You Probably Haven't Heard Of Tyler Holton, But The Man Doesn't Give Up Runs
The Detroit Tigers are not good. I always open my blogs by saying that, but I want to make sure that nobody gets my opinion twisted here. This is a bad ball club. They are nine games under 500; they will sell at the deadline and unload some assets like Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Lorenzen, two guys who have pitched pretty good baseball for Detroit this season. As far as 2023 is concerned, the team isn't going anywhere, but there are a lot of pieces that excite me about the future. And at some point, I'll write a blog about Riley Greene and how he is emerging into the Tigers' next superstar, but Riley Greene was a top-five pick. If the Tigers knew what they were doing, they would hit with guys like Riley Greene. What excites me is that Scott Harris knows what he's doing regarding finding pieces from the island of misfit toys. Tyler Holton is a prime example of that.
The journey of how Tyler Holton got to Detroit is one of tremendous irony. Last season the Tigers signed Andrew Chafin to a one year deal. He pitched solid baseball for Detroit a season ago, but ultimately decided to return to Arizona, where he started his career. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Arizona Diamondbacks put Tyler Holton on waivers, and the Detroit Tigers picked him up. He made the team of spring training and has proceeded to be one of the most dominant relievers in baseball. You read that right. Tyler Holton has been fantastic. There is only one pitcher in baseball with a minimum of 50 innings pitched in an ERA under two. His name is Tyler Holton, who is currently rocking a 1.70 ERA for the Tigers as a rookie this season. He began the year as a garbage time long reliever but has worked his way into higher leverage roles during the summer months. His ERA since the calendar turn to June is 0.59, and his ERA in July currently sits at 0.00. Not bad for a guy you probably have yet to hear of.
The ascension of Tyler Holton excites me very much as a Tigers fan because he gives me confidence that the new president of baseball operations, Scott Harris, has an eye for talent. I'm trying not to get too excited. Holton is a soft-tossing lefty who didn't debut until age 27. He doesn't miss a ton of bats, but his baseball Savant page lends credence to the fact that Holton might be for real. The man does not get hit hard at all. He's in the 93rd percentile in average exit Velo and in the 92nd percentile in hard-hit percentage. Water will find its level at some point, his FIP is almost two runs higher than his ERA. We'll see how he pitches down the stretch as he experiences the grind of a Major League season for the first time, but it appears he will be a long-term piece here. We can question the baseball savant page all we want, but the guy isn't giving up runs at the end of the day.
The ascension of Tyler Holton excites me very much as a Tigers fan because he gives me confidence that the new president of baseball operations, Scott Harris, has an eye for talent. I'm trying not to get too excited. Holton is a soft-tossing lefty who didn't debut until age 27. He doesn't miss a ton of bats, but his baseball Savant page lends credence to the fact that Holton might be for real. The man does not get hit hard at all. He's in the 93rd percentile in average exit Velo and in the 92nd percentile in hard-hit percentage. Water will find its level at some point, his FIP is almost two runs higher than his ERA. We'll see how he pitches down the stretch as he experiences the grind of a Major League season for the first time, but it appears he will be a long-term piece here. We can question the baseball savant page all we want, but the guy isn't giving up runs at the end of the day.
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These things typically don't happen in Detroit. We're usually the organization that releases guys only for those players to become All-Stars with other teams. I spent years envying organizations like the Rays, Dodgers, and Astros, who get these guys off the scrap heap and turn them into studs. Detroit still has a long way to go, but when I see how someone like Holton has pitched, it gives me hope that perhaps Detroit will be the team that finds guys. This may be the organization that will outsmart people at the deadline instead of being the other way around. A man can dream about the future, but for the time being, Tyler Holton has been a genuine surprise for the Detroit Tigers.