MLB Network analyst finally gives Tigers reliever his flowers after standout 2024

What the Tigers bullpen was able to do in the last few months of the 2024 season is still kind of baffling. With the rotation whittled down to just two healthy starters, Tarik Skubal and Keider Montero, Detroit's relievers were asked to perform in every kind of capacity for full pitching chaos. They were openers, long relievers, set up guys, closers, and so on, and they might've even been the Tigers' most essential piece in their journey to the postseason.

Jason Foley, Beau Brieske, Will Vest, and Tyler Holton aren't rookies by any means (Foley and Vest debuted in 2021, Brieske and Holton in 2022), but they broke out last year with some support from unlikely call-ups Sean Guenther and Brenan Hanifee at the tail end of the year.

Holton pitched the most out of any of them, logging 94 1/3 innings for a 2.19 ERA. He, just like the rest of the bullpen, kicked into a higher gear in July, when he refused to give up a single run in 18 innings of work. That same month, he made three starts as an opener, closed three others, and then was used anywhere from the second to third, to fifth to sixth, and seventh to eighth innings.

Though the Tigers' relievers have still seemed to be underestimated going into the 2025 season, MLB Network analyst Brian Kenny named Holton his No. 4 reliever in all of baseball to start the year.

MLB Network's Brian Kenny ranked Tigers' Tyler Holton No. 4 reliever in baseball to start season

Holton was a waiver pickup for the Tigers at the beginning of 2023, after he was DFA'ed by the Diamondbacks to make roster space for fellow current Tiger Andrew Chafin. Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter deserves a ton of credit here; Holton pitched 85 1/3 innings in 2023 for a 2.11 ERA. And this was a guy that Detroit picked up off of the scrap heap.

If the Tigers manage to keep a full rotation through the season, unlike last year, there's a chance for Holton and Co. to settle into more regular roles in the bullpen, but it also sort of seems like AJ Hinch likes to throw a surprise into the mix every now and then and could bring back pitching chaos every once in a while if a starter needs a day off.

Holton and the Tigers' bullpen have made it very clear that they'll be able to rise to the challenge if that happens. Even if there are still question marks hanging over other parts of the roster, we should expect the relievers to be a massive part of any success the Tigers have this season.