Player development keys Tigers’ surprise postseason appearance

Trey Sweeney never expected that he would be playing in the MLB postseason. Nor would anyone else.

Sweeney and fellow prospect Thayron Liranzo were traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to Detroit at the July 30 deadline for right-hander Jack Flaherty, the Tigers’ No. 2 starter. From the Tigers’ standpoint, it appeared to be a deal for the future as they were 13 games out of first place in the American League Central and 6 ½ games out of the third and final AL wild card.

The Tigers’ hole grew even deeper, and they dropped 10 games off the pace in the wild card standings a few days later.

Yet an odd thing happened when the Tigers seemingly began looking ahead to 2025. They caught first while also trading left-handed reliever Andrew Chapin and catcher Carson Kelly to the Arizona Diamondbacks and first baseman/outfielder Mark Canha to the San Francisco Giants at the deadline.

The Tigers won 31 of their last 44 games to stunningly earn the third wild card. Then they swept the AL West champion Houston Astros in two games last week in a Wild Card Series.

Now, the Tigers and AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians are tied 1-1 in a best-of-five Division Seres. Detroit knotted the series Monday in dramatic fashion as Kerry Carpenter’s three-run home run in the ninth inning off closer Emmanual Clase lifted the Tigers to a 3-0 victory at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Sweeney was in the middle of the winning rally against Clase, who led the AL with 47 saves in the regular season while posting a microscopic 0.61 ERA. After Jake Rogers singled with two outs, Sweeney followed with a single that set the stage for Carpenter.

“Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Sweeney said of his thoughts when traded. “It kind of all happened pretty fast for me. But I think I quickly realized after we got up here, we had a good chance to get here if we kept playing good baseball. So, yeah, last month and a half has kind of felt surreal. So still trying to take it all in.”

Sweeney is one of many young players who have helped the Tigers reach the postseason for the first time since 2014.

Sweeney is among three rookie regulars in the lineup with second baseman Colt Keith and center fielder Parker Meadows. Four of the Tigers’ five bench players made their major-league debuts this season – catcher Dillon Dingler, third baseman Jace Jung and outfielders Justyn-Henry Malloy and Wenceel Perez.

Making the Tigers’ success even more remarkable is they have only one starting pitcher in left-hander Tarik Skubal, who has pitched 13 scoreless innings in his two postseason starts. In the other games, manager A.J. Hinch has either used all relievers, or an opener followed by a bulk-inning reliever.

The bullpen features five rookies in left-hander Brant Hurter and right-handers Keider Montero, Brennan Hanifee, Jackson Jobe and Ty Madden.

“I’ve tried over and over to recognize our player development system as being key in this, and we’re the forward-facing group in the big leagues and in front of cameras and (the writers), we answer a lot of questions about it, but it starts in the minor leagues,” Hinch said. “One of the anchors in our player development system is we're unafraid to challenge hitters and challenge pitchers to do things not just the right way, but the right way for them individually to be successful.”

Utility players Andy Ibanez is the only player on the Tigers’ ALDS roster older than 29. Just two players, Skubal and Rogers, have as much as four years of major-league service time.

Right fielder Matt Vierling is the only Tigers player who had ever appeared in a playoff game until last week. The Tigers are the youngest team to reach the postseason since 1914.

Reliever Jason Foley has watched in amazement the last two months. He has perspective after being signed as an amateur free agent in 2016 by the Tigers after going drafted following his collegiate career at Sacred Heart University then reaching the big leagues in 2021.

“When I made my debut, it was on a team that didn’t have really too much of a chance to make the playoffs,” Foley said. “We were kind of down and out. And a lot of these kids came up on a team where we were in a mix of a playoff run, and you’re asking guys to throw really important innings and get really important at-bats or pinch hits or defensive replacements or whatever they may need to do in a spot where they never really got to acclimate themselves to the big leagues. Their first taste of it was in a playoff race.

“So, it’s been pretty impressive to watch all of them kind of not let the moment get to them and not let the game speed up on them too much and go out there and just compete and really get the job done for us.”