Tigers Rebuild Relief Corps For Title Run
ALSO: ZAC GALLEN GAINED NOTHING FROM FREE AGENCY
Pregame Pepper
With shortstop Ha-Seong Kim progressing more quickly than expected from surgery to repair his damaged thumb, the Braves won’t place him on the 60-day IL . . .
Gary Sanchez, returning to Milwaukee, will again serve as the slugging backstop to William Contreras . . .
Desperate to replace free agent deserter Dylan Cease, San Diego has signed Walker Buehler, German Marquez, and Griffin Canning, while making a strong push for Lucas Giolito, the last heavyweight free agent pitcher not named Max Scherzer . . .
Former NL MVP Kris Bryant, limited to just 11 games by injuries last year, has a back injury so bad that he doesn’t know if or whether he’ll suit up for the Rockies again . . .
Speaking of injuries, Minnesota’s faint hopes in the AL Central evaporated entirely with the news that starting pitcher Pablo Lopez needs elbow surgery that keep him out for all of this year and beyond . . .
Lindy’s Sports Baseball 2026 predicts Walt Weiss, entering his first year as field general of the Atlanta Braves after eight years as Brian Snitker’s bench coach, will win the Manager of the Year award.
Leading Off
Detroit Tigers: Sizing up the relief group
By Joe Underhill
Pitchers and catchers have reported, and the sound of pits popping can be heard all across the fields of Florida and Arizona. The main pitching attraction in Lakeland Florida, spring home of the Detroit Tigers, are the starting pitchers.
Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, and Justin Verlander have Tigers fan reliving the days of three aces from the glory days of 2006-2014. However, what is happening with the relievers is as important as who will start games if the Tigers are going to build on last season divisional round loss to Seattle.
Before the Tigers added Valdez and Verlander, the big additions to the roster were the re-signing of Kyle Finnegan and active saves leader Kenley Jansen. The Tigers are planning on having a three-headed monster at the back of the bullpen with Will Vest, the Tigers save leader from 2025, along with Jansen and Finnegan. Manager AJ Hinch, as is his practice, will not have a designated closer. Rather choosing to ride the match-ups and the hot hand at the end of games.
Tyler Holton has been a Swiss army knife out of the Tigers’ bullpen, doing everything from spot starting to closing. He is expected to reprise his roll as one of Hinch’s best leverage options.
The 2024 season was a down year by his standards but he is one of the most important pitchers in the Tigers bullpen with his versatility and willingness to pitch whenever and wherever needed. Recently-signed Drew Anderson is likely to be the primary bulk-inning arm. He was initially signed to compete for the fifth spot in the Tigers rotation against Troy Melton and Keider Montero, but the signing of Valdez and Verlander has pushed him into a bullpen role.
Melton and Montero appeared in both the rotation and in the bullpen for the Tiger’s in 2025. It is possible the Tigers will decide to carry them in the bullpen in 2026, but it seems more likely they will be in the rotation in AAA Toledo, so they are ready to step in when the inevitable injuries hit the rotation. Bryan Sammons is back in the organization but, along with Ty Madden and Sawyer Gibbson-Long, are also most likely to be stretched out to be rotation arms at AAA rather than serious bullpen candidates.
The last three spots in the bullpen is where the competition will ramp up this spring. As has been their practice the team has signed a lot of pitchers with an invite to spring training. The assembled arms bring a significant amount of variety in how they approach getting hitters out. The majority of the pitchers signed still have options left, which will allow many of these players to be utilized throughout the season.
Brenan Hanifee, Brant Hurter, Beau Brieske, Dylan Smith, Baily Horn, Drew Sommers, all saw time on the Tigers’ big-league roster in 2025 and are already on the 40-man roster.
Guenther, Scott Effross, Tanner Rainey, Konner Pikington, Phil Bickford, Dugan Darnell, Cole Waites, Jack Little, Ricky Vanasco among others join several youngsters such as Tyler Mattison, Tyler Owens and Tanner Kohlhepp in hoping to give the Tigers staff something to ponder as the need for replacement arms begins.
