DETROIT — While Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was in New York City on Saturday night picking up his American League Cy Young Award, his pitching-staff mate, Tyler Holton, was in Detroit, collecting some hardware of his own.

Holton, the Tigers' do-everything lefty, was named the Bill McAdam Tenth Man Award winner for 2024 by the Detroit Baseball Society, and the trophy was presented at the 2025 Detroit Baseball Dinner, just weeks before Holton is scheduled to arrive in Lakeland, Fla., as the Tigers try to repeat their magical playoff run.

Holton, in town along with wife Storme, got emotional accepting the award, because on a Tigers team chock full of Tenth Man contenders, he became the first pitcher ever to receive the honor, which first was handed out in 2012.

It's because Holton did it all in 2024. As the face of the Tigers' "pitching chaos," he started nine games, finished 14 games, and pitched in every inning from the first through the 10th. And he's ready to do it all over again, though whether it's to that extreme extent remains to be seen.

"I love the role that I have right now, and I don't want to change," Holton told The Detroit News following the banquet at the Renaissance Center on Saturday. "I want to be able to be used wherever, you know, the team sees fit. I enjoy being able to pitch in different situations, and I just want to do whatever is going to be able to help the team win. I think we have a lot of guys that will give that same answer, and (manager AJ Hinch) puts us in different situations.

"It's pretty incredible that we have so many guys that are willing to do many different things."

Being willing to do so many different things is one thing, being able to thrive in that role is another.

Holton, 28, was one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball in 2024, despite not having a set role. He was sometimes a starter, sometimes a bulk reliever, and sometimes even a closer. It all added up to a 3.1 WAR in 2024, which was third on the Tigers, behind only Skubal (6.3) and outfielder Riley Greene (5.4). He had a 2.19 ERA and a 0.784 WHIP.

Holton admitted the role took some getting used to, especially the games in which he was the opener, or short-inning starter. His time as a starter in professional baseball hasn't gone great, so he said he worked to trick himself that when he actually got the call to start, it was just another relief appearance. That altered his preparation and psyche, and he absolutely ran with it, as the Tigers rallied from a 0.2% shot of making the playoffs in mid-August to actually doing it.

It's not clear how much the Tigers, including Hinch and president of baseball operations Scott Harris, will rely on "pitching chaos" in 2025. But for now, they have what appear to be the makings of a rotation, with Skubal, Reese Olson, Alex Cobb and likely Jackson Jobe as locks, and Casey Mize, Keider Montero, Beau Brieske, Ty Madden, Matt Manning and a host of others as No. 5 candidates for the rotation.

The Tigers also could be looking to add another free-agent starting pitcher, too, especially if they don't end up signing their biggest need, third baseman Alex Bregman. Perhaps then, they could pivot to a Jack Flaherty reunion, an idea Flaherty floated as a possibility last week.

Then again, it wasn't really in the Tigers' plans to unleash "pitching chaos" in 2024, either. That was done out of sheer necessity, amid injuries and the wave-the-white-flag trade of Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"You don't see that many teams do it. I don't think we necessarily wanted to do it," Holton said. "I think that was just what we were faced with, and it was working, and we kept doing it, and it worked. It took us all the way to where we ended. But I think at the end of the day, you have starters and relievers for a reason.

"If we could have five clones of Tarik Skubal, I would rather do that."

The Tigers in 2024 were a very adaptable team, and perhaps being one of the youngest teams in Major League Baseball roster had something to do with that. There's a noticeable lack of ego in that clubhouse. Matt Vierling will play anywhere. Kerry Carpenter is fine being pinch-hit for against lefties. Colt Keith was more than willing to move from second base to first base ahead of the 2025 season, after the Tigers signed former All-Star second baseman Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million contract.

Not every player on every roster is so adaptable, not even close. Part of that is economics. These players have futures, and paydays, to think about. Time is short, so every moment is key to maximizing future value.

That led to a question for Holton, a ninth-round pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018 who was claimed off waivers by the Tigers before the 2023 season. He's arbitration-eligible after the 2025 season, and free agency eventually will be in the cards. History says pitchers are paid for defined roles, as a starter, setup man or closer.

Holton is none of those. He's a unicorn. There's no track record for a price for a guy like him, so it'd certainly be natural for him to consider the potentially negative impact of not having a set role.

"If I'm being honest, the thought is there, right?" said Holton, who these days is a league-minimum-salary guy. "But if I'm thinking about those things, I immediately just check myself at the door, you know? It's like, I mean, I'm so blessed to be where I am. Try to put your ego aside and be thankful for the moment. I love the opportunity that I have. You always dream of this opportunity, winning.

"Winning is way more fun for me than anything else."

The Tigers, in 2024, were winners again, left for dead in August, before they made it all the way to Game 5 of the American League Division Series against Cleveland. They made the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

The offseason has been a rather quiet one for the Tigers, though, with just the free-agent signings of Torres and Cobb (also for one year and $15 million), while being mentioned for the likes of Bregman, Flaherty and slugger Anthony Santander (who has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays).

Holton said he's a fan, so he gets alerts on his phone from sites like MLB Trade Rumors and others. He was excited to see the signing of Torres, who he calls a "dangerous hitter." He said he's "excited to see what we end up doing," seemingly suggesting the Tigers might not be done adding before pitchers and catchers report Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Holton, who also was a 3.0 WAR player for the Tigers in 2023 (second on the team, behind Eduardo Rodriguez), said there's an extra level of excitement to reunite with his teammates after the ride they went on in 2024.

"I'm just super excited to get ready for 2025," said Holton, who actually received one 10th-place AL MVP vote for 2024 (he thought it was a joke when a friend sent it to him, but it actually was a voter paid tribute to the Tigers' amazing run, fueled by the success of the "pitching chaos."). "And tonight, seeing those hype videos and highlight reels, it's been a long time since I've seen a lot of those faces.

"So I'm excited to see everybody in a couple weeks and get back to work."

Whatever that work — anything and, more accurately, everything — might entail.

____

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.