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To the surprise of not a single individual, the Detroit Tigers will watch October playoffs from the comfort of their home recliners.
But there will be a whole mess of former Bengals impacting the eventual crowning of a World Series champion. Here are some who could play major roles once the playoffs start next week.
Justin Verlander
Justin Verlander (Houston Astros)
A true postseason bulldog, Verlander pitched in six games for the Astros last October and all but one ended with a win. The lone blemish was Game 6 of the World Series against the Dodgers, though Verlander was excellent, firing six sharp innings while striking out nine and allowing just two runs. After a number of big-game performances during his time in Detroit, Verlander was finally rewarded last year with a championship ring.
The Astros will again look to jump on his back after another brilliant regular season. Verlander’s 280 strikeouts top the American League leaderboard while his 2.60 ERA ranks him third. He’s offered free passes to a scant 36 hitters, by far the lowest total of his career (excluding an injury-plagued 2015). Houston boasts an array of stars all over the field, but without question, vintage playoff Verlander will be needed for a second straight World Series crown.
A.J. Hinch (Houston Astros - manager)
Hinch might be on top of the world now as the Houston skipper looking to make another long postseason run, but let us not forget that he was a part-time contributor to the worst team in Detroit Tigers history. Hinch was the backup catcher to Brandon Inge for that apocalyptic 2003 squad that won 43 games and lost 119. Hinch started behind the dish 23 times that summer and hit .203 in the process. One year later, he was out of the game at age 30. (That ’03 team put a stink on a lot of guys that was impossible to shake.) Thankfully for Hinch, catchers are always viewed as natural leaders and future managers; no matter how inept said playing career happened to be.
J.D. Martinez (Boston Red Sox)
J.D. Martinez (Red Sox photo)
J.D. Martinez was a very good hitter throughout his three-plus years as a Detroit Tiger, but he was never the very best slugger in the entire American League. That is precisely what he has become in his first season with the Red Sox. Martinez walloped 41 home runs, following last year’s absurd (and underappreciated) 45 dingers in just 119 games. His 124 RBIs are the most in all of baseball. His 41 long balls trail only Oakland’s Khris Davis (46). The BoSox needed a power bat in the middle of the lineup to replace future Hall of Famer David Ortiz and Martinez has more than fit the bill.
The Sox enter the postseason as the prohibitive favorite with their glittering 106-51 record. Martinez especially will be clamoring for a long run in October; thus far in his career, he’s competed in a pair of playoff series, both resulting in swift three-game sweeps in the opening round. (2014: Baltimore 3-0 over Detroit, 2017: LA Dodgers 3-0 over Arizona)
David Price (Boston Red Sox)
The 6-foot-5 lefty has been one of baseball’s starting pitchers over the last decade. He won 20 games and captured the Cy Young with Tampa Bay in 2012. He finished second in the voting two other times (2010, 2015). Much more often than not, when David Price is your starting pitcher, a victory is likely to follow. Just not in the playoffs. Price has been the starter in nine postseason games in his career and every single one of them has resulted in Price’s team coming up short. Zero wins, nine losses in playoff games with David Price as the starter. Those are difficult numbers to ignore.
The Red Sox used Price in relief last October against Houston and he was dynamite, logging 6.2 innings and not allowing a run. But Price has returned to health this year, starting 30 games compared to just 11 last season, meaning he’s unlikely to be coming out of the pen. He’ll begin the game with the ball in his hand, and Price is more than due for that particular game to finally end with his club on top.
David Price
Rick Porcello (Boston Red Sox)
In Porcello’s second year in Beantown, he went 22-4 and won the Cy Young. The next year, his ERA ballooned by a full run and a half, and he topped all of baseball with 17 losses. In 2018, it was mostly the good Porcello again, though his 17-7 record is a tad misleading since the Red Sox win nearly every game that they participate in. Porcello has pitched to a 5.47 ERA in just under 25 innings of playoff work over the course of his career, so you can bet Alex Cora will be lurched forward on the top step of the dugout when it’s Ricky P’s day to start.
Semi-interesting fact: Porcello was with the Tigers for six different playoff series, but he got the starting nod only twice. Such is life when you’re stuck behind the likes of Verlander, Price, Max Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez. Like Price, Porcello will be eager to finally take some of those gaudy regular season numbers and carry them over into October.
Ian Kinsler (Boston Red Sox)
The 36-year-old projects to be the main second baseman for Boston come playoff time, but he has not exactly set the American League on fire since heading east from Anaheim two months ago. Kinsler has come to the plate 125 times for the Red Sox and cracked just one home run, a paltry total for a guy that’s always been a steady power threat. He’s getting on base less (.298 OBP) than at any point in his career. But he will play consistent defense and can still swipe a bag if need be; he’s got 15 on the year and has reached double-digits in each of his 13 big league seasons. Plus, Kinsler will not be fazed by the bright postseason lights. He’s a .291 hitter over 37 career playoff games.
