The Last Wild Card Hurdle for the Tigers is to Make History

The Detroit Tigers have become the best story in Major League Baseball.

A team that was out of it enough at the trade deadline that they sold off pitching, has turned things around and is now just one win away from making the playoffs.

Lately, Tigers baseball has been something out of a movie. They have gone 15-3 over their last 18 games, closing a gap of six games in the Wild Card race in the process.

After a remarkable victory on Thursday, their fifth in a row, the Tigers are suddenly in the driver’s seat to finish second in the AL Central. A division that was long-led by the Guardians, with the Royals and Twins behind (but in line for a playoff berth) has now been flipped on its head.

Despite holding the tiebreaker over Detroit and Kansas City, the Twins lost two of three to the Marlins to start the week, while the Royals and Tigers each swept. This puts the Twins three games back in the race with three to play, so their next loss eliminates them, regardless of if the Tigers or Royals win another game.

Though, that does not mean Detroit has nothing left to play for this weekend after they clinch.

In fact, their series against the Chicago White Sox has become far more interesting than any of us would have thought it would be even one week ago.

Why the Tigers Should Push to Sweep

The Detroit Tigers may only need one game this weekend, but they should do everything in their power (outside of exhausting their pitching) to try to win every game.

You are not only playing the worst team in baseball this year, but potentially the worst team in MLB history (more on that in a moment). This is the chance to ride an eight-game winning streak into the playoffs and carry that momentum into a Wild Card Series.

Further, finishing in second place in the AL Central is something worth pushing for right now, considering the matchups that could come into play in that Wild Card round.

Whoever finishes with the better record between the Royals and the Tigers will get to play the Baltimore Orioles instead of the Houston Astros in the Wild Card round.

The Royals hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers, so Detroit has to finish a game ahead of Kansas City to get the fifth-seed in the playoffs.

This would present a better matchup for the Tigers, as they would go up against the Baltimore Orioles instead of the Houston Astros. It was just last weekend where the Tigers went into Baltimore and beat the Orioles in a three-game set.

For a young team, the idea of doing that again is far less daunting than going through a Houston Astros team who’s dynasty in the American League was established so long ago. A dynasty that was first fortified under current Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who’s in his fourth season in Detroit.

The narrative of Hinch taking down his old team is far better than a Tigers-Orioles matchup, but its clearly not the series Detroit should be pushing for.

While Tarik Skubal will be saved for Game 1 of the Wild Card round, the Tigers are very much a team where every man on their 28-man roster is contributing, so going for every game this weekend is just keeping up their winning habits, and shouldn’t exhaust one player.

And if they are able to sweep, there is also a world where the impossible could happen. Detroit could host a playoff series.

Could the Detroit Tigers Earn the Top Wild Card?

This could be very short lived to even discuss, as the Baltimore Orioles are a win away from locking up the top Wild Card spot. But it is worth mentioning that the Tigers are the only team that can still take that from them, as they own the season series tiebreaker over Baltimore and are three games back with three to play.

If the Tigers sweep and the Orioles get swept, the two team will finish with an identical 88-74 record, locking them into a Wild Card series that Detroit would host.

There is also a crazy world where the Royals sweep their series as well, and in that instance, the Tigers would own the three-team tiebreaker.

The way the Twins have been playing lately, it is highly unlikely that they will all of a sudden turn it on and sweep the Orioles. If they did however, the Tigers could really take full advantage.

Either way, the one place you don’t want to be is heading to on Monday is Houston, so the Tigers should look to keep the ball rolling against the lowly White Sox.

Detroit Tigers Will Play a Role in History

Now this is where the Tigers series over the weekend becomes even more interesting, and it is who they are playing.

The Tigers are set to face off against a Chicago White Sox team that has been on the verge of history all week. They already made some last Sunday, when the Padres completed their three-game sweep of Chicago, as the White Sox fell to their 120th loss of the season.

This loss matched a record that had only been set over a half century ago, when the inaugural 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games. The Mets went 40-120 that year, making them the first team in the modern era (1900-now) to have lost 120 games.

Since 1962, only one team has ever lost more than even 115 games, and it just so happened to be the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who went 43-119.

The White Sox will set a new MLB record with their next loss, but have been sitting on 120 losses for days now, as they opened their week by sweeping the Los Angeles Angels. This was the White Sox second series sweep of the season, and only their eighth series victory.

They might not have a lot of talent, but the White Sox are a team that will still be desperate not to lose this weekend, even though games really don’t matter. The Tigers should still be able to handle them no problem, but you never know what can happen in the game of baseball.

Since 1900, there has been 125 baseball seasons without a team ever getting to 121 losses.

If there was a ever a time for that record to fall, it would be this year with this putrid White Sox team. We are talking about a team that has gone 8-41 against their division this year. If the Tigers could sweep, they would join the Twins and Royals as having 12-1 records against the White Sox.

In a way, the White Sox have played a role in all of the other four teams having success remaining competitive this year, as all of them boosted their record by beating up on the lowly White Sox.

The team that actually fared the worst against Chicago is the team that already won the division going away, and that’s the Cleveland Guardians (8-5). Still, the Tigers get the opportunity to exploit this matchup one last time, and use it as a springboard to launch themselves into October.

We will see how things shake out over the weekend, but one thing is clear.

White Sox vs. Tigers has become a far more intriguing matchup than any of us would have anticipated back at the trade deadline.