Detroit: Miguel Cabrera joined the 500-home run club and the Detroit Tigers had their best season in five years.
The historic achievement was worth celebrating at the end of August, when Cabrera became the 28th major leaguer to reach the milestone. This allowed for a 77–85 finish and some cheer for the third-placed team in the American League Central.
Detroit manager AJ Hinch said his players believed they would beat the AL champion-turned-White Sox by the end of the regular season and carried on the mindset they developed in spring training.
I think the confidence of our players matters to me more than spin rate or more than adjustment to the plate or aggressive aggression,” Hinch said at the end of his first season with the franchise.
Right-hander Michael Fulmer, who made a successful transition from starter to reliever, said it was encouraging to close out the season with some success against playoff teams such as Chicago, Tampa Bay and Milwaukee.
Going forward, it inspires us to see the success we’ve had against those types of teams,” said Fulmer, 28, who made his first 14 saves this season. And, going on to win these types of games, A one run game and a comeback win. It’s been a lot of fun. I think it gives everyone hope for the next season.
Cabrera, who won the Triple Crown and back-to-back MVP awards in 2012, fell short of becoming the first hitter to reach 500 homers and 3,000 hits in a single season. He finished the year with 2,987 hits, making him the seventh player to hit both milestones only shortly before the following year, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Eddie Murray. Went.
With each home run and hit, Cabrera’s career totals were displayed beyond the left-field fence at Comerica Park.
The numbers that are turning up on the board are really great,” Hinch said. I’m proud of her. I think she’s in a good place mentally, which is important. Watching your numbers go up, Both the Migi milestones and the big numbers overall, like over 700 Ops, should be encouraging going into next season.
division dilemma
Detroit had record wins against the AL East (18–14), AL West (18–16) and NL (11–9) and struggled strongly in the division, going 30–46 in their central-heavy schedule.
This should wake us up to meet certain needs, Hinch said.
hot start
Right-hander Casey Miz, the No. 1 pick overall three years ago, was 7-9 in 30 with 118 strikeouts and 41 walks with an ERA of 3.71.
Casey has something to build on in this experience,” Hinch said.
The former Houston Astros manager said he sees some similarities with The Miz and aces like Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
20-20-20 club
At age 32, outfielder Robbie Grossman had a breakout season not seen by anyone with more than 11 homers and without a double-digit total in previously stolen bases. Grossman became the seventh Tiger to have at least 20 homers, 20 stolen bases and 20 doubles to join players in club history such as Hall of Famer Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson.
on base road
Detroit stole 88 bases, overall, which, after ranking better than 21st over the past five years, was just six teams behind in the majors.
That’s how we tried to make our mark, when the opportunity comes, we want to take advantage of it,” Hinch said.
to encourage
Detroit was 16 games behind Chicago and almost too far behind in the AL wild-card race. When the Tigers were knocked out of the playoffs, Hinch met with the players as a group and spoke with them individually for the rest of the season.
I thanked him for his efforts, for his attention, for everything he did to move this organization forward, Hinch recalled. And then I challenged them to consider this a progressive year, but ultimately not the success we want.
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