The phone rang as Kolton Ingram pumped gas.

It was Dave Littlefield.

The Detroit Tigers, on the third day of July in 2020, released Ingram. The organization had to cut minor-league players to create roster space, and he was the low man on the totem pole. His fastball velocity averaged just 86.5 mph the season before. A call from an unknown number provided the heartbreaking news. Littlefield, then the Tigers' player development boss, only spoke a few words when Ingram picked up the phone.

"It was a really, really quick conversation," Ingram said.

It took 1,312 days — nearly four years — but Ingram is back with the Tigers after getting claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. The 27-year-old, a left-handed reliever who made his MLB debut last season, is a member of the Tigers' 40-man roster entering spring training.

"I'm definitely a different player than I was back in 2019," Ingram said. "I mean, shoot, I probably would have released me, too, the way I was playing. It's honestly been a blessing in disguise, me getting released. It kind of put a necessary chip on my shoulder."

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In 2019, Ingram's fastball averaged 86.5 mph and maxed out at 89.3 mph. He surrendered 14 runs across 30⅓ innings with 11 walks and 28 strikeouts in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League.

He topped out at 92 mph in a bullpen session in March 2020 with the Tigers, one day before spring training got shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was his only bullpen session in spring camp, but it wasn't linked to TrackMan technology, so the Tigers didn't have record of his velocity increase.

He was released four months later.

"I sat with it for a little while," Ingram said. "It felt like I wasn't being released based on ability level, it was more so because of roster space. I understood the move."

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Ingram, selected in the 37th round of the 2019 draft from Division II Columbus State, went eight months without a job in professional baseball, from July 2020 until March 2021. He worked at his father's pool company in the morning, tried to become a better pitcher in the afternoon, taught baseball lessons to kids in the evening and delivered food via DoorDash at night.

He maintained a close relationship with right-handed reliever Brendan White, a 26th-round draft pick by the Tigers in 2019. White, 25, has been on the Tigers' 40-man roster since November 2022; he made his MLB debut in June 2023 and pitched in 33 games with the Tigers last season.

"It's a really good feeling," White said of Ingram's return to the Tigers. "We honestly talked about it. I saw we didn't have a lot of depth with lefties. We joked about him being a fit for the Tigers. It's so exciting that he's back."

White, an expert in pitching data and biomechanics, helped Ingram increase his fastball velocity by changing the way his body moved down the mound. They trained together throughout the pandemic, and as a result of White's lessons, Ingram's maximum fastball velocity took another step forward, from 92 mph to 95 mph.

That's when Ingram, at 5 feet 9 inches, learned about vertical approach angle.

"My whole life I've been told I was too small to play baseball and be a pitcher," Ingram said. "But now, in the analytical age, being short actually helps with release height and vertical approach angle. What makes me good is being able to throw my fastball at the top of the zone. The mix between how short I am and how extended I get makes 93 seem like 96, but it's also being thrown from a foot shorter than where people are usually used to it being, so now it looks weird."

Ingram signed a minor-league contract with the Angels in March 2021 following a tryout at a facility in Atlanta. He drove home from the tryout, and later that day, in the middle of teaching a baseball lesson, the Angels called him with the life-changing news.

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Former MLB pitcher Dylan Axelrod, then the pitching performance coordinator in the Angels' player development department, was on the other end of the phone call.

"I give Brendan a lot of credit for setting the foundation for me getting to where I am," Ingram said, "but I give Axe the same credit for developing me throughout the minor leagues. He was my lifeline with the Angels. We built a really good relationship."

The Tigers recently hired Axelrod to a new role in the player development department: pitching performance and integration coordinator. He will facilitate the collaboration between the strength and conditioning coaches, pitching coaches and pitchers.

Axelrod taught Ingram about all things pitching.

"He's really, really smart about the human body and how it works," Ingram said of Axelrod, "and now he's really dove into the analytics side, so he's also really smart on that."

Ingram realized he could pitch in the big leagues when he had a strong finish to the 2021 season in Double-A Rocket City, a 1.26 ERA in 14⅓ innings. He returned to Double-A for the entire 2022 campaign and repeated his success, posting a 2.67 ERA with 17 walks and 77 strikeouts across 60⅔ innings.

In June 2023, Ingram made his MLB debut with the Angels after a promotion from the Double-A level. He spent the rest of the season bouncing between the Angels and Triple-A Salt Lake.

"The debut didn't go how I wanted, but you learn from your mistakes," said Ingram, who gave up three runs and recorded one out in his first of five MLB games. "I am a big leaguer, and no one can take that away from me. It's been amazing, but that's in the past, and now that I've gotten those jitters out of the way, I know what it takes to be up there and stay up there. It's definitely a building block."

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Ingram throws a four-seam fastball, sweeper, slider and changeup. He used more sweepers/sliders (549) than fastballs (468) and changeups (75) at the Double-A, Triple-A and MLB levels last season. His fastball averaged 92.3 mph and maxed out at 95.7 mph. He had a 2.95 ERA with 34 walks and 77 strikeouts across 61 innings in 45 minor-league appearances. He also had a 8.44 ERA across 5⅓ innings with the Angels.

The sweeper is a better-than-average secondary pitch.

"That's really what took my career off, learning how to throw the sweeper better," Ingram said. "It's always been the pitch I had the most command over, so that has definitely helped me."

A lot has changed since the Tigers released Ingram in 2020, both for the player and the club. For instance, Littlefield was demoted and replaced by Ryan Garko, one of the Tigers' greatest assets as vice president of the player development. Also, the Tigers under new president of baseball operations Scott Harris evaluate pitchers differently than they did under former general manager Al Avila.

As for Ingram, his four-seam fastball averages 92.6 mph, not 86.5 mph. He isn't just a 37th-round draft pick. These days, Ingram is an established Triple-A reliever with MLB experience. Returning to the Tigers and learning from new pitching coaches, as well as continuing his work with White and Axelrod, could be exactly what he needs to develop into steady reliever in the big leagues.

Ingram called White, his former and current teammate, after getting claimed off waivers by the Tigers.

"Well, I'm a Tiger again," Ingram said.

"I'm not surprised," White said. "It's what we talked about."

Entering spring training, Ingram is focused on winning a job in the bullpen on the Opening Day roster.

"My expectation is probably the same as everybody else," Ingram said. "That's to break with the big-league team on Opening Day. I'll give my best effort to impress the coaching staff and show people what I have, so even if I don't break camp with the team, they know they can believe in me when they do eventually call me up."

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 bring back lefty Kolton Ingram, 'a different player'