The Tigers made another quiet but telling move on the pitching front, claiming right-hander Andre Granillo off waivers from the Nationals. It's not a headline-grabbing blockbuster, but with the trade deadline bearing down, every 40-man shuffle in Detroit is worth a second look right now.
The transaction hit the wire Saturday afternoon, confirming Detroit's newest addition to the pitching pool.
Granillo's path here has been a whirlwind. The Cardinals took him in the 14th round back in 2021 out of UC Riverside, and he climbed the ladder methodically before debuting in the majors in June 2025. That debut year had one wild footnote: in a doubleheader against the White Sox on June 19, he picked up his first career win and his first career save on the same day, a feat the Elias Sports Bureau flagged as unprecedented for a pitcher's first two big-league decisions.
St. Louis dealt him to Washington back in February in exchange for George Soriano, and the Nationals barely got a look before moving on, designating him for assignment to clear a 40-man spot for another waiver claim of their own. That's how quickly life moves for a fringe big-league reliever these days — traded, DFA'd, and claimed again inside a few months.
For the Tigers, this is classic organizational churn rather than a marquee pickup. Granillo posted a 4.71 ERA with 18 strikeouts over 21 innings for the Cardinals last season, the kind of small-sample, power-armed profile teams love to gamble on for pennies. He's the type of arm that gets stashed at Triple-A and auditioned in September call-ups, not someone slotting into high-leverage innings on day one.
Still, moves like this matter in aggregate. Detroit's front office has been aggressive about testing the waiver wire for cheap bullpen depth all year, and adding another power arm with a track record of swing-and-miss stuff gives them more options to sort through as they figure out what the roster needs before the deadline. It's a depth move today, but depth moves are how contenders survive a 162-game season.
Watch to see if Granillo lands at Triple-A Toledo for a tune-up or if the Tigers see enough to fast-track him straight to the big-league bullpen. Either way, it's one more arm in an increasingly crowded pitching mix in Detroit as the deadline approaches.