If you aren’t a Detroit Tigers fan — and maybe even if you are — you probably couldn’t name the pitcher with the lowest ERA among those who have thrown at least 150 major league innings since the start of last season. That’s understandable. The hurler in question works primarily out of the bullpen and has just six saves to go with an 8-3 record over 111 appearances during that span. He also doesn’t light up radar guns or overpower hitters. Currently ranking in the 19th percentile for fastball velocity at 91.9 mph, he has a modest 21.8% strikeout rate (as well as a minuscule 5.1% walk rate) since first taking the mound in a Tigers uniform on April 15 of last year.
The pitcher is Tyler Holton, and what he does is record outs on a consistent basis. Pitching in a variety of roles — including having been used as an opener on seven occasions — and featuring a six-pitch mix, the 28-year-old left-hander has a 2.24 ERA over 161 innings during his Tigers tenure. Making his performance even more impressive is how he ended up wearing the Olde English D. Cast aside by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 2018 ninth-round pick out Florida State University was claimed off of waivers in February of last year.
Holton discussed his M.O. on the mound prior to a recent game at Wrigley Field.
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David Laurila: Based on what I’ve seen and heard, you know how to “pitch.” Is that an accurate way to describe how you get outs?
Tyler Holton: “Yeah. That’s the simple answer. I go out there and throw strikes with multiple pitches. That’s probably the best way to put it.”
Laurila: Have you always done that?
Holton: “I think so. I have always tried to have a good mix of pitches. In college, I was a three-pitch-mix kind of guy — I was fastball, changeup, curveball — and would try to mix them up, no matter the count. I credit my pitching coach at FSU for being able to use any pitch at any time.”
Laurila: Who was your pitching coach there?
Holton: “Mike Bell. I believe he’s the head coach at [the University of] Pittsburgh now. But being able to use any pitch at any time… I mean, as a hitter you want to feel like you know what’s coming, whether it’s a hard pitch or a soft pitch. Talking to hitters, the most frustrating at-bats they have are against pitchers who can throw anything at any time. I use that to my advantage.”
Laurila: How did you go about developing your other three pitches?
Holton: “That was about being in pro ball with some new pitching coaches. They realized that with my mechanics, or the way I throw, I could maybe turn the ball a certain way, or that this pitch could pair well with what I already have. So, I credit the cutter, the sinker, and the slider to pitching coaches. My being open to new things has obviously played a part in that.”
Laurila: In which order did you learn the sinker, slider, and cutter?
Holton: “The cutter was first, then the sinker, then the slider. It’s been one a year. The cutter was in ’21, the sinker in ’22, and the slider in ’23.”
Laurila: No seventh pitch for 2024?
Holton: “Not yet. Maybe there will be something else brewing soon. We’ll see.”
Laurila: Do you know the metrics on all of your pitches?
Holton: “I do.”
Laurila: Which one grades out as the best?
Holton: “I have no idea, honestly. I think it’s just the way that I’ve been able to use all of them. I don’t think I’m a guy who can throw one pitch and say, ‘Here it comes, try to hit it.’ Statistically, I don’t know that I actually have a best pitch. But I like when I’m able to throw my fastball where I’m executing it. Same thing with my sinker, my cutter… with everything, really. I think I have a good repertoire to attack hitters with.”
Laurila: How would you describe the movement on your slider?
Holton: “It’s a sweeper type. I was trying to learn a gyro and mistakenly started throwing a sweeper. They said, ‘OK, we’re going to do that.’”
Laurila: How did that happen?
Holton: “I didn’t know how to gyro. I was trying to gyro on my own and was thinking, ‘This is what you should do.’ And it was getting decent horizontal movement. I went to our pitching coach — this was Boch [Doug Bochtler] in Triple-A — and told him that I was trying learn a bullet, but that it was moving. He was like, ‘Let’s just take this and ride with it.’ From there we tried to make it sweep. The next thing you know, I was able to do it pretty well.”
Laurila: What was that process like?
Holton: “You definitely have to turn your wrist, which I wasn’t doing. I was trying to throw it like a fastball, because that’s what I was told. Anyways, everyone can have the same mental cues, but it’s going to move differently because everybody throws differently, has different patterns and whatnot. Our Triple-A pitching coach said, ‘I think you can sweep with the best of them from your arm slot.’ I was like, ‘All right, let’s try this. Let’s go.’
“I practiced it for about a week, then got called up and started working with [Tigers pitching coach Chris] Fetter, Lundy [assistant pitching coach Robin Lund], and [assistant pitching coach] Juan [Nieves]. So, I basically went from mistakenly doing it to actually trying, and from there it got better. It became a pretty good sweeper.”
Laurila: You more or less have a good sweeper that’s an accident?
Holton: “It started out as an accident. But I get about 12 to 14 [inches horizontal] and I’ve even swept some in the 20s. I don’t really understand seam-shift, but whenever the seam-shift catches I get in the 20s.”
Laurila: There is one more thing I need to ask you. Given your array of pitches and the amount of success you’ve been having, why aren’t you a starter?
Holton: “I originally was a starter. I got moved to the bullpen in 2021, learned the cutter, and kind of became a different pitcher. Every year after that I’ve kind of become a different pitcher. I think I’m still learning, still growing, still getting better. Maybe being a starter is in the future for me. Who knows? I’m just happy to be where I am right now, learning in the big leagues.”
