Tigers, veteran reliever Kahnle agree to 1-year deal

DETROIT -- While the Tigers scour the market for last-minute upgrades before Spring Training begins in two weeks, they’re working to bolster an already strong bullpen. Detroit reached a one-year, $7.75 million deal with veteran right-hander Tommy Kahnle, the team announced Wednesday.

The 35-year-old Kahnle was a mainstay in the Yankees’ bullpen for the last couple years, pitching in 92 games in 2023-24. He posted a 2.11 ERA over 50 regular-season games in 2024, striking out 46 batters with 30 hits and 19 walks allowed over 42 2/3 innings.

Kahnle pitched in nine of the Yankees’ 14 postseason games, including three of five games in the World Series. He tossed seven scoreless innings combined against the Royals and Guardians and didn’t allow an earned run in the postseason until back-to-back singles and a walk set up two sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver to pull the Dodgers ahead in a World Series-clinching Game 5.

“We are excited to add Tommy because he induces an impressive combination of swing-and-miss and ground balls,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said on a Zoom call with reporters. “He can get outs in multiple ways, he can handle righties and lefties and gives our bullpen a different look. We were looking for someone that can get outs in leverage spots, and he has a history of doing that and he has performed as one of the better relievers in all of baseball over the last couple of years.”

The Tigers have been looking for bullpen help and have been connected to veteran closers, including interest in Ryan Pressly before his trade to the Cubs, as well as free agents like Carlos Estévez before he agreed to terms with the Royals. Kahnle doesn’t fill that role, having recorded just eight saves over his 10-year Major League career – including one save last year. But he’s an accomplished setup man who has forged a role in the seventh and eighth innings.

“He has demonstrated in his career that he can get outs anywhere,” Harris said. “I think we demonstrated as a team last year that we can get to the finish line in a number of different ways, and I think that does give us an edge. How it all shakes out, I'm not quite sure yet. We're not done building our team yet.”

Kahnle’s success comes from a different look, with an arsenal based heavily on his 87-89 mph changeup. He threw it on 73.1 percent of his pitches last regular season, 75.6 percent in 2023 and 76.4 percent in limited work in 2022, according to Statcast. Opponents batted just .157 against it last year in 121 at-bats ending on changeups, with a 38.9 percent whiff rate and an average exit velocity of just 83.7 miles per hour.

Kahnle leaned on his main pitch even more in the postseason, throwing changeups on 61 consecutive pitches across several outings.

Essentially, Kahnle attacks hitters in reverse, with his 94-95 mph fastball serving as a change of speeds. He threw his heater on just 19.3 percent of his pitches last regular season and mixed in a few sliders and sinkers. Kahnle used his fastball even less often in 2023 (16.6 percent), but it was more effective; hitters went 3-for-17 off the heater that year with a 35.1 percent whiff rate.

“We headed into this offseason trying to give [manager] A.J. [Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter] a diverse collection of arms,” Harris said. “I think one of our greater strengths last year was the ability to throw different looks at hitters. We tried to limit the number of times that hitters saw the same type of look or the same [pitch] shape or the same [arm] slot in a given series, and we think it gave us an edge. …

“I think Tommy gives us a different look. He gives us a look we didn’t have. He’s a guy who can throw an elite changeup even when hitters know it’s coming, and it still can miss bats or induce soft contact on the ground. That’s a special ability.”

Kahnle should provide a different look from Detroit’s young relief arms, including Jason Foley’s sinker-slider mix, Will Vest’s fastball-heavy arsenal and Beau Brieske’s more varied repertoire. Kahnle’s fastball and command – he walked seven batters over 8 2/3 innings last postseason – could be a point of improvement for Fetter and assistants Juan Nieves and Robin Lund, though Harris said their group will try to get to know Kahnle first.

Kahnle already has some unique history in Comerica Park: The then-Yankee was ejected from an Aug. 24, 2017 game against the Tigers after throwing a pitch behind Miguel Cabrera. The pitch did not hit Cabrera, who began jawing with catcher Austin Romine before benches cleared.

Kahnle could be among multiple reinforcements, bullpen and otherwise, coming in the days leading up to the first official workout for pitchers and catchers on Feb. 12.

“We're not done,” Harris said. “We're going to try to find new ways to make this team better. There are a number of ways we can do it -- free agency, trade, waiver claim. I think bullpen and lineup are two areas that we are going to look to upgrade if we can, but we also like our depth on both sides of the ball.”