Detroit — It wasn’t all that long ago that Tanner Rainey was pitching in the World Series for the Nationals, winning a ring and enjoying a triumphant victory parade in the nation’s capital.
“Well, it’s been a few years,” he said, laughing.
Granted, 2019 wasn’t yesterday. And it probably does seem longer given the road he’s traveled since has been fraught with injuries and performance setbacks and long stints in the minor leagues.
Makes you wonder what kept him going, what drove him, especially this season, when the Tigers used 24 other pitchers before calling him up Tuesday.
“Because there’s nothing else I’d rather do,” the sturdily built right-hander said. “As long as I can play this game, I am going to play it. I will take this jersey every time they give it to me, just the competition, the clubhouse, all of it.”
Fact is, he’s earned his way back and, if he performs, he’s going to get the chance to stay.
“I’m mostly impressed by the fact he came back after the opportunity last year,” manager AJ Hinch said, referencing Rainey’s two-game cup of coffee with the Tigers last year. “He wanted to sign back with us and he spent a long time in the minor leagues this year, getting passed over a couple of times. And he’s just continued to work and adjust and now this is his spot.
“I told him, generally speaking, we’ve been looking for someone to come in and be really tough against right-handed hitters. He’s going to get a runway here and hopefully he can give us a different look.”
With a firm (96-97 mph) riding four-seamer and hard slider, Rainey dominated right-handed hitters at Triple-A (.155/.294/.197 with a .491 OPS), just as he did for much of his big-league career (.214/.332/.390).
Rainey, though, is not likely to be content with a specialist role. With the help of Toledo pitching coach Doug Bochtler, he’s brought back the curveball he used when he first entered pro ball as a starting pitcher.
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“I’m trying to find something I can put more on the plate,” Rainey said. “I’ve been throwing it the last month and a half just to keep more thought of up and down at the plate, as opposed to just the slider.”
The thought behind it is sound. He’s been a two-pitch pitcher. Elevated pitches have been four-seamers and the only spin coming out of his hand was horizontal, breaking off the plate. Now he can spin a breaking ball that comes out of the same slot but breaks more north to south. It’s a pitch he will need to neutralize left-handed hitters.
“It’s not really a true curveball,” he said. “It’s just a little different look. It’s just enough of a difference to be two different pitches. I don’t want it to start merging into one pitch. I still want to have that hard slider. If they start to look like one pitch, I will stick with the slider.”
Rainey had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and didn’t pitch in 2023. It has taken him this long, he said, to get back to his pre-surgery form.
“Yeah, coming back in 2024, it just wasn’t the same,” he said. “At the end of that year, things started to pick back up but it was still up and down.”
Things started to come together after he joined the Tigers last season. His velocity has ticked back up into the upper 90s (97 mph in his season debut Wednesday). And his walk rate, which has always been his biggest hurdle, was down to just over five per nine innings.
“I started to feel that way (that he was fully back after surgery) in August last year,” Rainey said. “Just stuff-wise, the way my body felt, the way I was moving. It took longer than I expected, longer than I hoped. But in the second half of last year, the velo jumped and everything kind of shot back up.
“And it happened not too long after I signed here.”
He credits the work he put in with Bochtler and the Tigers’ pitching department for helping him get his mechanics and delivery back to a comfort level he hadn’t had since earlier in his career.
“I signed back here for a reason,” he said. “When I got up here last year, my fastball was at 94. And there have been times in Triple-A this year where it was 97 to 99. It’s definitely been a process just trying to get everything back to where it was.”
For now, Rainey has been handed what had been Brenan Hanifee’s role in the bullpen, an option Hinch can rely on against a right-handed heavy pocket of hitters. Where he takes it is up to him.
“He has had a really good season,” Hinch said. “The walk rate is always something that has plagued him but he has shaved that down in the minor leagues. The velo has crept up and he’s sneaky experienced. He’s pitched in some really big games and he’s been around the game a long time.
“There is a lot to like about what he’s done.”
When do Tigers, White Sox play on Saturday?
➤ First pitch: 1:10 Saturday, Comerica Park, Detroit
➤ TV/radio: Detroit Sports Net/97.1, 107.9
➤ LHP Anthony Kay (9-5, 3.96), White Sox: He limited the Tigers to only a Wenceel Perez homer over five innings on May 30 and he’s coming off two strong starts against the Rays and Guardians (two runs in 12.1 innings). He features a six-pitch mix, leaning hard on 95-96 mph four-seamers and sinkers with a sweeper that gets a 36.8% whiff rate and a hard, 91.5 mph cutter. Right-handers will see his changeup and slider.
➤ RHP Troy Melton (7-1, 1.46), Tigers: He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last three starts covering 20 innings. He’s allowed two runs or less in 12 of his 13 starts this season. His 1.46 ERA and 0.90 WHIP would be tops in the American League if he had enough innings to quality. Opponents are hitting under .200 on five of his six pitches and slugging under .300 on four of the six. Pretty good.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers reliever Tanner Rainey finally back to form after 2022 surgery