After two years of waiting, Ryan Vilade finally gets first MLB hit with Detroit Tigers

CLEVELAND — Consider it a show of hands.

Rookie Ryan Vilade slapped his hands together and pumped his fists in celebration after pulling into first base with a single in the third inning. The 25-year-old put his left hand in the air to ask for the milestone baseball, but Detroit Tigers first base coach Anthony Iapoce — the first person to celebrate with Vilade — took over the request by waggling his hand until the ball was sent to the dugout.

It was the first hit of Vilade's MLB career.

"Felt good, felt good," he said. "Weight off the shoulders."

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Vilade had waited more than two years for that hit.

The Tigers promoted Vilade, who signed a minor-league contract in the offseason, from Triple-A Toledo before Tuesday's 11-7 win against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. The 25-year-old immediately factored in, playing right field and batting seventh. He finished 2-for-4 with two singles, one walk and three RBIs across five plate appearances in his season debut — just the fourth game of his MLB career.

"Whenever it's that period of time, you start questioning," Vilade said, "but you gotta keep going, you gotta keep working. That's what I did. I was just looking for an opportunity. That's why I signed here with the Tigers. I got that opportunity tonight. I'm glad we could win."

In Tuesday's third inning, Riley Greene singled and Spencer Torkelson doubled to chase left-hander Logan Allen from his start. The Guardians called right-handed reliever Pedro Avila out of the bullpen, but Vilade greeted him by hitting a two-strike changeup below the strike zone for a two-run single to tie the game, 7-7.

Vilade slapped the ball into left-center field for his first big-league hit. He plans to give the ball to his parents, James and Jennifer, as a way to thank them.

"I'm just thankful for God's timing," Vilade said. "As much as we want to carve out our own path, we got to trust his."

The hit was his first in the majors, but the plate appearance with the Tigers had been a long time coming — exactly two years, seven months and 19 days (962 days in all) between his first MLB plate appearance (on Sept. 18, 2021, with the Colorado Rockies) and Tuesday.

Vilade made his MLB debut in 2021 and played in three games for the Rockies, just months after appearing in the MLB All-Star Futures Game in Denver. But he went 0-for-6 with one walk in seven plate appearances that September. The 2017 second-round pick then spent the next two seasons in Triple-A — in the Rockies organization in 2022 and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2023.

"I'm happy for him," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "He has wanted that first hit from the minute he got called up a while back, and he hasn't had it, and then he hasn't gotten opportunity."

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Not only did Vilade notch a milestone, he delivered for the Tigers in a key situation.

And then he did so again in another important situation, in Tuesday's seventh inning. With the Tigers clinging to a one-run lead and catcher Jake Rogers on second, Vilade took a fastball below the strike zone from left-handed reliever Tim Herrin up the middle into center field for an RBI single, giving the Tigers an insurance run.

"He didn't make this team, he goes down, he does his work, he gets rewarded for it," Hinch noted after the game. "In a huge spot, you want to feel like a contributor right away. He'll feel good tonight about being a big leaguer. He earned the at-bats, and it was fun to see him come through."

Vilade, a right-handed hitter, earned his way to the Tigers by hitting .333 with three home runs, eight walks and 24 strikeouts across 27 games in Triple-A Toledo, stealing eight bases in nine attempts. He played nearly every position with the Mud Hens — missing out only on catcher and shortstop — while topping out at eight games at in center, where he spent 60 innings in center field. The rest of the time in the field? There were 33 innings at third base, 28 innings at second base, 24⅔ innings in right field, 11 innings in left field and seven innings at first base.

But his work with the bat was nearly equal to his time with the glove: He implemented a leg kick to his swing mechanics with the Mud Hens, learning from roving hitting coordinator Jeff Branson and Triple-A hitting coach Mike Hessman.

"It was about a week and a half into the season," Vilade said. "I was trying to figure some things out. I got in the cage one day, talked to Brano and Hess. They came up with this idea and showed me some things. I liked it and started doing it."

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Throughout his time in in the upper levels of the minor leagues, getting the ball in the air has been Vilade's biggest flaw for several years. But after joining the Tigers' organization, he seems to have found a solution with the leg kick.

Vilade averaged one homer per 29.3 plate appearances in 2024 with the Mud Hens, a massive improvement from one homer per 73.5 plate appearances in 2022 and one homer per 85.2 plate appearances in 2023.

It's not just the results. The metrics in Triple-A suggest lasting improvements: Vilade's groundball rate decreased from 46.3% to 34.5%, and his flyball rate increased from 27.5% to 34.5%, all while he continued to make hard contact.

"It definitely helps," Vilade said. "It helps me get my body into a better position to hit, and at the end of the day, that's what you want to do, just get yourself in the best spot to get your A-swing off, so I think that helps with that."

That's a return to the power potential that helped him become the No. 48 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma.

On Tuesday, he notched what could be the first of many MLB hits.

Maybe Vilade will stick around with the Tigers after waiting more than two years.

"It felt like debuting all over again," Vilade said, "but there's a difference. Nervous but confident. I'm older now, and I was just ready for the opportunity."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Ryan Vilade spent years prepping for his first hit