2026 Stats
W-L
1-3
ERA
5.63
WHIP
1.38
K
11
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2026 Fantasy Outlook
Vest didn't open 2025 as the Tigers closer, but was frequently summoned during the team's highest-leverage moments, finishing with the 4th-highest Game Leverage Index (1.84) among qualified relievers. The 30-year-old quickly emerged as Detroit's most trusted option to close games, securing a team-leading 23 saves for a 57.5 percent team save share. Vest continued to lean on his four-seam fastball, tossing it 52 percent of the time at 96.7 mph on average, but he appeared to focus more on his secondary offering, significantly increasing the spin rate on his slider (24 percent pitch usage). He induced more whiffs and produced more strikeouts on the pitch to help boost his K-rate by nearly five percentage points. His ground ball rate also skyrocketed to 58.2 percent; ranking ninth overall among relievers. Vest's improved strikeout and ground ball rates align more with the typical closer profile, but it's currently unclear whether he'll retain that role to open 2026. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a one-year, $3.95 million contract with the Tigers in January of 2026, avoiding arbitration.
Sustains third loss Friday
Vest (1-3) allowed an unearned run on a hit and a walk across 1.1 innings of relief to take the loss Friday in extra innings against the Red Sox. He struck out two.
Analysis
Vest covered the bottom of the ninth inning in a 0-0 game and was then asked to come back out in the 10th. The veteran uncorked a wild pitch and ended up allowing a single to Masataka Yoshida that brought home the automatic baserunner from third base to win the game for the Red Sox. Despite taking his third loss of the season, Vest managed to lower his ERA from 6.75 to 5.63, and he's only allowed two earned runs over his last six appearances to go along with 10 strikeouts, so he's pitching a bit better than his overall stats would suggest.
Vest covered the bottom of the ninth inning in a 0-0 game and was then asked to come back out in the 10th. The veteran uncorked a wild pitch and ended up allowing a single to Masataka Yoshida that brought home the automatic baserunner from third base to win the game for the Red Sox. Despite taking his third loss of the season, Vest managed to lower his ERA from 6.75 to 5.63, and he's only allowed two earned runs over his last six appearances to go along with 10 strikeouts, so he's pitching a bit better than his overall stats would suggest.
Pitching Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
18
Last 10 Games
18
Last 5 Games
21
How many pitches does Will Vest generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Will Vest generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-5%
BAA vs LHP
2026
-15%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .227 | 66 | 32 | 51 | 3 | |||
| Since 2024vs Right | .239 | 83 | 12 | 78 | 4 | |||
| 2026vs Left | .235 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2026vs Right | .200 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2025vs Left | .243 | 38 | 14 | 27 | 2 | |||
| 2025vs Right | .230 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 2 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .206 | 21 | 14 | 20 | 1 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .250 | 42 | 4 | 41 | 2 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-1%
ERA on Road
2026
-100%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 3.08 | 1.22 | 76.0 | 8.5 | 2.6 | ||||
| Since 2024Away | 3.04 | 1.13 | 71.0 | 9.8 | 2.8 | ||||
| 2026Home | 0.00 | 0.67 | 3.0 | 18.0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 2026Away | 9.00 | 1.80 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 7.2 | ||||
| 2025Home | 3.47 | 1.24 | 36.1 | 8.9 | 2.5 | ||||
| 2025Away | 2.51 | 1.18 | 32.1 | 10.9 | 3.3 | ||||
| 2024Home | 2.95 | 1.25 | 36.2 | 7.4 | 2.9 | ||||
| 2024Away | 2.67 | 0.98 | 33.2 | 8.8 | 1.6 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Will Vest compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
2.75K/9
12.4BB/9
4.5HR/9
0.0Fastball
95.0 mphERA
5.63WHIP
1.38BABIP
.377GB/FB
4.33Left On Base
45.5%Exit Velocity
80.6 mphBarrels/BBE
3.7%Spin Rate
2301 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
18.5%Swinging Strike
13.8%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
2023
Vest established new career-highs in 2024 with 69 games played, 70.1 innings pitched and 14 holds while limiting opposing hitters to a 2.9 percent barrel rate that was a 99th percentile metric. Though he was behind Jason Foley and Tyler Holton in the bullpen pecking order for Detroit, the 29-year-old righty emerged as a reliable high-leverage arm. Vest's slider has been inconsistent since he debuted in 2021, but he's added velocity on his four-seam fastball every year, averaging 96.1 mph on the pitch last season with great success (.183 BAA). Left-handed batters struggled to square up with his 89 mph changeup, which yielded an .095 BA and .095 SLG that were top-10 marks for that pitch type. Vest is likely to fill a setup role once again in 2025 since he doesn't possess the strikeout upside (22.8% for his career) of a typical closer. However, if he finds success and consistency with his slider, his chances of seeing regular save chances for Detroit would likely improve.
More Fantasy News
Strikes out side, earns win
Vest (1-2) struck out all three batters he faced in an inning of relief to earn the win in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the Royals.
Analysis
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Hit hard in second loss
Vest (0-2) allowed two runs on three hits and a walk while only retiring two batters in relief to take the loss Thursday against the Twins.
Analysis
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Joins WBC roster
Vest will join Team USA ahead of the quarterfinal round of the World Baseball Classic, replacing teammate Tarik Skubal, Brian Murphy of MLB.com reports.
Analysis
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Avoids arbitration with DET
Vest agreed to a one-year, $3.95 million contract with the Tigers on Thursday, avoiding arbitration, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Analysis
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Nails down Game 1 save
Vest pitched around one hit over 1.1 scoreless frames to notch a save in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the Guardians.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Darkhorse to be traded?
Vest could generate significant trade interest if the Tigers are willing to offload him, reports Evan Woodbery of MLive.com.
Analysis
The 29-year-old isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2027 campaign and has been one of Detroit's most reliable relievers over the past two seasons with a 3.02 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 94:25 K:BB across 92.1 innings. That may make the club less likely to trade him, but the Tigers could also look to sell high given the volatile nature of relief pitchers.
The 29-year-old isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2027 campaign and has been one of Detroit's most reliable relievers over the past two seasons with a 3.02 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 94:25 K:BB across 92.1 innings. That may make the club less likely to trade him, but the Tigers could also look to sell high given the volatile nature of relief pitchers.