ANAHEIM, Calif. >> We could throw out a bunch of statistics that would indicate Tigers ultra-reliable lefty reliever Tyler Holton has been grinding a bit through the first month of the season.

And then in a couple of weeks, when they were rendered utterly irrelevant, we would sheepishly wish we’d have kept those stats to ourselves.

“Yeah, it’s still pretty early,” Holton said. “I feel pretty good. I don’t think I was doing this good at this time last year.”

That’s the thing. On May 4 last season, Holton had a 5.40 ERA. In 13 innings, he’d allowed eight runs, 10 hits, three homers and hit three batters.

He still managed to finish with a 2.19 ERA, with, among big-league pitchers with at least 90 innings, the lowest WHIP (0.784), opponent batting average (.173), on-base percentage (.222) and OPS (.500) in baseball.

So, live and learn. Don’t freak out about April performance.

Holton went into the game Sunday with a 2.76 ERA, allowing five earned runs, 14 hits and three homers in 16 innings. And he hadn’t plunked anybody.

Not exactly Holton-esque, but not sweating it.

“I think the bar for him is pretty high, just given how dominant he’s been,” manager AJ Hinch said. “When he gives up a run or a couple of hits, our reaction in general, across all of us, is a little exaggerated.”

For sure, it is. But Holton is a fierce competitor and perfectionist. So, his reaction to his not-perfect start is also a little exaggerated. And that’s a good thing.

“Literally, any time I give up a walk or give up a hit or give up a run, I think I’m the worst pitcher on earth,” Holton said. “So you aren’t going to come at me harder than I come at myself.

“That’s why I went back and looked at what I was doing last year. I was pretty good last year and I sucked in April.”

It was his outing against the Orioles on April 26 that had Holton digging into his archives. He entered in the seventh inning and walked lefty Cedric Mullins and gave up a single to lefty Gunnar Henderson, then an RBI single to Jordan Westburg.

In the eighth, righty-swinging Ramon Urias hit a homer off him.

“I completely lost my lanes,” he said. “I gave up the homer and then I found my sweeper and struck out (lefty Jackson) Holliday and I was like, ‘There it is.’”

The early sample-size numbers show Holton’s command hasn’t been as precise. Before Sunday, his walk rate was 7.5%, up 2.7% from last year. He’s pitched behind more than usual and hitters are slashing .333/.462/.762 when he’s behind in the count.

That results in higher number of balls pulled in the air (19.6%, up 5% over last year) and more hard-hit balls (45%, up 13% from last year).

“I think my execution can definitely get better,” Holton said. “I think the more you get out there, the better you feel. At the end of the day, the details are in the execution. At times I haven’t thrown great. You miss a spot, a pitch goes wide on you, you try to get back in the zone.

“It’s baseball. One pitch at a time. My body feels great and I like the way the ball is coming out.”

The Tigers on this trip have faced two teams with heavy right-handed lineups. Holton has pitched only 3 innings but faced all right-handers.

“He’s had to navigate an entire right-handed lineup, which is not always going to be the case,” Hinch said. “Earlier in April he wasn’t locating pitches and he was falling behind. He wasn’t pitching efficiently and all of that contributed to a little bit of a slower start.

“But his slow start is still pretty good. We have to keep it in the context of, he only pitches in the most important innings and he’s usually getting the best hitters. That leaves very small room for error.”

Holton pitched a clean inning with a strikeout Friday. He feels like he’s trending in a positive direction.

“It’s a long season,” he said. “We have five more months and hopefully some more after that. There’s a lot of time to clean it up. Obviously I want to get better. It’s why you have this mindset and why you play this game — to improve and execute with every opportunity you get.

“I’m not changing anything. I’m not searching for anything. Just trying to make sure everything is crisp each time out.”

What a pest

Angels shortstop Zach Neto has been a thorn in the Tigers’ side in this series. Not only with the first-pitch homer off Tarik Skubal on Friday, but with his baserunning.

He had uncontested steals against both Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty, both times getting massive jumps before they even started their delivery.

“He’s just timing up,” Mize said.

“They were both on long holds. So I think he’s assuming on long holds that we’re going to pitch and not pick (throw over).

“I think that’s what both of those have in common. If I could do it over again, I would do a long hold and pick.”

Another factor, Hinch said, is the new pace of play rule that limits throw-overs to two, with the third one resulting in a balk if the runner isn’t picked off.

“Neto is a very advanced baserunner,” Hinch said. “He’s very aggressive and he’s like a lot of runners nowadays that feels less of a threat of multiple pickoffs and he’ll take advantage of it.

“After the initial pick, if you pick twice, he’s very much selling out for the lack of a third pickoff move. Controlling the running game is important, varying looks is important, but a lot of it is the modern era where baserunners can take a pretty good leap of faith that they can go uncontested.”

That perfectly reasonable logic was no solace to Mize.

“It still doesn’t feel good,” he said.

“I feel like I want to be one of the smartest players on the field and I got outsmarted there and it pisses you off.”

Around the horn

Utility man Matt Vierling (shoulder) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo, serving as the designated hitter. He walked twice and struck out in his first three at-bats Sunday.

“He’s going to DH for the first few games as we get him in game mode,” Hinch said. “We want to get some at-bats under his belt before we introduce the outfield. It’s important to change his mindset from rehabbing to playing.”

Hinch said he texted Vierling Sunday morning.

“He was like a little kid going to his first little-league game,” Hinch said.

“He was happy to be back in uniform and back playing.”

… The Tigers have played 19 of 34 games against teams with a .500 record or better and they are the only team in the American League with a winning record (10-9) against those teams.