Tyler Nevin planned for an uneventful New Year’s Eve celebration. His life has been consumed by a new puppy, so being low on energy recently, he invited a couple friends to his home in California for a quiet evening.
The get-together ended by 10:30 p.m. on the West Coast.
Before his friends arrived, though, the Detroit Tigers made his evening a little more interesting. President of baseball operations Scott Harris acquired Nevin — previously designated for assignment — from the Baltimore Orioles in MLB’s final trade of 2022.
“I knew there was probably going to be a silver lining at the end of it, just being younger and still getting better,” Nevin said. “I have a lot to prove, and I know I have a lot of room to get better. It’s time to do it. I’m excited to get a new opportunity, and hopefully, I’ll make the most of it.”
Before joining the Tigers, Nevin found himself out of a job with the Orioles.
When the Orioles acquired catcher James McCann in a pre-Christmas trade with New York Mets, Nevin was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. The former first-round draft pick, despite his versatility, had been passed up by other position players.
“Odd-man-out situation,” Nevin said, “and not necessarily because I didn’t have value to the team, but maybe some value other places to get traded, and I think I found that match.”
Nevin experienced several emotions throughout the 10-day process — from designated for assignment to traded to the Tigers — but he said his confidence never wavered. And when the trade happened, he didn’t pick through the roster to evaluate where he might fit in. Instead, he enjoyed a quiet evening with his friends and new puppy.
Staying in the present, and controlling what he can control, became a focal point.
Right now, Nevin is one of two experienced third basemen on the Tigers’ 40-man roster. The 25-year-old has 171 MLB at-bats over parts of two seasons with the Orioles; the other, Ryan Kreidler, logged 73 at-bats as a rookie last season with the Tigers.
A lot can change before spring training, which begins in less than 45 days, but Nevin could compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
Understanding his approach
In 2022, Nevin hit .197 with two home runs, 20 walks and 46 strikeouts in 56 big-league games. His walk rate — 10.9% last season — and developmental upside fit the Tigers’ new offensive identity. He prides himself on working deep into counts and trying to force the opposing pitcher to reveal his full arsenal.
Nevin improved his control of the strike zone in Double-A Hartford — in the Colorado Rockies’ organization — during the 2019 season. His walk rate increased to 12% that year, up from 8.2% in High-A Lancaster in 2018. Pitchers were more advanced, and Nevin realized he couldn’t hit everything. If he pressed for hits, pitchers would find holes in his swing and expose him.
So, Nevin focused on areas of the strike zone where he could do damage.
He definitely knows his approach.
“Any pitch, any count, if it’s in that area, I’m looking to hack,” Nevin said. “I try to make the pitcher make at least two good pitches to get me out. I don’t want to chase early. I don’t want to make weak contact early. That might lead to some more strikeouts, but I view strikeouts as, ‘How did you get there?’ Not, ‘What was the result?’
“If you work five pitches, and he just happens to throw you three nasty strikes, he did his job and there’s not much you can do about it. But if there’s a pitch over the middle you should have hit, then you should have gotten your business done.
“I just work off that philosophy. I’m trying to get pitches I know I can handle, and I’ve learned that has led to some good takes early in the count. The slider just on the corner, but if it started low and away, I’m not looking there anyway and it runs off. I built off that and developed it into a strength.”
Nevin, from a baseball family, has seen the evolution of pitching development. The Rockies drafted him No. 38 overall in 2015 out of high school. His brother, Kyle Nevin, was picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2022 draft out of Baylor. His father, Phil Nevin, is the manager for the Los Angeles Angels.
Over the past four years, Nevin has recognized a shift in baseball and pitching development. When a position player turns pro, the high-level velocity is apparent; many pitchers throw hard at the lower levels. The pitch movement is nasty, a product of robust player development departments, and pitchers with control get promoted.
But pitchers at all levels make mistakes.
It’s about hitting those mistakes.
“That goes back into the philosophy I had,” Nevin said. “The execution has to be much better (in MLB) because mistakes are fewer and further between. … It’s just a matter of taking care of business when something is left out over the plate.”
From a baseball family
Baseball conversations constantly flow throughout the Nevin family, which adds to Tyler’s philosophy at the plate. His father, drafted No. 1 overally by the Houston Astros in 1992, played in 1,217 MLB games across 12 seasons from 1995-2006. That included three seasons with the Tigers (1995-97), plus seven seasons with the Padres, featuring an All-Star nod in 2001.
With the Tigers, Phil hit .246 with 19 homers in 160 games. He also coached in the Tigers’ minor-league system from 2010-13, managing Double-A Erie for one season and Triple-A Toledo for the next three seasons. Tyler memorized players and studied scouting reports on prospects from those teams. Former Tigers manager Jim Leyland promoted Phil to the big-league staff as an extra coach for the Tigers’ 2011 playoff run.
“I remember rooting for those teams,” Tyler Nevin said. “They didn’t make it very hard to root for them with the lineup they were rolling out. They were really fun to watch. That was the routine, even when he was in Erie or Toledo. I would watch pretty much every game.”
Last season, Phil and Tyler Nevin connected on the field. They exchanged lineup cards July 9 when the Angels and Orioles played against each other at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The father-son duo shared a hug and a brief conversation at home plate before the third game of the series, after the elder Nevin had served an MLB suspension for the first two games.
It was an emotional day, and a competitive one.
“It was cool to look in the other dugout and see that competitive side of him as an opponent,” Tyler Nevin said. “I knew it would come one day, deep down, but it was like, ‘How many times have we envisioned this in the past, and now it’s actually here.’ It was pretty cool.”
‘Keep it simple’
This offseason, the Tigers have emphasized player development. It was their main selling point to free-agent pitchers Matthew Boyd (one year, $10 million) and Michael Lorenzen (one year, $8.5 million). They haven’t signed any hitters, despite obvious holes, but Harris added one position-player prospect — Justyn-Henry Malloy — in a trade and sifted through the waiver wire for organizational depth, as well as trading for Nevin. Almost all of the new players control the strike zone.
Nevin, a better hitter against left-handed pitchers than right-handers, does that as well, but he’s seeking more consistent playing time. In Baltimore, he eventually lost at-bats due to performance, struggling in a new environment after his callup.
In September, the Orioles sent him to Triple-A Norfolk, where he worked on necessary adjustments. He then hit .257 with four homers, 11 walks and 18 strikeouts across 20 games at the Triple-A level.
“I wished it happened sooner,” Nevin said.
He hit .291 in 44 games total for Triple-A Norfolk last season with an 11% walk rate and 18.8% strikeout rate. For the Orioles, he started 40 games at third base, seven games at first base, two games in right field and one game in left field.
Nevin is most comfortable at third and first base.
One of his primary goals this season is to work himself back into the lineup on a regular basis. He’s seeking a more free swing, after feeling robotic in his stance last season.
“If you watch some of my at-bats, I was getting pretty low and wide,” Nevin said. “That’s not a position where my body naturally goes. I’m trying to get the most out of my body and be where it’s most comfortable.”
Based on his mindset, his walk rate and his knowledge of the game, it’s clear why the Tigers were interested in him. He might not be the third baseman of the future, but he’s worth a look and adds some value to the organization.
Whenever the next opportunity comes, Nevin hopes to demonstrate he can produce through quality plate appearances.
He already knows what he wants to do at Comerica Park.
“It’s a big park, and that’s going to be good for me because I’m going to keep it simple,” Nevin said. “Keep it simple, try to hit some line drives and build upon that and become a solid player for the organization.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.