Tyler Alexander

Alexander attended Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, Texas. In 2013, as a senior, he went 12–1 with a 0.66 ERA, striking out 177 batters in 94.2 innings.[1] He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 23rd round of the 2013 MLB draft, but did not sign with the Tigers and instead chose to attend Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played college baseball.[2] As a freshman in 2014, he went 10–3 with a 2.36 ERA in twenty games (16 starts), and in 2015, as a sophomore, he went 6–3 with a 3.07 ERA in 17 games (15 starts). After his sophomore season, Alexander was again drafted by the Tigers, this time in the second round of the 2015 MLB draft.[3][4]

Alexander signed with the Tigers and spent the 2015 season with the Connecticut Tigers,[5] posting an 0–2 record and 0.97 ERA in 37 innings pitched. He started 2016 with the Lakeland Flying Tigers and was promoted to the Erie SeaWolves during the season. In 25 total games (24 starts) between the two teams, he pitched to an 8–8 record and 2.44 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP. He returned to Erie in 2017, posting an 8–9 record, a 5.07 ERA, and 120 strikeouts in 27 games (26 starts),[6] and in 2018, he played for both Erie and the Toledo Mud Hens, going 6–8 with a 4.44 ERA in 26 games (24 starts). He returned to Toledo to begin 2019.

On July 3, 2019, the Tigers selected Alexander's contract and promoted him to the major leagues as the 26th man of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox.[7] In his major league debut, he pitched five innings, allowing two runs and recording four strikeouts (including the very first batter he faced).[8] On September 16, Alexander pitched six innings of one-run baseball against the Baltimore Orioles, earning his first major league win.[9]

On August 2, 2020 against the Cincinnati Reds, Alexander set an MLB record for a reliever by striking out nine consecutive batters. He also tied the American League and Tigers' franchise record of nine consecutive strikeouts set by Doug Fister on September 27, 2012. He became the first pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts in a relief outing since Randy Johnson set the strikeout record for a relief pitcher with 16 on July 18, 2001. (Johnson's record was accomplished on the second day of a suspended game; while he was the first pitcher to appear that day, he was officially listed as a reliever.)[10][11]

With the 2020 Detroit Tigers, Alexander appeared in 14 games, compiling a 2-3 record with a 3.96 ERA and 34 strikeouts in ​36 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched.[12]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• TCU Horned Frogs bio