Cincinnati — The last couple of years, September for the Tigers has meant checking off boxes on the organizational to-do list.
It’s meant taking extended looks at players — young and older — to determine if there might be a place for them next season. It’s meant keeping a better player on the bench in a clutch situation so a younger player can get that real-time experience. It’s meant using young pitchers in leverage situations, even if that didn’t necessarily give the team the best chance to win.
Game results were a secondary concern.
That’s not happening this year.