The Tigers have snuck up on a lot of teams in the latter part of the season. They have played their way into Wild Card contention by going 27-14 since August 3, tied with the Padres for the best record in baseball in that time. 

They’ve also snuck up in the defensive metrics. They rank 6th in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved this season.

The Tigers’ defensive metrics are driven by three things:

Defensive Positioning

The Tigers’ four infield positions have combined for -8 Runs Saved this season in terms of their skill. But the Tigers’ staff has needed its infield to be good given the team’s ground ball rate (44% for the season, 7th in MLB). Where the team has made up for skill shortcomings is in its infield defensive positioning and use of what we call partial defensive shifts.

That’s an alignment in which at least two infielders deviate significantly from straight-up positioning (think of the at-bats where the shortstop or second baseman is almost behind second base).

The Tigers have used a partial shift on 77% of the ground balls and short line drives against them this season–the 6th-highest rate in MLB–and they’re not afraid to play that alignment versus both left- and right-handed hitters. The positioning helps make potentially-difficult plays routine ones.

Since August 3, the Tigers have yielded the 2nd-highest ground ball rate (47%). They have turned 76% of grounders and bunts into outs. 

That’s the 4th-highest rate in MLB over roughly one-fourth of the season, a significant improvement from earlier this season. Rookie shortstop Trey Sweeney (4 Runs Saved) has been a standout of late.

Getting ground balls and turning them into outs over and over again: That’s how you end up with easily the best ERA in baseball over a six-week stretch (2.55).

Tigers Defense – Out Rate On Ground Balls & Bunts

Jake Rogers

Jake Rogers is a standout defensive catcher. He ranks tied for 4th at the position with 13 Defensive Runs Saved.

Rogers is a pretty good pitch framer who doesn’t have any defensive weaknesses. He rates average or better at handling the running game, defending bunts, and blocking pitches to prevent wild pitches or passed balls. He’s also shepherded Tarik Skubal through his likely Cy Young season, catching every pitch Skubal has thrown in 2024.

Riley Greene and Parker Meadows

Riley Greene’s 12 Runs Saved in left field, which are tied with Daulton Varsho for most in the majors, are boosted by 3 home run robberies (2 shy of Blake Perkins’ MLB lead). Nonetheless, he’s ultra-important to the Tigers as a left fielder, as his presence essentially gives Detroit two outfielders with center field-like athletic ability (Greene and Parker Meadows).

The Tigers are a much better defensive team when they play Parker Meadows (2 Runs Saved) in center field and play Greene, who doesn’t rate well in center, in left field than when they play other combinations.

The other players that the Tigers have played in left field this season have -8 Runs Saved.

Since Meadows returned to the lineup on August 3, the Tigers have turned approximately two-thirds of balls hit in the air to the outfield into outs, the 3rd-highest rate in the majors and a nearly 6-percentage point increase from what they’d done prior to that point.

They’re 42-23 when Meadows starts.

This move up the standings by the Tigers is one that has almost no margin for error. Their playoff probability was in single digits not long ago and to overcome those kinds of long odds, you’re looking for perfection in your performance.

The Tigers have overcome some of their imperfections through smart management and execution. It will be a tall order to continue this for the next week and a half but it’s a much smaller one than it was a couple weeks ago. Especially if they keep playing defense like this.

Most Defensive Runs Saved – 2024 Season