Projecting the Tigers' 2026 bullpen and identifying what fixes can still be made

The Detroit Tigers have made significant strides in shoring up the bullpen that, at times, was much-maligned in 2025. While the club's relievers ultimately finished 17th in ERA with a 4.05 mark, at times it felt like the unit was much, much worse than just a hair below league-average.

Re-signing Kyle Finnegan was a must, and bringing in Kenley Jansen gives the unit veteran experience and a high-end ceiling that was not previously present. These two, in conjunction with Will Vest and Tyler Holton, give Detroit a solid quartet that can take the ball from the starters and close out victories with regularity.

However, in typical Tigers' fashion, things can never be simple. Scott Harris is threatening to overcomplicate matters by refusing to name a closer despite Jansen being the obvious answer. With all that in mind, we're going to project what the opening day bullpen will look like while highlighting what the Tigers still need to do to put the unit over the top.

Projecting the Tigers' bullpen given what we know now

Kenley Jansen should be the unquestioned closer. You don't bring in a guy who is on the verge of notching 500 career saves and is coming off a 2.59 ERA campaign for him to do anything other than lock down the ninth.

Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest can handle the primary setup roles, and who takes the seventh and who takes the eighth is primarily a personal preference, and perhaps match-up dependent. Joining them in setup duty is Tyler Holton. Holton struggled with the long ball last season, but if he can get that back under control and pitch to a two-something ERA as he did in 2023 and 2024, Detroit will have a versatile weapon capable of getting lefties out while also logging multiple innings if needed. For his career, Holton has allowed a minuscule .138 batting average against in high leverage situations, giving this quartet lockdown potential.

The middle innings are where things get interesting. All of these guys can fit a long man or swing man role, and have worked in that capacity in the past. Brant Hurter is the second lefty, and his sinker-slider mix generated a healthy 50% ground ball rate while he posted 9.71 K/9 in 2025, giving him the strongest position to stick of the remaining arms.

Keider Montero actually fared better as a starter than a reliever in 2025 (3.72 ERA versus 5.51 ERA), so he'd likely be the one to slide into the rotation if a need arose. Beau Brieske is the least secure in his standing and should be the first to go should the Tigers make another addition this winter.

The nice thing about this group is that, aside from Jansen and Finnegan, they all have options, giving Detroit the flexibility to make moves to bring fresh arms up when needed and allowing for an escape hatch in the case someone isn't pulling their weight.

The Tigers still need an addition because the bullpen is lacking in one particular area

A problem that Detroit failed to address at the trade deadline was the lack of swing and miss in the bullpen. Tigers' relievers ranked dead last in 2025 in terms of K/9, coming in at a 7.71 mark.

The lack of strikeouts puts extra pressure on the pitchers to execute their pitches and for the defense to make plays, sometimes resulting in rallies thanks to softly-hit, well-placed bloopers, infield singles, and seeing-eye balls.

Jansen is no longer an elite strikeout artist, coming in at 8.69 K/9 last season, and a full season of Kyle Finnegan doesn't help much in this regard, with him coming in at 8.89 K/9 for his career. Those are decent numbers, for sure, but Detroit still lacks that elite strikeout arm.

The herd of free-agent relievers has thinned out considerably, but one name that fits this bill stands out. Seranthony Dominguez racked up 11.35 K/9 in 2024 thanks to a 33.3% whiff rate that ranked in the 94th percentile. While he can be susceptible to giving up a few too many walks, having a power arm in the middle innings that also has high-leverage experience would be a boon for the Tigers and give them the added dimension that the current crop of relievers is missing.

Should Detroit sign Dominguez, they'd be able to send Brieske down and still have Montero fill the long man role, slotting everyone else in a position better suited for their talents after the top four at the back end. This kind of signing would alleviate any lingering concerns about the pen and put the Tigers in the best position to preserve leads with regularity in 2026.