Detroit Tigers Call Up Two Intriguing Relievers

The Detroit Tigers were busy at this year’s deadline, most notably dealing Jack Flaherty.

However, after also trading away Andrew Chafin, the Tigers are replacing him with two different relievers. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports the team is calling up Brenan Hanifee and Sean Guenther to fill those bullpen duties.

Hanifee made his Major League debut in 2023 with Detroit, pitching in three games in September. He threw five innings, mostly in mop up duty, while allowing three runs and striking out three batters. He was sent back to Triple-A for 2024 season where his numbers are better than they might look on the surface.

The 26-year-old has made 34 appearances for Triple-A Toledo where he’s thrown 47 innings with one save. The right hander has posted a 5.17 ERA, but his 3.86 FIP suggests that he is getting pretty unlucky. He has also shown the ability to miss bats, posting a 10.1 K/9. Maybe most notably, Hanifee has a good feel for control, walking only 2.7 batters per nine this season.

His good control is nothing new, as he walked just 3.0 batters per nine in 90.1 innings in 2023. However, his strikeouts are up from last season’s mark of 8.3 per nine, suggesting his ceiling could continue to get higher.

Guenther is the other addition to the Tigers’ bullpen.

The 28-year-old hasn’t pitched in the Majors since appearing in 14 games for the Miami Marlins in 2019. With them, he threw 20.1 innings while striking out 15, walking 10 and posting a 9.30 ERA.

Since his time in the big leagues, the lefty pitched in the Marlins system in 2021 before missing 2022 with an arm injury and being claimed by Detroit that offseason.

Guenther pitched across three levels in 2023, pitching in 39 games where he posted a 3.55 ERA while striking out 62 and only walking 12 in 50.2 innings. This allowed him to be assigned to Triple-A after a Spring Training invite in 2024, where he has been a work horse so far.

In 44.1 innings this year, he has posted a 3.86 ERA to go along with a 9.3 K/9 and just a 2.8 walk per nine rate. Like Hanifee, he has a good feel for the strikezone and doesn’t walk many batters.

With the loss of Chafin, who had been the Tigers most reliable reliever, they were in need of help in the bullpen.

Now, both Hanifee and Guenther will get an audition to earn a role in a Tigers bullpen that is in need of an upgrade.