The Tigers started their September roster moves a little ahead of schedule on Tuesday, bringing up No. 20 prospect John Peck and reliever Yilber Díaz before the calendar flipped to Sept. 1. That left Riley Greene and Beau Brieske to become the club’s “official” 27th and 28th men on the actual day, without Detroit needing to make any corresponding roster cuts.
Greene’s return comes after he wrapped up a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo, where he went 1-for-6 in two games. That was enough for the Tigers to decide they wanted his bat back in the mix as they try to jolt an offense that has been sputtering.
Brieske’s path back is a different story. He missed time until late May, then logged two short stretches in the majors, the most recent lasting four games in early July. The Tigers delayed his promotion by a day, and given how his season has gone, that extra wait may have been as much about timing as anything else.
Detroit will be glad to have Greene back. Brieske, though, looks to be on very thin ice.
His brief July stint was an improvement over his earlier run between late May and early June, when he threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up six runs. Even so, he has not resembled the pitcher who played such a key role in the Tigers’ late-season push in 2024.
There’s at least a familiar theme here. The Tigers may be trying to channel some of that 2024 energy again, with their playoff odds sitting almost exactly where they were before that run took off. Detroit was down to 0.5% at one point last year, and it enters Tuesday at 0.7%.
But the bullpen is a very different group now. Tyler Holton and Brieske are the only real holdovers from the unit that helped carry the Tigers into October in 2024.
Jason Foley is gone from the organization, while Ty Madden, Brant Hurter, Brenan Hanifee and Sean Guenther are all in the minors. Will Vest is out for the season.
That makes this version of the relief corps a tougher sell, even if it is more expensive. The 2026 Tigers bullpen simply does not project with the same confidence as that 2024 group.
Brieske’s August line at Triple-A only adds to the concern: a 6.00 ERA. That doesn’t exactly scream comeback.
So if Detroit does manage to beat the odds again, it probably won’t be because of the bullpen. Greene is back to give the lineup a needed spark, and the Tigers will be leaning hard on the rotation to keep things tidy, work efficiently, and buy them enough wins to stay afloat.
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