A lot has changed for Detroit Tigers reliever Tyler Holton, but approach hasn't

LAKELAND, Fla. — Everything has changed for Detroit Tigers left-handed reliever Tyler Holton over the past 365 days, going from an unknown waiver claim who didn't make the 2023 Opening Day roster to an established reliever who is guaranteed to make the 2024 Opening Day roster.

Everything has changed, but nothing has changed.

"I mean, it's definitely a different situation than it was last year," Holton said. "From the game standpoint, not a lot changes. I have to start with a clean slate this year. I have to earn everything I get. It's not like anything is going to be handed to me. ... I'm still just trying to keep my head down, work hard to make this team and contribute in any way I can."

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Holton, 27, surprised the baseball industry when he built on the first nine innings of his MLB career in 2022 by pitching in 85⅓ innings across 59 games with the Tigers in 2023.

He posted a 2.11 ERA with 18 walks and 74 strikeouts.

The Tigers claimed Holton off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks during last year's spring training. He was the last player cut from spring training, receiving the bad news on the morning of Opening Day. He pitched just four games in Triple-A Toledo before getting called up.

He never looked back.

"I feel like I was able to surprise some hitters in counts with not really being predictable," Holton said. "I take pride in being able to throw multiple pitches in any count, so I definitely want to keep that."

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Holton thrived at the highest level by mixing six pitches: four-seam fastball (27.9%), changeup (22.5%), cutter (19.3%), slider (14.3%), sinker (12.3%) and curveball (3.6%).

He had success because he located all six pitches, giving him six weapons that he trusted and allowing him to take down right-handed and left-handed hitters.

There won't be a seventh pitch in 2024.

"This is the first year of my professional career that I'm not adding a pitch to my arsenal," said Holton, who threw three pitches at Florida State before the Diamondbacks selected him in the ninth round of the 2018 draft. "I definitely don't want to add pitches every year. If I have a long career, I don't want like 16 pitches."

As for the six pitches, Holton threw changeups, fastballs and cutters to right-handed hitters and sliders, sinkers and fastballs to left-handed hitters.

He dominated both types of hitters, but if there's an area of his game to tweak, it might be his attack plan against righties. That's because righties hit .209 with a .642 OPS, whereas lefties hit .147 with a .363 OPS. All nine home runs he allowed were hit by right-handed hitters.

"I think I had a really good mix last year," Holton said, "and I think I can still improve in some areas, whether it's sage or trying to get a little bit more movement out of one pitch or trying to throw something harder, whatever it may be. But it's nice not trying to learn a new pitch and a new grip."

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The Tigers added another left-handed reliever to the bullpen in Andrew Chafin, who signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract with a club option in the offseason.

Another left-hander, Joey Wentz, should receive a spot in the bullpen because he doesn't have any minor-league options remaining, but he needs to keep pitching well in spring training.

But Holton and Chafin is the important lefty combination.

Let manager A.J. Hinch explain.

"Having Chafin allows me to utilize Holton almost exactly how he was last year, and probably vice versa," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "Having Holton allows Chafin to move around the game to where there are some impactful at-bats that he can have. ... There should be a day where we don't have at least one of them available for a high-leverage spot in the latter third of the game, especially with lefties coming up, or maybe righties. I'm going to use them both in very similar ways, with Holton getting more of the extended outings compared to Chafin."

Holton reflected on his performance from last season at the beginning of the offseason, but once he began his throwing program, he turned the page and looked ahead.

There's no sense in living in the past, but Holton — now an established multi-inning reliever — knows what he can accomplish and what the team can accomplish.

"It's fun to see the moves we've made," Holton said. "I think we made a lot of good moves to help this team in the right direction. We have a lot of high expectations. We're excited."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: A lot has changed for Detroit Tigers' Tyler Holton, but approach hasn't