Scott Harris leads Detroit Tigers to playoffs in Year 2: 'We're going to keep believing'

Manager A.J. Hinch snuck up behind president of baseball operations Scott Harris in the clubhouse Friday night while the Detroit Tigers celebrated their first postseason berth, capping an improbable run.

Hinch had a Coors Light in each hand.

Harris had his goggles on his forehead.

You can guess what happened next: Hinch raised his left arm and surprised Harris with a beer shower. Less than an hour before, Hinch and Harris hugged on the field to put a stamp on their greatest accomplishment yet — getting the Tigers to the playoffs for the first time since 2014 .

"I thought we were going to be a little better a little earlier in the summer," Harris said after Friday's 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park. "I didn't think it was going to take a 31-11 run to clinch in the end. But we've been talking for a long time about how talented these young players are and how we wanted to give them opportunity because we knew they would run with it, and they did. So I'm really proud of them."

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Remember what Harris said when he shared his vision at his introductory news conference , exactly two years and five days ago? There were three pillars of his plan: Acquire, develop and retain young players, create a culture of development, dominate the strike zone.

It hasn't always been perfect, but the Tigers accomplished all of those things over the past two seasons, ultimately leading to an American League wild-card spot and an opportunity to win the World Series.

"We're going to stay anchored to what we believe in," said Harris, who replaced general manager Al Avila. "We're going to keep trying to make the best baseball decisions we can, and then see how the team responds to it. I feel like we've done that since the day I've been here."

Did Harris expect his Tigers to reach the postseason within two years of taking over baseball operations?

He smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah," Harris said.

"I don't mean that in, like, an arrogant way," Harris continued. "We got really talented people, and we got a really talented manager, and you've seen what these players can do. We're going to keep believing in them."

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Make no mistake, Harris — a seller at the July 30 trade deadline — didn't expect the Tigers to go from eight games under .500 on Aug. 10 to 12 games over .500 on Sept. 27, a 20-game swing in 48 days. In that stretch, the postseason odds flipped from 0.2% to 100%.

Nobody saw it coming.

For that, the credit goes to the players and coaches.

But Harris assembled the roster of players, and he put systems in place for the coaches to get the most out of the players.

He deserves as much credit as anyone.

"This is a really young team," said Harris, who acquired 24-year-old shortstop Trey Sweeney at the trade deadline in the Jack Flaherty trade . "They have a lot to prove moving forward. I'm just excited that we got in. Hopefully, we can do some damage in October."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Scott Harris leads Detroit Tigers to playoffs in Year 2: 'We're going to keep believing'