Detroit Tigers: 3 former players who have found success elsewhere

3. Gregory Soto has been pretty lights out for the Phillies this season

Gregory Soto was kind of a controversial figure in Detroit. Fans either loved him or hated him. He was like every Tigers closer ever: effectively wild.

It wasn't a surprise to see Harris trade Soto, considering he didn't really fit the "dominate the strike zone" mantra. Soto was traded to the Phillies for Matt Vierling, Nick Maton, and Donny Sands in a trade that continues to not look great for the Tigers. But that's an article for another time.

For Soto, we're going to need you to look past the surface numbers. He has a 4.84 ERA and the lowest K/9 of his career in 44.2 IP. But he also has a 3.13 xERA, 3.81 FIP, and the lowest BB/9 of his career at 3.63. He walked over five batters per nine innings during his career as a Tiger.

Soto has had a few blowup outings, which explains the high ERA, but other than that he's been lights out in Philly. He's really limited the hard contact this year, which was something he struggled mightily with last season.

Would the Tigers bullpen look better with Soto in it? It's hard to say, since Chris Fetter tried everything with him and still couldn't get him to throw strikes with any kind of consistency. We're seeing something similar with Alex Lange right now.

Soto is walking fewer batters and allowling far less hard contact. That has led to one of the best years of his career. It just stinks it didn't come in a Tigers uniform.