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Unlikely hero is saving Tigers bullpen in 2025 after Jason Foley debacle

Emma Lingan
Emma Lingan

Motor City Bengals

San Diego Padres v Detroit Tigers / Gregory Shamus/GettyImages

It wouldn't be an AJ Hinch-coached baseball team without a little bit of pitching chaos, right?

When the Detroit Tigers made the shocking decision to assign Jason Foley, their primary closer from last season, to Triple-A Toledo to open the 2025 campaign, there was some understandable angst about the club's bullpen situation.

Foley had been a full-time member of the Tigers’ bullpen for the last three seasons, making the decision to option him to Triple-A at the end of spring training particularly unexpected. Beyond that, though, the Tigers didn't have a clear answer to a pressing question: who would close games for them in 2025?

Detroit has largely used a closer-by-committee approach for the first few weeks of the season, deploying the likes of Tommy Kahnle, Brant Hurter and Tyler Holton in high-leverage situations. However, one especially unlikely hero has emerged as a late-inning option in the Tigers' bullpen: right-hander Will Vest.

Will Vest is saving Tigers bullpen in 2025 after Jason Foley debacle

After both Kahnle (28 pitches) and Holton (18 pitches) had appeared in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals, Vest was called upon in a save situation against the San Diego Padres Monday. He had just earned his first save of the season – only the sixth of his Major League career – two days earlier in Detroit's 3-1 win over the Royals.

Vest proceeded to pitch a spotless inning against the Padres, retiring the side in order on 10 pitches – nine of which were strikes – with one strikeout to pick up his second save in three days in a 6-4 Tigers win.

Kahnle leads the Tigers' bullpen with four saves on the season, and he and Holton still remain Detroit's primary options in save situations. The closer situation is far from settled, however, and Vest's early performance this season has put him in prime position to start earning some more save opportunities for the Tigers.

Vest, with his stellar 0.93 ERA and 0.62 WHIP across 9 2/3 innings, has given the Tigers yet another reliable late-inning relief option this season. After all, who needs a closer when you can have three?

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Emma Lingan

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.