For the past 10 years, Detroit Tigers fans have been dissatisfied with the team’s performance. Countless rebuilding struggles, trading key players away, and bad management decisions tore down the team for years. Tigers fans saw each new season as insignificant and focused on other teams, thinking nothing would come out of the Tigers. Even the Detroit Free Press joined in on the negativity in May of the 2024 season, “The Detroit Tigers don’t deserve any more patience from the fanbase. What we’re seeing on the field is unacceptable.” But later this 2024 season, something remarkable came out of the Tigers.
Going into 2024 spring training, Detroit Tigers head coach AJ Hinch had big aspirations for the season and the players. In a press conference interview in February, he briefly talked about what is to come of the new team, reflecting on last year’s season and their goal of making the playoffs. A key point he mentioned in the interview was that “it was a good off-season, and there has been a lot of change in the training staff, coaching staff, and strengthening staff. As an organization, we are in a healthy place communication-wise and expectation-wise. But we have to get out on the field and show progress.” AJ Hinch in this interview showed his extensive dedication to the team and affirmed his intent to keep his players motivated.
The two key players of the 2024 season coming in were Spencer Torkelson (1B) and Riley Grenne (CF/DH). Torkelson in 2023 had an insane year with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs, while being the Tigers’ main power hitter. Riley Greene had the highest batting average on the team last year with .288 and killed it with his arm power at center field. Jake Rogers (C) is a valuable player on the team, with 21 home runs and consistently great defense behind the plate. He is also widely regarded as one of the best pitch framers in the game, turning countless balls into strike calls. This is the youngest team in MLB in the 2024 season, giving them more fire and motivation to go harder against some of the best veteran players in the league.
On March 28, 2024, the Tigers played their first game of the season against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, hoping to start the season right with a strong win. The Tigers ended up pulling out a great win, 1-0, going on to win the series on the road to start the season. From that point on until the All-Star Break, the Tigers had a rockier road than expected. The team’s record was 47-50, which didn’t please a lot of the fans, as they began to worry about a repeat of last season. But despite them not having a good first-half start, they weren’t giving up on their goal to make a playoff push. Tarik Skubal (P) and Riley Grenne (CF/DH) both made the 2024 All-Star Game Team and represented Detroit proficiently.
On July 19, 2024, the second half of the 2024 MLB season for the Tigers picked up, and it was time for the Tigers to stay focused and locked in so they could accomplish their goal of making the playoffs. Their first game back, they were playing the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre and wanted to start the second half of the season just like how they started the first half, with a win. The Tigers won their game (5-4) and needed as many wins as possible to reach a wildcard spot. As for the rest of the season, the Tigers would put on a show against many great teams in the league, like the Yankees, Orioles, and the Royals. This put a spotlight on the Tigers to show they are playing with a purpose and they want to compete against any team.
Due to their highly impressive second-half performance, they qualified for the postseason for the first time in a decade. The team went 39-26 after the All-Star Break and brought Detroit another playoff birth, with the other being the Detroit Lions. University of Detroit Jesuit’s Brailen Wilson, who is an outstanding player on the Varsity Baseball team stated, “The Tigers this year have come with a different type of energy and something that I have never seen before. They have so much grit and they gonna be good for a while.” This great season caused not only Detroit but the state of Michigan to feel extraordinary about their team. Fans couldn’t wait to fire up the Tigers in the postseason.
On October 1, 2024, the Detroit Tigers went up against AJ Hinch’s former team, where he was the head coach for the Houston Astros. The team was the number-one seed in the American League West with 88 wins. MLB highly doubted that they were going to win this series and that they would get knocked off. But the Tigers were extremely hungry and wanted to move on to the next round. The Tigers swept the first two games in the Wild Card against the Astros to move on to the next round, with their opponent being the Cleveland Guardians.
This was another doubtful series for the Tigers, with people still not believing in Detroit to pull off the win against one of their rivals. The Tigers fought a long, burdensome series with the Guardians going to Game 5 of the best-of-five series, but didn’t finish the job. After the tough loss, Tigers fans gained major respect and gratitude for how the Tigers took on this season and are thrilled for the 2025 season. This next season, the Tigers plan on having a better record and have big hopes of accomplishing exceptional things.
