Tyler Alexander

Alexander was used in a swingman role again in 2022, faring much better as a reliever (1.29 ERA in 10 appearances) than a starter (5.74 ERA in 17 appearances). His strikeout rate bottomed out in both roles at just 14.3 percent, down significantly from his career 20 percent rate which was already below average. The southpaw was sidelined by an elbow injury during the first half but didn't have any issues after returning. Alexander has excellent control and is generally pretty good at avoiding hard contact, but he also has major home run issues which might only be exacerbated by the Comerica Park dimensions changes.

Tyler Alexander logged a career-high 106.1 innings with a 3.81 ERA and 1.26 WHIP for the Tigers. He made 41 appearances mostly out in relief to start the season, then built up as a starter from mid-July on. Alexander posted a 19.3% K% and 6.2% BB% with a .285 BABIP and 78.7% LOB%. The lefty typically limits the walks but doesn't appear to have strikeout stuff with an overall SwStr% at 7.9%. Alexander pitches to contact, evidenced by the 84.1% Contact% that's 8% higher than the league average. However, Alexander mixes in five pitches at a double-digit rate. Alexander added the cutter in 2020 and doubled its usage to 35.4% in 2021. The cutter possesses above-average movement, but Alexander's changeup elicits the whiffs with a 13.6% SwStr%. It's likely the LOB% and BABIP regress given the approach, but the home ballpark, command, and control could warrant streaming opportunities for Alexander.

On Aug. 2, 2020, Alexander made history against the Reds, tying the American League record for the most consecutive strikeouts by a pitcher (nine). That was a nice story, but in retrospect, it seems that had much more to do with how awful the Reds' offense was early on in the short season than Alexander's skill.

The lefty has ever so slowly moved his way up the Detroit organization, and was rewarded with a mid-year promotion to the big-league roster. Statistically, it was not merited as he struggled with home runs and had an ERA in the 5.00s, but Detroit needed pitching. Alexander appeared in 13 games, making eight starts and getting one win against Baltimore. He has historically been very stingy with walks, which allows him to pitch from ahead and to the edges of the zone with his pedestrian stuff. Watch him pitch a single time and you can see he is from the mold of finesse lefties who must live and die on command who are punished when that gets even slightly out of whack. We're talking about a fifth starter or a swingman on arguably the worst team in the American League. That alone should tell you how to handle him on draft day.

The Tigers nabbed Alexander with the 65th overall pick in the 2015 draft, and the former Horned Frog excelled from Day 1 as a professional. A 6-foot-3 lefty, Alexander allowed just four earned runs while posting a 33:5 K:BB ratio in 37 innings (0.97 ERA) with short-season Connecticut. Obviously an ERA under 1.00 is very impressive for a pitcher’s first 12 starts as a pro, but his 0.59 WHIP might be even more incredible. One of the reasons Alexander may have fallen to the Tigers in the second round is that he was a draft eligible sophomore, so signability concerns may have scared off some other teams. With a strong command/control profile, it is not surprising that Alexander was able to succeed in the New York-Penn League, and while he will presumably begin his age-21 season at Low-A West Michigan, he may not face a true test until he reaches the upper levels of the minors.