The Detroit Tigers were on a team bus, heading to the airport in Minneapolis at a critical moment.
They had just gotten swept by the Minnesota Twins – a disappointing, sloppy, frustrating, four-game series played in miserable, frigid conditions. The Tigers had lost five straight to fall to 4-9 overall – a horrible start that left them fifth in the American League Central on Thursday, April 9.
In short, they were playing bad baseball.
But it was more than that.
Parker Meadows, one of the beloved members of this team, was not on that bus. He stayed at a hospital in Minneapolis after suffering a concussion and broken arm in an outfield collision with Riley Greene.
“We were worried about that situation, the livelihood of one of our teammates,” Tarik Skubal said. “We were all seeing a video on the bus, slowed down, and the video was bad.”
So, there was the human element – just worrying about a teammate.
And there was a collective disappointment because of how they were playing.
“Everybody was down, but there was no panic,” rookie Kevin McGonigle said.
Not the players. Not the front office. And certainly not manager A.J. Hinch.
What happened next should give Tigers fans hope for this season. Because the Tigers didn’t fall into a tailspin, like they did at the end of the 2025 regular season, losing eight straight as part of a 7-17 September skid.
Nobody freaked out. Nobody crumbled. And there was something else: A shared belief that they were better than this. As individuals. And as a team.
They returned to Detroit and washed away the Minnesota disaster by winning three in a row, finishing off a sweep of the Miami Marlins at Comerica Park on Sunday, April 12.
“We found a way to be us in this series,” Hinch said after his team’s 8-2 win on Sunday. “It’s very rewarding to come away with three wins and play the brand of baseball that we did.”
The ability to bounce back and recover is an important sign. It’s a sign of maturity and a shared belief in each other that only comes after years of success.
And it starts with being accountable.
“We all knew that we weren’t playing the caliber of baseball that we needed to play, both as individuals and as a team,” Skubal said. “I don’t do my job in Minnesota. Part of that five-game losing streak was I didn’t do my job.”
Indeed. He lost against the Twins last Tuesday, giving up four runs in less than five innings.
But then he responded, just like this team responded, with a brilliant performance on Sunday, giving up just two hits in 6⅔ innings in an 8-2 victory.
“We get as frustrated as everybody else does when you have a series like that in Minnesota,” Hinch said. “But the reality of baseball is you’re going to have those, and how you bounce back is going to define how long those last.”
Consider this moment defined: The Tigers bounced back from a miserable series with an encouraging sweep.
Strange start after strange spring
So what the heck happened in Minnesota?
Personally, I think it’s a reflection of an incredibly strange few months.
I’ve been going to spring training in Lakeland for nearly 15 years and this spring just felt different in every way. It started off with all kinds of flash and excitement when the Tigers signed Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander.
Then, just when spring training got going, there was a strange twist when several players and coaches went off to the World Baseball Classic.
Then, it got even stranger when the Tigers took a group to the Dominican Republic for a pair of exhibition games. Sure, it was just two games, but it messed up the rhythm of an entire week.
So that was the herky-jerky spring.
Then, the season started with the same strange, herky-jerky feel. The Tigers played five series in five different cities – at one point having to adjust to three different time zones in less than a week.
They went from the amazing weather in Florida, Arizona and California to playing in a freezer in Minnesota.
Some folks might be saying, Suck it up, buttercup. You are pros. It shouldn’t matter.
But it all seemed to combine into two months of stranger things. Everything was disjointed and nothing felt routine. Everything was kinda upside down.
Until this weekend.
Finally, the Tigers are truly home and they can truly settle into a normal routine.
And right on cue, they started to look like themselves again.
Would the real Tigers please stand up
So what is this team?
I’m certain of one thing: This team is better than last year’s.
Just from the additions of Valdez and Verlander in the rotation, Kenley Jansen in the bullpen, and McGonigle, who has been brilliant, in the infield.
“Collectively, we are a team that – the sum of the parts is pretty good, and just because you lose a game or two doesn’t mean it defines you,” Hinch said.
No. What defines you is how you respond to it.
And the Tigers passed that test in this series.
Being aggressive on the bases – going from first to third and even scoring on a wild pitch.
Getting on base – every guy in the lineup had a hit on Sunday.
“It’s not always the homer,” Hinch said. “By trying to do small things, big things can happen. And you end up hitting the ball out of the ballpark after a few seeing-eye singles, or you hit the ball hard and see what happens.”
On Sunday, they did get those homers – Kerry Carpenter hit an impossibly low pitch out, Dillion Dingler cranked his third homer and McGonigle hit the first of his career.
Playing clean baseball – no errors.
And being dominant on the mound.
“I think we’re well defined as a team that can handle a lot,” Hinch said. “We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low, but we will compete.”
That version of the Tigers seemed to disappear against the Twins – or maybe, it just froze in place in the Twin Cities, like some forgotten snowman.
But the Tigers came back against the Marlins.
Back to being themselves.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers sweep of Miami Marlins shows something important
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
