Beau

Brieske

Nothing has changed in the prognosis for the 27-year-old hurler — he’s out for the season — this was merely done as a procedural move to free up a spot on the Tigers’ 40-man roster for the addition of José Urquidy on Friday.

Brieske has been on the shelf at Triple-A Toledo since mid-July due to elbow soreness. The 27-year-old reliever suffered the setback during a recent bullpen session, per Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg, and his season is officially over. The big question is whether he’s facing a surgical procedure, which would lead to an extended absence.

Brieske was a big part of the Tigers’ bullpen in 2024, but he’s struggled mightily in 2025 and is coming off a five-run, one-out effort against the Orioles on Tuesday. He’ll get a chance to get right in Triple-A, and Matt Gage will take his place in the bullpen.

Brieske would have come in with the score 3-1 if the Tigers hadn’t scored twice in the top of the eighth, though it’s hard to say whether he still would have been given a chance to complete the save in that event. He does have one save in eight appearances since coming off the IL earlier this month. He struck out two in finishing off the Cardinals today.

Tigers’ skipper A.J. Hinch continues to mix and match in the late innings to get the matchups that he wants and on Friday it was Brieske that he wanted to dispatch of the middle of the Jays’ lineup. He started the inning off strong, getting Alejandro Kirk on a fly ball to center and Addison Barger on a bouncer back to the mound. Things got interesting though as he allowed singles to Myles Straw and Michael Stefanic to put the tying run in scoring position. Not to fear though as Brieske rebounded to get Ernie Clement on a comebacker to end it. He’s probably third in line for save chances in the team’s bullpen, but that will still afford him the occasional save opportunity.

Brieske ended up missing the minimum time required on the injured list with ankle inflammation. The 27-year-old will be a key cog for the Detroit bullpen now that he’s healthy.

Brieske is a key cog in the Tigers’ bullpen, but they’ll be without him for the rest of April. The good news is this is not an arm injury, so there’s a good chance he’ll be back in May if there are no setbacks.

Following Beau Brieske and Will Vest, Kahnle was summoned in the ninth to close out the game with a three-run lead over the Mariners. He worked around a leadoff hit batter, recording his first save of the season. The 35-year-old right-hander should continue to see some save chances, but it’s looking like a closer-by-committee group in Detroit that includes, Brieske, Vest, and Tyler Holton.

Brieske got the first save chance of the year, and failed in rather spectacular fashion. With a 5-3 lead, he gave up an RBI double to Michael Conforto, a run-scoring single to Will Smith, and a three-run walk-off homer to Mookie Betts. Not ideal. Brieske should get more save chances especially with Jason Foley currently in Triple-A, but the 26-year-old is the best of a bad situation at the top of the Detroit bullpen.

Foley has been atrocious this spring, but this is still a bit of a surprise considering the right-hander served as the closer for the majority of the season. The 29-year-old will try and gret right in the minors before Detroit even thinks about trying him in a high-leverage role. The Tigers will likely go with a closer-by-committee role, with Beau Brieske and Tommy Kahnle possibilities to save games to begin the year.