The Washington Nationals are an organization that has accomplished a lot in their short existence of being a big-league franchise. Since their first season 21 years ago, they have gone from bottom-feeder to competitor for almost a decade that culminated in winning a World Series in 2019, and are now back on their journey towards being a competitive club.
Obviously, the crowning achievement of the organization was to win their first ever title back 7 years ago, and there were a lot of older players on that team. Some of those guys, like Kurt Suzuki and Adam Eaton, who ended up together on the Los Angeles Angels on the coaching side of things, moved on to their next chapters beyond playing. However, there are a handful of players still floating around and playing in the majors, with one of them just recently making headlines a few days ago.
Tanner Rainey back in majors for first time in 2026 with Tigers
That player who made headlines for the first time all season is righty Tanner Rainey, a reliever who spent time with the Nationals for several years, including being part of the team's World Series team back in 2019, where he appeared in 4 games during the penultimate series, albeit with not exactly the greatest stats.
However, to Rainey's credit, he has appeared in the majors in every season since 2018, when he made his MLB debut with the Cincinnati Reds. He then spent 2019-2024 with the Nationals, and even overcame Tommy John Surgery in August of 2022 to come back to the big leagues in late September of 2023.
After 2024 with the Nationals, Rainey was non-tendered by the Nationals, opening the door for him to join the Pittsburgh Pirates, who he appeared in 11 games for before he was then DFA'd and released. From there, he signed with the Detroit Tigers, although he struggled with them over 2 appearances and was not part of their postseason roster last year.
However, he re-signed with the Tigers following the season, and had spent all of 2026 in the minors so far for AAA Toledo, where he put up stellar numbers including a 2.32 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, striking out 60 batters in 42.2 innings pitched. He now will try to help boost the Tigers' bullpen for the stretch run alongside former Nationals' teammate and fellow reliever Kyle Finnegan, and he has already thrown 3 scoreless appearances so far, notching 4 strikeouts but also 4 walks.
What are you expecting from Nationals' World Series Champion Tanner Rainey during the rest of this season for the Tigers? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
Add us as a preferred source on Google