HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- When the Tigers beat the White Sox on Friday night to clinch their first playoff berth in a decade it capped a 31-12 stretch that saw them go from sellers at the deadline to a playoff team who will take on the Astros in a best two-of-three wild card series starting on Tuesday.
Detroit earned its way to this position, but are the Tigers really a threat to unseat the postseason stalwarts they are about to face?
"They're just hot right now," an American League coach told SportsRadio 610 in a phone interview on Monday. "I think they just played really well down the stretch, but if you look at the overall personnel and all that, I don't think they had any idea they'd be in the situation they're in right now."
This coach's team finished with a losing record against the Tigers in September, right at the height of their late season heater.
"We just played so bad. It just killed me watching our guys struggle the way that we did."
Detroit is here because of its pitching. Anchored by Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal, the Tigers 2.73 ERA since August 10 is best in Major League Baseball. The Astros will face Skubal in game one on Tuesday afternoon, but after that, expect chaos.
Injuries and trades left the Tigers short in their rotation, so they have deployed openers, and utilized bullpen games the last two months, which this coach thinks contributed to the Tigers great finish.
"Most hitters plan so much for starters, and as relievers come in, that usually just happens, on the fly, they don't prepare for that, so it just gives hitters a little more stuff to think about."
The pitcher, outside Skubal, that pitcher that stood out the most to this coach was right-hander Beau Brieske.
"He just has plus stuff. He goes up to 98 MPH, averages 96 MPH. Has a fastball, slider, changeup. He's 36 percent fastballs to righties, and he really relies on that slider to them. He just attacked us. He really didn't walk many guys. He just went right at us."
Closer Jason Foley is another quality arm A.J. Hinch has at his disposal. He finished the season with 28 saves and a 3.15 ERA.
"He's freaking up to 97 MPH. He uses his fastball a whole lot, like 65 percent, and really relies on his slider."
The Astros are likely to see a heavy dose of lefty Tyler Holton, who doesn't throw hard, but pounds righties with cutters and changeups, while giving left-handed hitters a heavy dose of sinkers and sweepers.
Runs will come at a premium for the Astros, but this coach believes the Tigers will struggle to muster offense against an Astros staff that enters the postseason with a 3.20 ERA since August 1.
"I know what they've done recently, but there's not one person in that lineup that I'm intentionally walking or spending extra time on in the pre-series meeting. Zero.
"They will play small ball. They will bunt. They'll try to move runners, because they don't hit many home runs. They've been putting the ball in play a little bit, but A.J. doesn't do anything crazy, other than how he starts some of the starters."
Defensively, the Tigers finished the season sixth in defensive runs saved and outs above average, per FanGraphs, but this coach was most impressed by catcher Jake Rogers' ability to control the run game, though he says there is one small area the Tigers overlook that the Astros can take advantage of, if they so choose.
"They give the bunt away. They really don't respect anybody who can bunt. They'll give it away, so guys who are fringy, guys who may bunt, shit, they can take advantage of that."
