Brieske, Justin Verlander, and Tarik Skubal, all of whom could help this franchise turn things around come June. But even with that optimistic point of view, there's a more concrete reason for fans to take a deep breath.
The Overlooked Positive for Detroit
Currently, the Tigers are in a fourth-place tie in the AL Central division standings and 6.5 games back from the Cleveland Guardians. Not ideal. But, when looking around the American League as a whole this season, things haven't gone tremendously for everyone.
Entering play, Detroit is 2.5 games back from the final AL Wild Card spot, as the Seattle Mariners (23-26) and Texas Rangers (22-25) are tied for the position, both with losing records. It's a long shot, but it is a reason for optimism since there's more than one way to make it to the playoffs.
Detroit made the playoffs last season after blowing a 15.5 game lead in the standings as a Wild Card team, and the year before went on a miracle run to grab the final Wild Card spot in 2024, so it's not like the team can't make it from best and worst case scenarios.
Obviously, this shouldn't be what Detroit is aiming for, making the playoffs with a subpar record, but given all the injuries and inconsistency, it could be the team's best option to aim for, while simultaneously chipping away at the deficit in the standings.
The current goal for the Tigers is to stay competitive, and the prospect of getting key players back soon gives fans some hope. However, for a team that had World Series aspirations at the start of the season and can't break free from this slump, we may see significant changes to the roster by August.
Perhaps this Tigers team was feeling the pressure going into the season, with fans and analysts banking on them to be shoo-ins to win the division and make a run to the World Series, that they're coming out of their style of play to please the world.
Whatever it is, Detroit needs to start stringing some wins together before it's too late for even the Wild Card being a possibility.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.