Beau

Brieske

Foley has been atrocious this spring, but this is still a bit of a surprise considering the right-hander served as the closer for the majority of the season. The 29-year-old will try and gret right in the minors before Detroit even thinks about trying him in a high-leverage role. The Tigers will likely go with a closer-by-committee role, with Beau Brieske and Tommy Kahnle possibilities to save games to begin the year.

Brieske gave up three hits and a walk to the six batters he faced. Failing to take advantage of Jason Foley’s mediocrity, Brieske concludes the spring having allowed seven runs in 7 2/3 innings. The Tigers pen figures to be wide open initially, with Foley, Brieske, Tyler Holton and Will Vest all in the mix for saves. We like Brieske best, but he’s guaranteed nothing.

Although he’s gone without a walk, Foley has surrendered five runs in 3 1/3 innings this spring. His velocity is no better than it was a week ago and still down about two mph from last year. He still might get that back before the end of the spring, but he’s doing nothing right now to improve his place in the late-game mix for the Tigers. We favor Beau Brieske until A.J. Hinch says something different.

Hopefully, the Tigers won’t read much into this one. Brieske was pitching the ninth inning of a 17-4 game that started after an 82-minute delay. The results were bad, but the runs all scored on a 349-foot homer that would have left four major league ballparks, according to Statcast. Brieske is battling for the closer’s role in Detroit, or at least the lead role in however A.J. Hinch wants to mix and match. He’s our favorite pick among Tigers relievers.

The 26-year-old right-hander had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $1.3 million through the arbitration process. Brieske really blossomed in the Tigers’ bullpen in 2024, posting a 3.59 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a 69/30 K/BB ratio over 67 2/3 innings. He’ll reprise his setup role for the Tigers once again in 2025.

Brieske got the call over Jason Foley after Will Vest worked a scoreless eighth and struck out two of the three batters he faced. He’s made three postseason appearances and pitched hitless ball for 3 1/3 innings.

Jason Foley opened the ninth with a 3-0 lead and gave up a rocket double to Yordan Alvarez and then a pair of rather unlucky hits on grounders, making it a 3-1 game. Jeremy Peña followed with a sac bunt that advanced both runners. With the Tigers wanting strikeouts more than grounders at that point, Brieske replaced Foley. Brieske didn’t actually produce any strikeouts; his outs both came on liners, with a walk in between, but the end result was as hoped.

Brieske operated as the opener for the Tigers on Saturday, tossing two innings against the White Sox. He surrendered a solo homer to Bryan Ramos in the second inning. The 26-year-old right-hander has been a versatile pitcher for Detroit this season, posting a 3.59 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and a 69/30 K/BB ratio across 67 2/3 innings.

The Tigers had Monday off, so everyone was available today after Tarik Skubal got through seven. In a modest surprise, Brieske was the choice to pitch both innings in a 2-0 game. He wound up giving up a homer to Brandon Lowe — on a perfectly good low-and-away changeup that Lowe somehow yanked 363 feet to right — with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but he then struck out Josh Lowe to end the game. Brieske has allowed three runs — one earned — in his last 14 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.68. He was walked 11 batters in that span, though. Those desperate for saves could consider picking him up for the last few days, but he probably won’t pitch Wednesday.

Brieske was effective working as the opener against the Cubs, tossing two scoreless frames before handing it over to Brant Hurter in the third inning. He allowed one baserunner on a hit and struck out three. The 26-year-old right-hander has posted a 4.24 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and a 52/18 K/BB ratio across 46 2/3 innings.