Our 2024 Detroit Tigers minor league award series concludes
Relief pitchers threw more innings for the the Detroit Tigers than any other team in 2024. That’s probably not news to Tigers fans, who watched the opener/bulk strategy propel the team to a Cinderella playoff run. But the numbers are still pretty incredible.
Tigers relievers covered 694 innings this year. That amounts to 47.3% of the team’s total innings. The next closest team was the San Francisco Giants, with 655 innings, while the Seattle Mariners ranked 30th with just over 490 innings from their bullpen.
We can get deep into the weeds and talk about how many of those Detroit Tigers reliever innings weren’t really from relievers, but the underlying point remains the same: Relief pitching continues to grow in importance with each season.
It is true that many of the best relievers in baseball are failed starters. But that’s not always the case. Will Vest never worked as a starting pitching in college or the minor leagues. Jason Foley has never started a game in pro baseball. And an increasing numbers of those starters who transitioned into relief are doing so very early in the pro careers. Emmanuel Clase moved to relief as soon as he left rookie ball.
And yet, relievers almost never make top prospect lists. So today we give some flowers to the underappreciated relief pitchers working in the Detroit Tigers system this year. We don’t know if they’ll go on to successful MLB careers, but their 2024 seasons were all worth highlighting.
As with our other awards, our voting for best reliever was simple. Chris, Jerry, and Rogelio each ranked their top three pitchers, and then we assigned points for each slot. Three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, and one for third.
Detroit Tigers Reliever of the Year Award
Honorable Mention – Chase Lee
Chase Lee was something of an unheralded addition at the trade deadline, coming to the Tigers from the Rangers in the Andrew Chafin deal. His stuff doesn’t jump off the page, with a fastball that rarely tops 90 mph, but his nearly submarine delivery seemingly gives hitters fits. And it looks like the Tigers unlocked something in him after the trade. He threw more four-seamers and sliders, and fewer sinkers, and watched his strikeout rate rise and his walk rate fall. He threw just 36 innings on the season, but finished with a 2.75 ERA and 49 strikeouts to 11 walks. That was enough to land him one second-place nod in our voting.
Honorable Mention – Devin Sweet
Devin Sweet has been to the big leagues, and he was on Detroit’s 40-man roster at one time. That’s because he has a legitimate MLB pitch in his devastating changeup. He was also arguably the most reliable reliever in Detroit’s minor-league system last year. He led their system with 52 appearances, and was second among relievers with 76 innings pitched. And they were pretty good innings. Sweet finished the season with a 3.91 ERA, and his 34% strikeout rate led the entire organization. He, like Lee, garnered one second-place vote from us.
Honorable Mention – Marco Jimenez
Marco Jimenez has been pitching in pro ball since 2017, and for most of that time he was one of the hardest-throwing starters in the system. But Jimenez always had the look (and the walk rate) of a future reliever. And he finally made that transition in 2024, to good success. He spent the entire year in High-A West Michigan, compiling a 2.05 ERA over 57 innings. His walks were still a little high (12.6%) and his strikeout rate a little low (23.3%), but batters hit just .145 with one home run against him all year. That performance landed him one third-pace vote from us.
3rd Place – RJ Petit
RJ Petit is one of the most fascinating relievers in Detroit’s system. He’s an enormous young man, listed at 6-foot-8 and close to 300 pounds, and his stuff varies from solid to very good. Petit spent the entire year in Erie, where he became one of the more reliable late-inning relievers for the SeaWolves. Toward the end of the season his fastball consistently touched the upper 90s, and both his slider and changeup showed bat-missing potential.
Petit tied for the fourth highest strikeout rate in the system (31.1%), and his 2.75 FIP ranked third among pitchers with at least 50 innings. He is Rule 5 eligible this year, and it will be interesting to see if the Tigers protect him. But his performance in 2024 landed him two third-pace votes from us, which was enough to earn the bronze here. Petit is also the only reliever on this year’s list who was even mentioned by us last year.
2nd Place – Jake Miller
Jake Miller’s ultimate role in the system remains to be seen. In some ways he was a bulk reliever before it was cool. Miller made 24 appearances on the season, and only 3 were starts. But he threw at least three innings in his final 20 appearances, which were typically at least five days apart. For our purposes he still counts as a reliever. And his 2024 season was strong enough to get him one first-place nod in our voting. Miller had an outstanding season, compiling a 1.85 ERA over 87.1 innings while climbing from Low-A Lakeland to Double-A Erie. His 2.50 FIP was best in the system, as was his 25.4% strikeout-to-walk ratio.
And, if his assignment to the 2024 Arizona Fall League is any indication, the Detroit Tigers seem to like him as a prospect. The southpaw comes at hitters with a 92-95 MPH fastball with plus ride and some deception in his delivery. He also shows a sinker, a low-80s slider that he can alter into more of a sweeper, and a solid mid-80s changeup. Miller has the arsenal and strike-throwing ability to start in the upper minors. But if you squint you can see the makings of a multi-faceted relief arm along the lines of Tyler Holton.
Lakeland reliever Jake Miller needed just 11 pitches to strike out the side in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/uuVuVsqiuX
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 19, 2024
1st Place – Yosber Sanchez
Yosber Sanchez is a fun scouting story. He was originally signed by the Texas Rangers when he was 17, but he threw just over 30 innings in the Rangers system before he was released in late 2022. The Tigers signed him in May of 2023 and he had a strong debut season with the organization, climbing from the Dominican Summer League to Low-A Lakeland in a few months. He returned to the Flying Tigers to begin the 2024 season but was promoted to West Michigan in early June. He finished the season with a stellar 1.92 ERA and 32% strikeout rate, which earned him two first-place votes from us.
Sanchez has legitimate big-league stuff. His fastball sits in the upper 90s, and he shows feel a mid-80s slider with above-average depth. He added a low-90s cutter this year and he’ll also drop in the occasional changeup. Sanchez’s fastball plays down a bit because of lackluster extension, and his ultimate ceiling may be determined by how much he can reign in his command. But if his control takes a step forward, he has all the other ingredients to be an effective big-league reliever.
Got a pretty good look at reliever Yosber Sanchez tonight. Below-average command/control, but showed four pitches:
FB – 96-97, T98
CT – 91-92
SL – 83-85
CH – 81
Here he gets Jonny Butler looking at a slider and Henry Bolte looking at a fastball. pic.twitter.com/l0zoZoSj2W— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 28, 2024
That’s it for this year’s awards. But check back soon as we begin our Tools series!
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Rogelio Castillo 
Jerry McKennan