Detroit Tigers’ Lance Parrish tried to be switch-hitting third baseman
Detroit Tigers legend Lance Parrish joined the “Days of Roar” podcast, sharing the story of his brief stint as a switch-hitting third baseman.
Drew Anderson is returning to the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers signed Anderson to a one-year contract for the 2026 season, which includes a club option for the 2027 season, according to multiple people with knowledge of the agreement. He will report to spring training as a starter, but he has experience as a reliever.
The deal is pending a physical.
The 31-year-old right-hander spent the past four seasons in Asia, pitching in Japan in 2022 and 2023 and Korea in 2024 and 2025. He had a brief stint with the Tigers in 2024 after signing a minor-league contract, appearing in nine games as a reliever in Triple-A Toledo.
In 2025, Anderson competed for the SSG Landers in the KBO League in South Korea for the second year in a row. He posted a 2.25 ERA with 51 walks and 245 strikeouts across 171⅔ innings in 30 starts.
He hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2021.
The Tigers had one open spot on the 40-man roster, so there won’t be a corresponding move.
Anderson, who turns 32 in March, owns a 6.50 ERA with 17 walks and 30 strikeouts across 44⅓ innings in 19 games (two starts) throughout his five-year MLB career with the Philadelphia Phillies (2017-19), Chicago White Sox (2020) and Texas Rangers (2021).
He also appeared for the Hiroshima Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan in 2022 and 2023.
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After two years in Japan, Anderson returned to North America by signing a minor-league contract with the Tigers in January 2024. He impressed as a non-roster invitee in spring training with a big velocity boost, but he didn’t make the Opening Day roster out of spring training.
A clause in his contract with the Tigers allowed Anderson to be sent to the SSG Landers in Korea.
Before Korea, Anderson registered a 3.86 ERA with nine walks and 16 strikeouts across 14 innings in nine relief appearances for Triple-A Toledo. His fastball averaged 95.5 mph with a 39.4% whiff rate. He also threw a slider, curveball and changeup.
His fastball maxed out at 97.8 mph with the Mud Hens.
This story will be updated.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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