The Tigers will be defined this year by their youth, for better or worse. But they won their home opener thanks to a pair of vets, one of whom knows how this feels. It wasn't too long ago that Mark Canha was in the studs of Spencer Torkelson or Colt Keith or Riley Greene, an inexperienced player trying to lift an inexperienced team.
After clubbing his second homer of the season in the Tigers' 5-4 win over the A's on Opening Day in Detroit, Canha said that his new team reminds him of his old one. He began his career in Oakland when the A's rode a young core of position players and a strong pitching staff to three straight playoff berths. The Tigers are trying to return to the playoffs, for the first time in 10 years, by following the same path.
"We have a good team," said Canha. "We have a good, young team. If we can stay healthy and keep playing the way we’re playing, you like our chances when you bring that energy every day. And the amount of youth we have in here certainly helps with that."
The youth was on display Friday, no doubt. Tarik Skubal looked like a bonafide ace through five dominant innings, before succumbing to homers in the sixth and seventh. Torkelson smacked two doubles in the three hole that used to be reserved for Miguel Cabrera, scored two runs and drove in a third. Greene drove Torkelson home while hitting behind him. Matt Vierling, leading off, triggered the offense with a homer in the fourth.
It was 3-0 Tigers entering the sixth, and Skubal was carving up the A's. An orange-and-blue-clad crowd, and a green team, got comfortable on a chilly day in Detroit. It was 3-2 moments later and Skubal was bent at the waist, lamenting a hanging slider that landed in the Tigers' bullpen. With his team on its heels, Canha came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the inning and smoked a ball over the bullpen and into the rollicking left-field seats.
"That was some energy and obviously a big bolt for us," said A.J. Hinch. "When you have a lead the way we did with Skubal on the mound, it feels insurmountable. And I think it’s important for our team to learn and see that it’s not. They did a good job of staying in the game and then Mark came back and answered their run. He’s a good presence."
Gio Urshela is quiet presence, but a sound player. Like Canha for the A's, Urshela was a key cog on three straight playoff teams for the Yankees, over which time he had an average near .300 and an OPS north of .800. He's a contact-oriented hitter (they do exist) and a smooth fielder who smiled when asked about his first Opening Day in Detroit and said, "It was cold, but I love it."
"The energy today, the fans, it was a really good vibe," Urshela said.
Urshela missed most of last season due to a fractured pelvis, but still hit .299 in a short stint with the Angels. He doesn't pack much power, but he puts the ball in play in an age where it feels like a lost art. The Tigers signed him this spring looking for a proven third baseman and a professional hitter; Urshela signed with the Tigers wanting to remind the big leagues what he can with good health and consistent playing time.
"I like that he gets hits," said Hinch. "And usually it starts with just good bat-to-ball skills. He can spray the ball wire to wire, he got to some velo today, which is a good sign. He’s sort of the proverbial baseball-timing guy where he just has a way to get himself everywhere on time, whether it’s to his glove side on defense or the smoothness he plays with. We were all watching him get ready as we got closer to the season, and his baseball timing's about right where it needs to be."
Urshela was right where the Tigers needed him in the 8th, at the plate with two outs in a tie game and Torkelson on second. With reliever Lucas Erceg throwing 99 mph smoke, Urshela shortened up and let the pitcher do the work. He punched a high heater down the right-field line to bring home the go-ahead run, his second double of the day. As Urshela pointed to the sky, Torkelson crossed home plate and pointed back at him, a snapshot of how this team can win.
"For us to be our best," said Hinch, "we’re going to need a variety of guys. We’re not just sitting around waiting for one guy to get up."
Canha and Urshela represent what the Tigers want their young hitters to become, Canha in particular. They control the zone, spray line drives and, by today's standards, rarely strike out. They don't give away at-bats. Asked what the duo brings to the Tigers' otherwise young lineup, Vierling said, "Exactly what you saw today."
"You just see big hits in pressure situations. Or Mark goes up there with that at-bat, that’s a huge run for us," Vierling said. "They just bring stability to the lineup and a calmness to (the team). We know they’ve been in big pressure situations before and this is nothing to them."
The Tigers will also need their bullpen, which delivered again Friday. Will Vest allowed an inherited runner to score in the 7th and Andrew Chafin made things dicey in the 9th, but the relievers did their job. Jason Foley breezed through the middle of an obviously weak lineup in the 8th, and Alex Lange bailed Chafin out of a jam to nail down the save. Hinch has arms galore in the late innings, and the Detroit Tigers just might have a bullpen.
The caveat, of course, is the competition. The Tigers are 6-1, while scraping past the White Sox, Mets and A's. Better teams and longer days await. But a strong start was needed for an eager team, and for a group of players who have mostly wilted in three previous Aprils under Hinch. The Tigers aren't good enough to fall behind and make up ground. But in a clearly winnable division, they might be flexible enough to stay in the race.
"I feel like that’s been the whole season so far, every single game, we throw one punch and they throw another and it goes down to the wire," Veirling said.
All of Detroit's games have been decided by one run or in extra innings, which as Hinch pointed out is "a dangerous way to live -- because close games can flip in a heartbeat." The Tigers barely had a heartbeat in seasons past. They've got more than a puncher's chance in the AL Central, where they're making a little more contact with each swing.