On Saturday, the Detroit Tigers secured their third win against the Twins. The final scoreboard showed a win by 8-5. Once their offense was struggling, but the surge has made them the table toppers of their division. And it was their left-handed slugger who gave an impactful play at the plate.

That left-handed slugger? The Tigers’ shortstop, Trey Sweeney. He had two hits, one RBI, and three runs scored. Sweeney crossed the plate on Riley Greene’s sac fly in the sixth and hit the go-ahead single off Brooks Kriske in the seventh. He shifted the momentum of the game. 

In the post-game interview with John Smoltz’s King of the Diamond, Sweeney shared what’s behind this stunning turnaround. He said, “That’s just baseball. We went through a rough one there for a little bit, but everybody stayed confident and never lost faith.” When pressed further, beyond the confidence, what has changed? He said, “I think just the expectations and everybody was excited coming into the season… Once you get there, it’s not something you want to miss out on ever again… I think just having that experience and those expectations coming in, and everybody being on the same page.”

The Tigers made the playoffs in 2024 with an 86–76 record, although they lost 3–2 in the ALDS. This year, their offense got off to a slow start with a .685 team OPS (24th in MLB) and a 95 wRC+ (23rd), but then they turned things around. And now they are leading the division with a 73-52 record.

By the middle of May, Detroit’s offense numbers jumped, scoring an average of 5.35 runs per game, which was the fourth-best in MLB. They also had a .333 OBP (seventh overall) and a team OPS+ of 114 (fifth). And as of now, their OBP is .381 with an OPS of .739.

Well, the skipper was quite satisfied with the at-bats, too. Hinch said, “Our at-bats were good.” For the Tigers, their bats are playing quite well, and their pitchers are doing great, too. Especially their trade deadline addition.

Paddack’s surprise spark helps ignite Detroit’s charge

They got him quietly, with no big trade, simply a smart move to add depth as injuries piled up in the rotation. The Detroit Tigers needed someone impactful, as Reese Olson was out for the season. Chris Paddack, who used to play for the Twins, came in with minimal fanfare.

But all of a sudden, that back-end arm seems like a good thing. In his first three starts with the Tigers, Paddack had a nice 3.45 ERA, giving up only two earned runs in 11.2 innings.

This reversal goes perfectly with the Tigers’ offense coming back to life. Their bats have surged, and now the back end of the rotation is getting more stable. It’s that kind of calm dependability: the pitching side of the lineup finally coming together.

That trust? This is exactly what you need to make a deep playoff run. No fireworks simply results in that matter when they matter most.