The Detroit Tigers can’t stop winning. How do they do that?

On the morning of August 11, the Tigers woke up in San Francisco looking like a team on the mend. They were 55-63, eight games under .500. The Toronto Blue Jays, perhaps the most disappointing team this season, had an identical record.

Two weeks earlier, at the trade deadline, Detroit had given away its second-best starter and an everyday outfielder. Six teams stood between the Tigers and the final American League playoff spot. Nobody in the Motor City was thinking about baseball in October.

As of this morning, the Tigers are 31-11, the best record in the MLB. On Friday, the Tigers secured an AL wild card spot at home against the historically miserable Chicago White Sox. A postseason berth that seemed impossible six weeks ago has been secured.

On Thursday, the Tigers pulled off another late comeback against the Tampa Bay Rays to secure a win. In the eighth inning, outfielder/third baseman Matt Vierling – considered the Methuselah of this team at 28 – ran home to score the go-ahead run on a sac fly by Justyn Henry Malloy. As Vierling jumped upside down from his slide, he pumped his fist in the air and roared like a Bengal. An inning later, Tigers closer Jason Foley struck out Jose Siri to end the game. A swaying crowd rose.

Team broadcaster Jason Benetti delivered an unforgettable highlight: “A city that doesn’t care about the odds has a baseball team second to none.”

So what is this team? Who is there? How could this group conjure up such a miraculous turnaround? And can the “Gritty Tigs” cause a stir in October?

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AJ Hinch

A manager can’t throw scoreless innings or score runs, at least not anymore (we should bring back player managers – that would be hilarious), but there is no doubt that Hinch had a huge impact on this club. For five years, Hinch led the Houston Astros through the most successful era in franchise history, with four postseason berths, three ALCS appearances and a 2017 World Series title. He was fired in January 2020 after his team was involved in the infamous scandal involved can-beating and sign-stealing that shocked the baseball world.

But Hinch came through his year-long ban with his reputation largely intact. People still believed he was a good manager, one worthy of a job and redemption. By comparison, his old boss, former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, hasn’t worked in baseball since. Detroit hired Hinch before the 2022 season, and while the Tigers underwhelmed in his first two seasons, that had more to do with the roster than the manager.

Over the last six weeks, Hinch’s value has been clearly shown. He has a calm, calm voice that has seen the game’s biggest moments. He also demonstrated a masterful understanding of his own bench and bullpen, leading the Tigers through such a phenomenal run despite only having two traditional starting pitchers most of the time. He used all 14 available position players in Thursday’s win.

Most importantly, Hinch has made this team believe in themselves. This is, simply put, a man who knows what he’s doing.

Tarik Skubal

In six weeks, Skubal will win the American League Cy Young Award. There is a strong chance he will do so unanimously. It will be a richly deserved honor. The Tigers ace has the circuit’s lowest ERA, most strikeouts and second-most innings pitched.

And in his last eight starts during Detroit’s rise to contention, Skubal has taken things to new levels with a 1.85 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings. When he pitches, the Tigers usually win. With Detroit clinching its playoff spot before Skubal’s final game of the season on Sunday, it’s likely he will skip that start and instead prepare for Game 1 of the wild-card series.

A horse stable

In this club’s 42 games since August 11, the Tigers’ starters have thrown just 152 2/3 innings. That’s an average of 3 2/3 frames per game. The only two traditional starters in this stretch were Skubal and freshman Keider Montero. Reese Olson, a regular starter for the first few months of the season, has pitched four innings since returning from injury a few weeks ago.

This strategy has put a huge strain on Detroit’s bullpen, but it’s up to the task. Since August 11, Detroit relievers have completed 66 multi-inning relief appearances. The next closest team, the Chicago White Sox, only made it to 50. The pen sextet of Brant Hurter, Tyler Holton, Brenan Hanifee, Sean Guenther, Will Vest and Jason Foley each have an ERA of 2.22 or less during that span. The team’s relief ERA of 2.27 over that stretch is the best in baseball.

Detroit also just called 22-year-old Jackson Jobe, perhaps the game’s best pitching prospect, into the bullpen for the stretch run. He pitched a scoreless frame in his debut on Wednesday.

Kerry Carpenter

Here are this season’s players with at least 250 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, ranked by OPS:

1. Aaron Judge (probably AL MVP)

2. Shohei Ohtani (probably NL MVP)

3. Bobby Witt Jr. (likely AL MVP runner-up)

4. Juan Soto (likely AL MVP third-place finisher)

5. Kerry Carpenter

The Tigers’ left-handed DH missed nearly three months with a back problem and returned on August 13. As the above numbers show, he is a monster against Northpaws; his OPS has been .953 since returning. Teams attack him left-handed late in games, but Carpenter is a legitimately elite hitter when he has platoon advantage.

An unheralded group of very solid batsmen

The most famous Detroit Tiger, Javier Báez, has not played since August 22nd. The swinging shortstop, who signed a permanent contract ahead of the 2022 season, has been absolutely miserable for the Tigers, posting a .221/.262/.347 line while wearing the navy and orange.

But fame is overrated. Winning is better, as the Tigers have shown. Riley Greene was the team’s only All-Star player this season; he continued raking. Former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson, who was demoted to Triple-A after a terrible first half, has improved significantly since being recalled on Aug. 17. Zach McKinstry, Matt Vierling and Parker Meadows have all made progress. Hinch often mixes and matches to ensure advantageous matchups.

It’s not an overwhelming lineup – Detroit is 23rd in home runs in the MLB this year – but it does the job.