Will Vest’s “Crazy Ride” Has Taken Him to a Vital, Leverage Role in the Tigers’ Stout Bullpen

Baseball careers rarely move in straight lines. They twist, stall, surprise, and sometimes vanish altogether. Will Vest knows that better than most. When he looks back now — standing on the mound in the late innings for a Detroit Tigers bullpen that suddenly feels unshakable — it’s hard not to shake his head and smile. The path here wasn’t smooth. It wasn’t predictable. It was, as he puts it, a “crazy ride.”

Vest wasn’t supposed to be this guy. Not the reliever trusted when the game tightens, when the crowd grows restless, when one pitch can flip a night upside down. He wasn’t handed expectations or headlines. He earned his place inch by inch, mistake by mistake, bounce-back by bounce-back.

There were years when his name barely registered. He moved quietly through systems, shuffled roles, packed bags more often than he unpacked them. Some seasons were spent chasing consistency. Others were spent chasing opportunity. And more than once, he had to stare down the uncomfortable question every fringe player eventually faces: Is this still going somewhere?

What kept Vest going wasn’t stubbornness or blind optimism. It was belief — the quiet kind. The belief that one good stretch could change everything. The belief that preparation matters even when no one’s watching. The belief that if you keep showing up, eventually the game notices.

Detroit noticed.

When Vest finally began to find his footing with the Tigers, it wasn’t dramatic. No viral moments. No sudden spotlight. Just clean innings. Calm body language. Fastballs that carried life. Sliders that bit at the right time. The kind of pitching that doesn’t scream for attention but earns trust quickly.

Trust is everything in a bullpen.

And slowly, Vest started getting the calls that matter. Not mop-up innings. Not blowouts. Real moments. Tie games. One-run leads. Eighth innings with runners on. The moments when managers stop experimenting and start trusting their gut.

That’s when you know a reliever has arrived.

This Tigers bullpen has become one of the team’s quiet strengths — sturdy, relentless, unapologetically tough. And Vest has slid into it like a missing piece. He doesn’t overpower hitters. He doesn’t rely on theatrics. He works fast, competes hard, and looks like he belongs out there when everything is on the line.

You can see it in his demeanor. There’s no panic. No rush. Just focus. The kind that comes from having already lived through the worst. When you’ve spent years fighting to stay relevant, pressure feels different. Smaller. Manageable.

Vest has talked openly about how unpredictable his journey has been — the stops, the doubts, the feeling of always being one bad outing away from disappearing. That honesty resonates. Teammates respect it. Coaches lean into it. Fans feel it.

Because baseball loves comeback stories, but it loves earned ones even more.

Now, when the Tigers are protecting a slim lead and the bullpen door opens, Vest is often the one jogging in. The crowd doesn’t erupt — not yet — but there’s a steady confidence in the air. A sense that the moment won’t swallow him whole.

That’s not accidental. That’s experience forged the hard way.

There’s something poetic about a player who spent so long on the margins becoming essential. Vest isn’t the face of the franchise. He’s not chasing awards. But he’s doing something just as meaningful — becoming reliable. Becoming trusted. Becoming part of the backbone of a team learning how to win again.

And maybe that’s what makes his story stick.

Because every night he takes the mound in a leverage spot, he’s proof that baseball paths don’t have to be perfect to lead somewhere important. That resilience still matters. That patience can pay off. That sometimes, the ride needs to be a little crazy for the destination to feel earned.

Will Vest didn’t arrive in Detroit as a sure thing.
He arrived as a question.

Now, he’s an answer — one the Tigers are happy to lean on when the game is on the line.