Will there be chaos for the Tigers or Guardians in the ALDS?

CLEVELAND, Ohio – There are no strangers in the big leagues anymore. Not with MLB's balanced schedule, which ensures every team plays every other team every season.

Lack of familiarity won't be the problem when the Tigers and Guardians open the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon at 1:08 p.m. This will be more like brother against brother.

The Guardians and Tigers played each other 13 times during the regular season as rivals in the AL Central. The Guards won seven of the 13 games, but the Tigers outscored them 60-50.

“Detroit played us hard all year,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “We've been saying all year how good this team is. The 7-6 win against them, especially when we got through everyone, shows that they played the toughest baseball against us.

“We knew how good they were. They just didn't finish some games. When they did that, they showed that they are a really good team.”

The Guardians won the AL Central by 6 1/2 games. The Royals and Tigers tied for second place 86-76, with the Royals holding the tiebreaker.

It was an eye-opening postseason for the AL Central.

Not only did the Tigers beat the AL West champion Astros in the wild card round, but the Royals did the same to the Orioles, the top-seeded wild card team. The Royals face the Yankees in the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

“The only team that didn’t make it (Minnesota) was projected to have the highest win total in the division,” Hedges said. “They were there all year too.

“We're talking about four teams that flirt with the postseason all year long and three teams in the DS (Division Series). It shows it’s the best division in baseball.”

Guardians rookie manager Stephen Vogt has highlighted the prowess in the AL Central all season.

“I think it’s great,” Vogt said when asked about three teams from the AL Central being represented in the division series. “Playing in this division all year, we could see the caliber of teams. They compete hard and play very good baseball.”

There is talk in the Tigers clubhouse that manager AJ Hinch created “pitching chaos” through the unpredictable deployment of his pitching staff. The Guardians spent most of the season talked about wreaking havoc on the bases with their speed and a style of attack called guards ball.

It's unclear if anyone has the trademark chaos, but both teams used it to their advantage.

“Who knows what we’ll do,” Hinch told mlb.com after they swept Houston. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is our unpredictability and our players embrace that, which leads to success.”

Vogt said the Guardians and Tigers are built on similar principles.

“They have tough duels on both sides,” said Vogt. “With the versatility of their handedness (left-handed and right-handed) and their positional flexibility, they can always have good matchups against our pitching.

“On the other hand, they have a very balanced, very talented bullpen that can keep up with our lineup. Two similar teams will compete against each other. They are very deep and talented.”