The Tigers are expecting to win the AL Central in 2026, they have a starting rotation that should be the best in the division, and somewhat quietly have also assembled a bullpen that should give AJ Hinch the option he craves at the end of games while giving the Tigers an excellent chance to win when they carry a lead into the ninth inning.
Joe Underhill is a high school administrator and diehard baseball fan and fan of the city ofDetroit. Joe currently writes for the HTP Newsletter. You can follow Joe via email at joe.underhill@auburn.org or on X @TransplantedDet and @transplanteddet.bsky.social
Cleaning Up
Looming Lockout Shrinks Gallen’s Homecoming
By Dan Schlossberg
Zac Gallen, the National League’s starting pitcher in the 2023 All-Star Game, fell flat on his face in free agency. Even Scott Boras couldn’t save him.
The 6’2” right-hander, left with no other options, re-signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the same $22 million he rejected when it was part of the team’s qualifying offer.
The Gallen/Boras team thought holding out will bring better offers. They were wrong.
With a lockout likely after this season, nobody wanted to pay a pitcher not to pitch. And nobody wanted to spend more on a 30-year-old guy who lost 15 games last year.
As a result, Gallen put his tail between his legs and limped back to Arizona, following the lead of Merrill Kelly, traded by the D’backs last July but re-signed after two months in Texas.
If he spends the whole season in Phoenix, Gallen will get to ply his wares in free agency again. But he’ll have to find a taker before the expiration of the Basic Agreement freezes trades, negotiations, and such planned events as the San Diego Winter Meetings and 2027 spring training — if not more.
A bespectacled New Jersey native, Gallen found the qualifying offer attached to him — even after he turned it down — convinced all interested teams to pivot toward other pitchers.
Arizona didn’t have to worry about it because it was the ballclub that offered it.
Gallen’s deal was especially palatable to Arizona because $14 million will be deferred through five installments of $2.8 million apiece, to be paid from 2031-35. That makes the pitcher’s take-home pay for 2026 just $8 million — or a third of the contract.
Should Gallen recapture his All-Star form, he could be the free agent bargain of the year.
If he doesn’t, the bespectacled right-hander is virtually certain to become a coveted trade chip for the final two months.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of 43 baseball books, including Here’s the Pitch 2026 and The New Baseball Bible: Notes, Nuggets, Lists and Legends From Our National Pastime. Libraries, senior centers, or civic groups seeking a speaker should contact Dan via ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Quickies From The WBC
The World Baseball Classic, featuring 20 teams with 30-man rosters, returns March 4 at the Tokyo Dome with Taipei versus Australia . . .
The other first-round games, which begin March 6, will be held in San Juan, Miami, and Houston but not in ballparks hosting exhibition baseball for the big-leaguers . . .
All four of last year’s major award winners are participating: MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge plus Cy Young recipients Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal . . .
Award winners who appeared in the last WBC, in 2023, were MVP Paul Goldschmidt and Sandy Alcantara . . .
Nolan Arenado, playing for Team Puerto Rico this year, is the fifth player to appear with multiple WBC teams (he was with Team USA twice before) . . .
Team Brazil has the youngest player, 17-year-old Joseph Contreras, son of former big-leaguer Jose Contreras . . .
Japan is the only country to win multiple World Baseball Classics and now goes for its fourth trophy . . .
Team USA last won in 2017 . . .
To protect their arms, pitchers cannot throw more than 65 pitches in a First Round game, 80 pitches in a Quarter Final round, or 95 pitches in the Final Round . . .
Rosters include 78 former All-Stars, 36 of whom were 2025 All-Stars . . .
Of the 306 WBC players affiliated with major-league teams, 190 are on 40-man rosters, including 11 each from the Phillies and Red Sox.
Know Your Editors
Here’s the Pitch is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.