The Detroit Tigers have much to do ahead of the start of the 2026 season, with lots of offseason decisions to handle. Do they look to deal Tarik Skubal or not? Who knows. The pitching core has been strong with him at the forefront, but ultimately, one of their biggest weaknesses has been their bullpen, which just has not found a level of consistency that is required of a successful relief group.
Fortunately for the Tigers, they at least have a few good options in the bullpen, including a few that they picked up at the deadline or during the previous offseason. However, when it comes to naming the best of the bunch for the 2025 season, the answer is quite obvious, and Detroit made that clear when announcing their reliever of the year.
Even better, they could have this player under control for three more years based on how arbitration pans out during that span. So not only is he good for them now, he could end up being a long-term solution to the bullpen issue, at least until they add more arms.
Which Relief Pitcher Won Reliever of the Year for the Tigers?
The reliever of the year for the Tigers in 2025 was Will Vest, as was announced in a post by the team on Tuesday. Vest put together another outstanding season in 2025 after a 2.82 ERA across 70.1 innings in 2024. This year, he ended up with a 6-5 record, 3.01 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, 75 strikeouts, 22 walks, only four home runs allowed and a 138 ERA+.
Despite a slightly worse ERA, his production actually landed him with an improved 1.6 bWAR as opposed to 1.5 in 2024, which showcases how much value he brought to the team, especially in high-leverage scenarios.
With 40 games finished and 23 saves, he was one of the most integral parts of this Detroit squad throughout every month of the season, and whenever the bullpen could get to him unscathed, he would ensure things went smoothly from then on out.
Opponents he faced this year were only able to slash .236/.297/328, and Vest did an exceptional job generating ground balls, with his ground ball per foul ball rate being all the way up at 1.39. Despite a slightly worse hard-hit rate in 2025, he was just able to complete games without issue the vast majority of the time, and his contributions have landed him an award from the franchise.
