Detroit Tigers managing to shockingly staying in 2020 postseason hunt
By Tyler Kotila
Remain calm, but the Detroit Tigers are, somehow, managing to stay in the 2020 playoff race.
The Detroit Tigers were the worst team in Major League Baseball in 2019, and through 36 of 60 games, the organization is a tick under .500 at 17-19. With 24 games remaining, they are somehow just on the edge of the playoff picture, sitting ninth in the American League standings.
While the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Minnesota Twins are near the top of the American League, the Tigers are still hanging around. The organization is not that far from a playoff spot, which is scary to think about.
The 2020 season being shortened and adjusted due to COVID-19 brings some changes to Major League Baseball’s standard playoff structure. The thing working in the Tigers’ favor the most is the expansion of the playoffs to allow for more teams to make it.
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Under the new rules for the 2020 postseason, eight teams from both the American and National League.
The top two teams within each division will make the playoffs as well as two wildcard teams in each division.
The way things are structured, all eight teams will play in a best-of-three series to decide who advances from first-round or traditionally labeled Wildcard round.
The seeding for these will be a 1-8 order, with the three divisional winners going first (1-3), second place finishers next (4-6), and the “wildcard” teams being 7-8.
How crazy is it to suggest the Detroit Tigers could sneak into the postseason?
After a doubleheader loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers are 17-19 and just outside the eight-team postseason bubble. They are three games behind the New York Yankees, who are 20-16, holding the last wildcard spot.
But, on top of that, they are just four games back of the 21-16 Toronto Blue Jays and 21-15 Houston Astros. The chances are relatively slim, but there is still a chance that the Tigers are able to get a streak together and break into the postseason.
The Tigers are 9-10 at home and 8-9 on the road, with three games left to go against the Twins through Labor Day before heading back to the Motor City to square off with the Milwaukee Brewers.
It is not the smoothest of roads for the Tigers, but given the strange success that some teams have found, including the Tigers hot start in 2020, the playoffs are not out of the question.
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Down the homestretch, the Detroit Tigers might be able to get something going and string together a last-minute postseason berth.