Tigers Will Majorly Regret Letting Intriguing Young Right-Hander Get Away
In this story:
The Detroit Tigers entered the offseason looking to add to their pitching staff, but this week they might have taken a hit to the depth with the arrival of the Rule 5 draft.
As the way things go in Rule 5, players who teams do not add to their 40-man roster are available for other teams to steal away, and just about every team ends up losing some talent from their farm system and replenishing it from others.
Detroit made some headlines when they elected not to add one of their more highly rated pitching prospects to the roster in 6-foot-8, 300 pound right-hander RJ Petit. It was pretty much known that Petit would wind up being selected, but what the Tigers might not have expected was him being taken with the No. 1 overall pick.
The Colorado Rockies slotted in and stole Petit away, and he instantly became a top-30 prospect within their organization. Based on the way he performed last season in the minor leagues, Detroit could wind up seriously regretting letting Petit get away.
Tigers May Regret Not Adding Petit to 40-Man Roster
Aside from being an absolute mountain of a man who would have instantly become a fan favorite in Detroit, the big 26-year-old had a phenomenal season in 2025 at multiple levels of the minor leagues.
Across 47 appearances both at the Double-A and Triple-A level, Petit pitched to a 2.44 ERA and 1.055 WHIP, posting a record of 10-2 with 79 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 66.1 innings pitched. The right-hander walked 4.1 batters per nine innings in 2024, but he cut that down dramatically to just 3.0 this season as his command developed.
Most encouragingly, Petit's numbers stayed relatively the same after he was promoted from Double-A following 27 appearances with Erie, putting up a 2.74 ERA in 20 appearances with Triple-A Toledo. The strikeout numbers took a huge jump too, fanning 33 in 23 innings after racking up 46 K's in 43.1 Double-A innings.
Clearly, Petit is trending in the right direction and could find himself in a big league bullpen as early as this season.
Why Did Tigers Not Protect Petit from Being Taken?
Ultimately, when a player does not get protected, it simply comes down to numbers. Petit -- who was the No. 30 ranked prospect in the organization -- in the mind of the front office did not have a path to legitimate MLB playing time this year, so they had to protect others instead.
On a team like the Rockies -- who were of course the worst team in baseball last season -- Petit can absolutely get some action and potentially some very high leverage innings to begin his big league career.
Whether or not this was the right decision for a Detroit team which had major issues in the bullpen last season will remain to be seen, but the Tigers seemed to be comfortable with the call. Time will tell if that choice pays off or blows up in their face.
Recommended Articles
Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.