Joe Vallese heard the news, too.
On Thursday, former Lincoln High and Florida State pitcher Tyler Holton was promoted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He made his MLB debut in the Diamondbacks’ 8-3 loss at St. Louis, throwing a scoreless eighth inning.
Vallese, who coached Holton at Lincoln before moving into the role as the Trojans’ athletics director, got up early Friday morning to watch the replay of the Arizona-St. Louis game. Holton, who opened the season at Triple-A Reno, allowed two hits with one strikeout on 24 pitches (17 strikes) against the Cardinals.
“I had forgotten I have the MLB (television) package and could have watched it last night,” Vallese said and laughed. “It’s wild, exciting to watch him. Welcome to the Show. I am happy and proud for him. He was always that ‘had-it’ kind of kid, and he stuck with it.”
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Local pipeline to the majors
Holton is the second local player in consecutive days to make his MLB debut.
Former Chiles High and Chipola College right-handed pitcher Bowden Francis threw a scoreless relief inning for the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday. I have fanned one in two-thirds of an inning. Additionally, former FSU pitcher Luke Weaver also plays for the Diamondbacks. The right-hander was placed on the injured-reserve list with elbow soreness earlier this season.
Holton’s journey reflects his commitment and high-character makeup.
The left-hander was considered one of the top pitchers in college baseball in 2017, finishing 10-3 with 2.34 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 119.1 innings. However, in his opening-day start against Xavier in February 2018, he injured his pitching elbow and was lost for the season following Tommy John surgery.
Holton, who finished his FSU career at 13-7 with a 2.44 ERA, was drafted in the ninth round by the Diamondbacks four months later. He didn’t return to the mound until July 2019. Holton also returned to FSU and graduated in 2021.
“I was told by our (athletic trainers) he was the hardest-working guy they had ever seen during his rehab,” FSU coach Mike Martin, Jr. said. “He was a great clubhouse guy and his teammates always enjoyed being around him. You could see that anything he did, he gave 100 percent. It’s just great to see.”
Holton, 25, is not overpowering, but instead relies on his strike-throwing ability and strong secondary pitches in his change-up and curveball. He had made five relief appearances for Triple-A Reno this season, posting a 6.75 ERA with 10 strikeouts in eight innings. He’s 10-4 overall in three minor-league seasons with 144 strikeouts in 110 innings.
‘You want to save this message’
Holton was promoted Thursday when Arizona reliever JB Wendelken was placed on the injured list. During his eighth-inning appearance, Holton also faced one of his former travel baseball teammates in left-handed hitting Brendan Donovan, who singled and played at South Alabama. The pair played on the local Next Level Baseball team that also attracts players from the Panhandle/southern states.
“They had big aspirations and understood the level of sacrifice to achieve greatness,” NLB founder Ryan Robinson said. “They were mature enough to embrace the process, work and so-called un-fun-stuff of chasing their dreams.”
Holton’s parents – Debbie and Kelley – are scheduled to fly to St. Louis Friday to join their son and daughter-in-law.
“It’s exciting, thrilling, emotional, overwhelming – all of that,” Debbie said.
![Amarillo Sod Poodles pitcher Tyler Holton (14) pitches against the Corpus Christi Hooks on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, at HODGETOWN in Amarillo, Texas. [Photo by John Moore/Amarillo Sod Poodles]](https://digismak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1651250483_836_Tallahassees-Tyler-Holton-makes-MLB-debut-with-the-Arizona-Diamondbacks.jpg)
Interestingly, Holton was informed Wednesday by Diamondbacks brass that he was one of three Reno players assigned to the big-league team’s taxi squad. The trio flew to St. Louis and Holton had planned to watch Thursday’s game from the stands at Busch Stadium.
However, when Wendelken was placed on the injured list prior to the game for unspecified reasons – a number of Arizona players were placed into COVID protocols – Holton was activated.
Holton immediately telephoned his father but left a voicemail when he didn’t answer because Kelley was mowing the lawn. Themessage:? “You might want to save this message because your son’s a big leaguer, I’m gonna call you back.” When Holton called his mother at work, she answered but didn’t realize the call was on speaker.
“Seeing that it was Tyler calling, I was wondering what was up,” Debbie said. “When he said the Diamondbacks had activated him, I was thrilled to say the least. And the tears came. Here I was crying, and I didn’t realize the call was on speaker.
“There’s not telling how many people in the office heard,” she added with a laugh.
Reach Jim Henry at [email protected].
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism