Tyler Alexander laughed as he described himself as a "utility relief pitcher" for the Detroit Tigers in 2021. He doesn't pitch in high leverage situations, but he isn't an arm manager AJ Hinch is willing to waste in the late innings of a blowout.
Hinch offered a more appropriate title: "Unheralded hero."
"He doesn't get a lot of love all the time because he gets a little bit of the grunt work and put in whenever I can put him in," Hinch said Sunday. "I ask him to do some things that he has to prepare for mentally, but he never knows if the opportunity is going to come.