Detroit Tigers to promote RHP Dylan Smith from Triple-A Toledo, per report

The question is who he’s going to replace.

Multiple reports from the Detroit Tigers ’ beat writers suggest that right-handed reliever Dylan Smith will be called up from Triple-A Toledo on Friday. Smith would join to bullpen in Kansas City as they begin a road trip against the Royals and then the Chicago White Sox before returning to Detroit. The club has not announced a move or commented on the reports as of this writing, but that’s pretty standard as they normally won’t announce a promotion until the last possible moment.

The move was first announced by the Tigers Torkmoil account on X, and both Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic and Evan Woodbery of MLive have confirmed Smith’s impending call-up on social media.

Smith turned 25 years old on Wednesday of this week. He was drafted out of the University of Alabama back in the 2021 amateur draft with the Tigers third round pick. He would join college teammate Chase Lee in the Tigers bullpen after a really successful transition to relief work with the Double-A Erie SeaWolves this year.

Corresponding moves

The trick is figuring out the corresponding move. They currently have an open spot on the 40-man roster, but Smith is not on the 40-man roster yet. Easy enough, although someone will have to be sent down in his place. Still the Tigers will need to open another 40-man spot to active Parker Meadows and that seems likely by the time they return back home next weekend, so there will be some decisions to make here. Still with Meadows and Wenceel Pérez back in the fold, any of three outfielders at the Triple-A level could be DFA’d, including Akil Baddoo, Ryan Kreidler, and Brewer Hicklen. Finding a spot shouldn’t be difficult.

There’s been plenty of concern online about starter Jackson Jobe after the rookie saw his average fastball velocity drop during his start against the Giants on Wednesday, and then was not made available to reporters after the game. Writers like Woodbery and Stavenhagen didn’t allude to any specific injury, just that the whole set of circumstances was somewhat suspicious. Still, it’s entirely possible Jobe was just dealing with some fatigue if anything.

Even if there is something amiss, Jobe was never likely to throw the full season based on his modest innings progression, and the Tigers will presumably take even the first hint of extra fatigue or inflammation as a good reason to shut him down for a few weeks and try to make sure they have him rested to pitch through October. Those factors do contribute to some jumpiness about his current condition.

Also playing into these calculations is the fact that right-handed starter Sawyer Gipson-Long’s progression is going very well. He made his first rehab start at the Triple-A level on Thursday evening and threw 53 pitches, one-hitting his opponent in a very expeditious 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of work without a walk and with five strikeouts. He’s probably no more than two rehab starts from being available for the Tigers rotation. Reese Olson is also expected to be back in fairly short order. So things are lining up to give Jobe a breather if there’s even a minor issue. Again though, it’s all speculation where Jobe is concerned right now. All that can be said for certain was that his fastball velocity did crater throughout his last outing.

Dylan Smith profile

Smith was drafted as a starter out of Alabama after a pretty good late blooming college career. He was a pretty good strike thrower from the start and came with a pretty good slider as well. His athleticism and frame forecast increased velocity as he developed in pro ball and overall he was regarded as a solid draft pick in the third round.

His 2022 debut went okay as he made 21 starts and threw 88 ¹⁄₃ innings at the A-ball levels. From there his stock slipped rapidly as a forearm strain that took months to fully rehab and resolve cost him much of the 2023 season. Smith avoided surgery and did make his first appearances at the Double-A that season. He was also able to pitch in the Arizona Fall League to make up some lost innings, but the 2024 season didn’t go much better as he dealt with some shoulder trouble. He was a 24-year-old starter still at the High-A level and a few rough outings before his season ended in June really tanked his numbers.

By that point he was off most prospect lists and a career as a major league starting pitcher looked pretty unlikely.

However, he had improved in a few key ways. He improved the movement on his fourseam fastball and there were some bursts of 97-98 mph velocity last year. The Tigers decided to convert him to relief in 2025 and started him back out at the Double-A level. Smith seized the new opportunity and has been on a great run, reaching Triple-A Toledo after striking out 37 percent of hitters faced at the Double-A level with no home runs allowed over 20 innings of work. He only made two appearances with the Triple-A Mud Hens, but the stuff should play pretty well and didn’t need that much more evidence in its favor. The question is whether he can locate the fastball just a little more consistently and stay aggressive at the major league level. He’s going to get a chance to learn.

Smith is a good athlete with a smooth, fluid delivery and tends to keep good tempo from either the wind-up or the stretch. He works with a fourseamer that has sat 94-95 mph this season but which can top out at 98 mph. His 85 mph slider is his best weapon, however. The slider has pretty traditional shape but gets good depth and Smith has significantly improved his feel with the pitch, throwing a tighter version for strikes and then dialing up more of a wipeout edition for whiffs when ahead in the count.

Smith has the makings of a solid split changeup with good velocity separation at 83 mph, but it remains too hit or miss for him to use it a lot. If he can refine it with the Tigers’ coaches that would really boost his effectiveness all around. His overhand curve is just something he’ll break out as a change of pace and probably won’t use in relief.

Smith should be pretty effective against right-handed hitters. He doesn’t give up too much hard contact in the air, and he’s been piling up the whiffs. Lefties may give him more trouble in the majors, but he handled them just fine with the fastball-slider combination in the minors. All in all there’s a lot to like, and getting a chance to work with Chris Fetter and his staff will be good for him.

The Tigers current roster is so deep that there aren’t a lot of obvious places in which to improve significantly. The bullpen is really the only unit with a real weakness. The Tigers could use another power right-hander with good swing and miss stuff, and it’s possible Smith can fit the bill with some work.