Ian Kinsler
Edwin Jackson (Oakland Athletics)
Jackson was an AL All-Star in 2009, his lone season as a Detroit Tiger. He had a power arm and was just 25 years old. Not many would have predicted that in the nine seasons to follow, Jackson would play for a whopping 10 different teams, including two separate tours with Washington. The last couple of years, Jackson’s production waned severely and he looked to be headed toward spending the twilight of his career in Japan or independent ball. But the A’s decided to give him a shot at the end of June and he’s been confidently taking the ball once a week ever since. Oakland has won 13 of Jackson’s 16 starts, including a scorching 10 of the last 11. He possesses a cozy 3.18 ERA and with a one-game playoff against the Yankees looming, you’d have to believe Bob Melvin will give the 35-year-old Jackson very serious consideration to start that do-or-die game.
Mike Fiers (Oakland Athletics)
Unless that honor goes to this guy. The Tigers sent Fiers to the Bay Area on August 6 and he’s been fantastic in his new digs. The crafty right-hander has allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his nine starts as an Athletic. All but one of those starts has resulted in an Oakland victory. There were approximately zero baseball experts that could have foreseen the A’s going 95-62 in 2018, with Edwin Jackson and Mike Fiers figuring prominently into that success.
Fernando Rodney (Oakland Athletics)
Fernando Rodney
When Fernando Rodney began his major league career in Detroit, Comerica Park was in just its third year and guys like Jose Lima and Jeff Weaver were still main cogs in the rotation. Fast forward almost two decades and the 41-year-old Rodney is somehow still a dependable late-game option out of the bullpen. The Twins shipped him to Oakland six weeks ago, and save for a shaky four-game stretch earlier this month, old Fernando has been near unhittable.
His Athletics career began in flawless fashion, appearing in 11 games -- all for an inning apiece -- without permitting a single run. Not too shabby for the man in the sideways cap that’s pitching for his seventh team in the last four years. Tigers’ radio analyst Jim Price always referred to Rodney’s changeup as his “trick pitch,” and it would come as no surprise if he continued tricking big league hitters with it well into his golden years.
Rajai Davis (Cleveland Indians)
The speedy Davis will turn 38 in a few weeks, but those powerful legs just keep on churning. In part-time work with Cleveland this season, Davis has managed to rack up 21 stolen bases. With runs often at a premium in low-scoring, cold-weather playoff games, the skill of a player like Davis to scamper into scoring position could be critical. In Game 7 of the 2016 Fall Classic, he bashed a game-tying, two-run homer against Aroldis Chapman in what assuredly would have gone down as one of baseball’s all-time signature moments had the Indians been able to finish the job in extra innings. After a one-year stay in Boston, the Tribe brought Davis back in hopes of squeezing out just a little bit more of his October magic.
Raj Davis
Andrew Miller (Cleveland Indians)
The Tigers had their choice of starting pitchers when they drafted sixth overall in 2006. Still on the board were Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, and Max Scherzer. Oh, and Andrew Miller. The Tigers opted for Miller, the big southpaw from North Carolina. Ouch. The aforementioned trio got snapped up in the next five picks and would go on to win armfuls of Cy Young awards and ERA titles. It was not Dave Dombrowski’s finest moment. (Though he would save a bit of face by shipping Miller, along with Cameron Maybin, to his old club in Miami a couple of years later for a gentleman named Miguel Cabrera.) Once the starting pitcher label was dropped from Miller’s nameplate in 2012, he began to flourish as one of the game’s most unhittable relievers. He almost singlehandedly brought Cleveland its first title since 1948.
But this summer was rocky. He made three trips to the DL with shoulder issues and when he has been able to pitch, the results have been solid but unspectacular. Miller appears to be healthy heading into the playoffs; he’ll need to rediscover that October dominance in a hurry as the Indians prepare for a nasty ALDS matchup with the defending champion Astros.
Curtis Granderson (Milwaukee Brewers)
Curtis Granderson
The Brew Crew made a slew of moves late in the summer, one of which was grabbing the ageless Granderson from Toronto. Okay, so ageless might be a bit of an exaggeration, as the 37-year-old Grandy Man is now more of a .210 or .220-hitting corner outfielder with virtually no base-stealing ability. But that left-handed bat still has some thunder lurking within. Granderson bopped 30 over the fence in 2016, another 26 last year, and has registered 13 homers this summer in a partially reduced role. With stars Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain occupying two outfield positions, Brewers’ skipper Craig Counsell might look to platoon Granderson and Ryan Braun in the third spot come playoff time.
It’s year 15 in the bigs for Granderson and he’s still chasing that elusive World Series ring. With Milwaukee currently slated to play in the one-game Wild Card playoff, that championship quest could last four weeks or it could burn up in three and a half hours.
Justin Wilson (Chicago Cubs)
Wilson was very erratic after being dealt to the Cubs last season, but he’s settled down in 2018 and become a reliable late-game option for Joe Maddon. The hard-throwing lefty has logged 54 innings with a 2.83 ERA and he’s fanned 69 batters against just 33 walks. With the Cubbies currently missing key relievers in Brandon Morrow and Pedro Strop, it’s imperative that Wilson continue his fine comeback campaign well into October. Wilson’s deal to Chicago might turn out to be a win-win for both sides; the Tigers received Jeimer Candelario in the trade and he’s putting the finishing touches on a 19 home run season along with very smooth glove work at the hot corner (.972 fielding percentage, tops among AL third basemen).
