Just a few wins away from a 1st round bye. Olson getting hurt and Harris not trading for a quality SP was probably the difference. I can't even imagine the hostility towards him if we would have collapsed totally. A wildcard spot only equals a partial collapse.
Wanna play in New York, Toronto, Cleveland or Detroit? IMO, save Skubal for game #1. Opponent or location doesn't matter. If they want a bye or home games, play better. But The 2025 Detroit Tigers are a playoff team!!
Hinch will get a phone call from Chris telling him a home series is more important that who's pitching. Looking at it as a business instead of looking it as a fan will say winning the division is the smart play.
I say win the division without Skubal pitching Sunday. Give him another shot at beating Cleveland at Comerica in game 1.
It may not be something he/they can change on the fly during the season. Riley is very close to being a big superstar. Get his strikeouts down to around 75 a season and watch him take off. He's really going to need to change his approach though.
And if Skubal has to pitch Sunday, he probably wouldn't pitch in the wild card series. Unless there was a rainout? On 3 days rest is a asking a bit too much. Again....unless the Tigers score a ton of early inning runs and Hinch decides to pull him.
Boston would move down if the Tigers (and Cleveland) win the next 2. We would have the tie-breaker. Boston might prefer that? Play at Cleveland instead of in NY?
As a fan, my dream is to save Skubal and win both Boston games while Cleveland loses one. It looks like, if thats the case, we would play Cleveland at Comerica? It would give Tarik a chance at revenge on the Guardians for not beating them in September.
Hinch? The guy who says he plays every day to win the game that day? Then with a 1 run lead and a fresh bullpen coming off an off day, he uses relief pitchers just up from Toledo and we lose? (Septenber 5th). His best arms out there sitting and watching? I bet he wishes he had that game back. He's like a politician. Don't believe anything he says.