Tanner Rainey: Everything you need to know

The Tigers reassigned Rainey to minor-league camp Wednesday, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports. Rainey yielded just one earned run over 7.2 innings during the Grapefruit League, but his shiny 1.17 ERA was unaccompanied by a more unsightly 6:6 BB:K. The 33-year-old reliever previously saved 12 games for the Nationals in 2022, but he's struggled to find his footing in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery that same year. Between his stops with Pittsburgh and Detroit last season, Rainey surrendered 12 earned runs on eight hits and nine walks in 9.2 innings.

The Tigers re-signed Rainey to a minor-league contract Wednesday. Rainey was non-tendered by the Tigers last week, but he's now back in the organization on a minor-league pact. The right-handed reliever hasn't been the same since Tommy John surgery, posting a 5.79 ERA and 55:38 K:BB over 60.2 innings over the last two seasons at the big-league level.

Rainey was non-tendered by Detroit on Friday. Rainey spent the 2025 season split between Pittsburgh and Detroit. He was in Triple-A for most of the 2025 season but struggled significantly in a brief sample in the majors.