The Detroit Tigers called up Tanner Rainey from Triple-A Toledo Tuesday, to fill the roster spot left temporarily open by placing Enmanuel De Jesus on the paternity list before opening a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians.
It’s the third organization to summon Rainey to a major-league mound in barely more than a year, and this latest look follows a Toledo turnaround few outside Detroit’s front office saw coming.
Rainey signed a minor-league deal with Detroit in July 2025 after Pittsburgh released him, then got a brief September look with the Tigers that lasted all of two innings and produced a 13.50 ERA. Detroit designated him for assignment and non-tendered him that November, only to bring him right back on another minor-league contract, this one reportedly worth $1.3 million if he made the 40-man roster.
| DETROIT TIGERS STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Drew Anderson (RHP, #38) • 4-4, 4.01 ERA, 78 K | ||||||||
| August 11, 2026 • Comerica Park, Detroit, MI • 6:40 PM EDT | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Kevin McGonigle | 3B | L | 12 | 45 | 11 | .286 | .818 |
| 2 | Gleyber Torres | 2B | R | 7 | 29 | 0 | .257 | .758 |
| 3 | Dillon Dingler | C | R | 26 | 80 | 0 | .272 | .862 |
| 4 | Riley Greene | LF | L | 16 | 54 | 3 | .273 | .815 |
| 5 | Colt Keith | DH | L | 8 | 31 | 5 | .269 | .739 |
| 6 | Spencer Torkelson | 1B | R | 20 | 59 | 0 | .227 | .737 |
| 7 | Max Clark | CF | L | 1 | 7 | 0 | .297 | .867 |
| 8 | Javier Báez | SS | R | 2 | 14 | 1 | .281 | .689 |
| 9 | Zach McKinstry | RF | L | 4 | 24 | 1 | .223 | .636 |
| Lineups subject to change. | ||||||||
Tanner Rainey’s Path Back to Detroit
He didn’t make it out of spring training. Rainey has spent all of 2026 until now auditioning at Toledo, and the results were good enough to earn him uniform No. 56 in Detroit’s bullpen Tuesday. Detroit Tigers PR announced the transaction Tuesday afternoon, with beat reporter Cody Stavenhagen confirming the move shortly after.
Rainey’s career has swung between dominant stretches and disaster outings ever since Cincinnati made him a 2015 second-round draft pick, 71st overall with a $432,950 signing bonus.
| CLEVELAND GUARDIANS STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Tanner Bibee (RHP, #28) • 4-11, 3.85 ERA, 110 K | ||||||||
| August 11, 2026 • Comerica Park, Detroit, MI • 6:40 PM EDT | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Steven Kwan | CF | L | 2 | 22 | 8 | .265 | .693 |
| 2 | Chase DeLauter | RF | L | 12 | 56 | 7 | .277 | .787 |
| 3 | José Ramírez | 3B | S | 10 | 36 | 29 | .238 | .725 |
| 4 | Nathaniel Lowe | 1B | L | 13 | 43 | 0 | .267 | .824 |
| 5 | Jo Adell | DH | R | 16 | 62 | 3 | .234 | .675 |
| 6 | Travis Bazzana | 2B | L | 9 | 36 | 17 | .241 | .724 |
| 7 | Ángel Martínez | LF | S | 12 | 42 | 9 | .235 | .699 |
| 8 | Patrick Bailey | C | S | 6 | 23 | 2 | .191 | .550 |
| 9 | Brayan Rocchio | SS | S | 9 | 50 | 15 | .254 | .692 |
| Lineups subject to change. | ||||||||
From West Alabama Slugger to Nationals Closer Option
The Reds drafted Rainey out of the University of West Alabama, where he was a two-way threat, setting the program’s single-season home run record with 19 as a first baseman while closing games on the mound. He signed for half the assigned slot value, after Cincinnati pegged him as a starter despite his college closer background.
Rainey climbed as high as No. 17 in the Reds’ farm system on Baseball America’s annual prospect rankings list in 2016, later appearing on Washington’s list at No. 19, per MLB Pipeline, after a December 2018 trade sent him to the Nationals for Tanner Roark.
That deal turned into the best stretch of his career. Rainey appeared for Washington’s 2019 World Series championship club and posted a 2.66 ERA in 2020, then 12 saves in 2022 before Tommy John surgery derailed him that August.
He returned in 2023, struggled through a 4.76 ERA over 51 innings in 2024, and Washington cut him loose. A rough stint with Pittsburgh followed, an 0-1 mark and a 10.57 ERA in 7.2 innings before his July 2025 release. Detroit scooped him up soon after.
Rainey’s amateur résumé carried its own kind of promise. Baseball America slotted him as high as No. 93 among all 2015 draft prospects, while ESPN’s Keith Law rated him even higher, at No. 58, on the strength of a power arm scouts flagged before he threw a pro inning. He debuted that summer with the Rookie-level Billings Mustangs, then climbed through Dayton, Daytona, Pensacola and Louisville, converting from starter to full-time reliever along the way.
At 33 years old, born Christmas Day 1992 in Folsom, Louisiana, Rainey brings a career line of 5-11 with a 5.52 ERA and 247 strikeouts in 199 innings across parts of eight major-league seasons. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, bats and throws right-handed, and attended St. Paul’s School in Covington, Louisiana, before his college stops at Southeastern Louisiana and West Alabama.
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