Tigers reliever gets unexpected praise from ESPN rankings heading into 2025

Emma Lingan

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton (87) celebrates a strikeout against Cleveland Guardians during the sixth inning at Game 4 of ALDS at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Between the dominance of reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, the return of World Series champion Jack Flaherty, and the ascent of top prospect Jackson Jobe, much has been made of the strength of the Detroit Tigers' starting rotation. However, according to one analyst, the Tigers may also have one of the best relievers in baseball in their bullpen.

As ESPN's Buster Olney (subscription required) continues to rank the top 10 MLB players at every position before Opening Day, he showed some love to Tigers southpaw Tyler Holton at No. 9 on his relievers list.

"Holton was the ultimate hybrid reliever last season – and a workhorse, starting nine games and collecting eight saves in 66 outings while throwing 94 ⅓ total innings," Olney wrote. "He held opponents to a .173 batting average."

Holton solidified himself as a key member of the patchwork pitching staff that carried the Tigers to their first postseason appearance in a decade. He appeared in all six games of Detroit's playoff run last year, helping the Tigers topple the Houston Astros with two scoreless relief appearances before struggling against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS.

Tigers reliever Tyler Holton gets unexpected praise from ESPN rankings heading into 2025

Holton, who joined the Tigers two years ago as a waiver claim from the Arizona Diamondbacks, plays an important but often overlooked role on Detroit's pitching staff. He's not a starter, and he's not a closer – at least, in the traditional sense – but he does just about everything in between.

Holton's fastball velocity is nothing to write home about, averaging around 92 mph, but he gets results. According to Baseball Savant, Holton is in the 91st percentile for average exit velocity allowed, the 81st percentile in expected batting average against, and the 85th percentile in barrel rate.

Holton's versatility helped him become the face of Detroit's "pitching chaos" strategy. Even though the Tigers will (hopefully) be able to deploy a more traditional starting rotation in 2025, Holton's role as a "do-everything" guy will be just as critical as ever, and it's nice to see him get some national recognition for it.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.