Tigers' lefty Holton 'trending in right direction'

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Tigers’ pitching chaos strategy raised the profile for Tyler Holton, one of the most versatile relievers in the game today. It also raised the standard by which the left-hander is viewed.

“I think the bar for him is pretty high,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “given how dominant he’s been. When he gives up a run or he gives up a couple hits, our reaction in general is probably exaggerated.”

The standard by which Holton views himself, though, was already high.

“Literally any time I give up a walk or give up a hit or give up a run, I think I’m the worst pitcher on Earth,” Holton said last Friday.

That’s a tough way to live through a season. Then again, being a reliever can be a tough way to live if you’re looking for self-esteem. Because of the small sample size of work, one bad outing can take a handful or more of great outings to overcome. It’s the nature of the role.

So when Holton gave up a Ramón Urías home run and a couple of soft singles to plate another run against the Orioles in an eventual 4-3 Tigers win last homestand, he was reminded of last year. Before he was the dominant, do-everything reliever who nobody wanted to face, he was a lefty with a 5.40 ERA after the first month of the season. Five of the eight runs he gave up that April came in one outing against the Royals that included two run-scoring hit-by-pitches, a walk, two singles and one batter retired.

That gave him perspective.

“I think at some point around this time last year, I lost a little bit of my lanes and I started hitting guys left and right,” Holton said. “But I don’t have that issue. I’m feeling good right now. It’s a long season. I mean, we have five more months, and hopefully some more after that, so a lot of time to clean it up. Obviously I always want to get better; that’s why you have this mindset and play this game.”

Pitch-wise, Holton’s arsenal isn’t dramatically different than last year, though his general pitching metrics show regression. His fastball and sinker are down a tick in velocity, but they’re not hurting him. Opponents are batting .316 off of his cutter, compared with .194 last year, and the whiff rate on the pitch has dropped in half. However, only one of the six hits off of that pitch has gone for extra bases.

“I think my execution can definitely be better,” Holton said. “I think the more you get out there, the better you feel. I definitely think at the end of the day, the details are in the execution. And at times I haven’t felt great. Sometimes you miss a spot or a pitch goes wide and you try to get back in the zone. It’s baseball. You take one pitch at a time. But body feels good. I like the way the ball’s coming out.”

Hinch isn’t worried.

“Earlier in April, he wasn’t locating pitches and he was falling behind, he wasn’t pitch-efficient,” Hinch said. “And all of that probably contributes to a little bit of a slower start. His slow start’s still pretty good. I think we have to keep it in context. He only pitches in the most important innings, and he usually gets the best hitters. That leaves very small room for error. He’s trending in the right direction.”

Hours after Holton and Hinch talked, Holton pitched a clean eighth inning against the bottom third of the Angels order, retiring three hitters from the right side in order. His velocity was at average or up across the board. He earned the win when the Tigers posted an eight-run ninth for a 9-1 victory. His ERA dropped to 2.76, still higher than his last two years in Detroit but not alarming.

Holton had to face righty-heavy lineups with the Angels and Astros last week. He’ll get a slightly more favorable matchup this week with Ryan McMahon and the Rockies, who enter Tuesday batting .196 against lefties.

He has plenty of time to get in midseason form before the Tigers have their Tyler Holton bobblehead giveaway on June 28.

“I’m not changing anything. I’m not searching for anything,” Holton said. “Just trying to make sure everything’s crisp each time out. I haven’t faced a lefty in I don’t know how long.”