Soto spent much of his winter ball campaign working on his slider, with the intent on throwing it more this season, Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press reports. "I wanted to be comfortable and have trust to throw it in any corner of the plate or any pitch count or any situation of the game," Soto said. "I worked very hard on that. I want to keep myself aware that I can use the slider anytime I want. ... My slider, I consider it very good. It's just a matter of confidence and trust."
Soto is part of the Tigers' late-inning mix. He got off to a great start to the season but really struggled in September. That slider was nearly untouchable last season - he allowed just one hit when throwing it 80 times. Alas, he couldn't always throw it for strikes, and overall he had a 13.3 BB%, which is poor for a potential closer.