Like Ty Madden, our 21st ranked prospect, right-hander Dylan Smith was a starting pitching prospect for years in the Tigers system. The lack of a third pitch always had Smith on the outside looking in, and then injuries did the rest. Reinvented as a reliever, Smith showed some flashes of potential in the Tigers’ bullpen last summer and he entered spring camp with a chance to establish himself as a possibility for the relief corps in 2026. Now with two options remaining, Smith has been optioned to minor league camp, but no doubt the Tigers could really use some help from him this year.
Smith was the Tigers’ third rounder out of Alabama back in the 2021 draft. Al Avila and company went pitcher heavy that year, taking Jackson Jobe third overall and then using their competitive balance round A pick on Madden. They paid a pretty penny for Smith as well, inking him for a $1,115,000 signing bonus.
Smith got off to a good start in the A-ball levels in 2022. He kept the walks low, showing the advanced strike throwing and solid stuff the Tigers expected after his good college career. But in 2023-2024 combined, forearm and shoulder strains held Smith to less than 100 innings total across those two seasons. His splitter never really played that well despite multiple attempts to get that pitch going, and those two factors combined to convince the Tigers to alter his role. They converted him to relief in 2025, and once he was able to focus on his fastball-sweeper combination, Smith improved his fastball shape and started punching out a lot more hitters.
At the Double-A level in 2025, Smith struck out 37 percent of hitters faced, and then upped that to 44 percent at the Triple-A level. We’re only talking about a combined 32 1/3 innings of work, but the difference was marked. Smith hasn’t consistently found a big velocity bump in relief, and still averages 94-95 mph, but he was sometimes able to reach back for 97 mph when he wanted it. More importantly, he averaged 18 inches of induced vertical break, which is not great, but does get him into above average territory. He’ll still break out the splitter here and there against lefties, and it’s a decent third pitch in isolation. He just struggles to command it and using it a lot led to waste pitches. His primary breaking ball has morphed from a more traditional gyro style slider into a sweeper, and that pitch collected plenty of whiffs in 2025, including a hilarious 67 percent whiff rate in his limited time at Triple-A Toledo.
Those strikeouts completely dried up in his short MLB debut in June, but he allowed just two earned runs in 13 innings of work. However, that was spread over just seven appearances before minor shoulder trouble bit him again, and he wasn’t recalled despite the bullpen’s needs down the stretch. He did return in late July to close out the year with pretty good work in August and September for the Mud Hens.
So often, good major league relievers come from the starting pitching ranks, and that’s still the hope for Smith. He’s still only 25 years old, and his long experience as a good college starter at a big program and his minor league work, has allowed to him to develop good control over the fourseam-sweeper combo. Walks have rarely been a big issue for him. The limiting factor is that the fastball is still a pretty average offering. If he can command that sweeper to both sides of the plate, or get the splitter going, there’s the possibility that Smith could be a pretty good setup man, but right now it’s hard to forecast any of his stuff really playing like a true plus pitch. That limits him to more of a middle relief role, as opposed to working high leverage innings as a setup man.
Smith only got a brief look in spring camp so far, but the fastball velocity was 94.2 mph and he again showed a potential uptick in ride on the fourseamer, averaging 18.9 inches of induced vertical break. That continues to look like the major piece of tuning the Tigers are doing with Smith overall. The ride could turn the heater into an above average pitch if he’s consistent. With the above average sweeper, the profile would then look quite solid overall, and creeping closer to setup man quality levels.
Smith should get another shot at the Tigers’ pen this season if he’s throwing well in Toledo. He’s still young enough to improve, and he has the size and athleticism to get that fastball up to more of the 96 mph range. Combined with the better ride, that’s probably what it will take to make him a really impactful relief arm, but even as is he should be able to help the bullpen out this year. Hopefully he can put the minor shoulder issues of the last few seasons behind him, make a little sustainable progress, and finally take the next step in 2026.
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