Detroit Tigers get a pitcher back after losing him to Rule 5 draft

The big guy has returned to the Detroit Tigers.

RJ Petit, a 6-foot-8 right-handed pitcher, has been sent back to the Tigers by way of Rule 5 draft rules.

The Colorado Rockies took Petit from the Tigers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 Rule 5 draft. But he missed the 2026 MLB season after he had Tommy John surgery with an internal brace.

“We had a sense,” Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg told the Free Press in 2025 about losing Petit to the Rockies. “You never know for sure, but by the time we got here, we knew he was going to go. You never want to lose somebody, but it’s part of the process, and we still have a chance to get him back.”

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And that’s what has happened.

Petite didn’t end up pitching for Colorado, and he was returned to the Tigers on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

His last appearance on the mound was in 2025, when he had a 2.44 ERA with 79 strikeouts and 22 walks in 66⅓ innings. He threw 27 games for Double-A Erie and 20 for Triple-A Toledo, where he had a 2.74 ERA.

Petit mixed four pitches at the Triple-A level: 41.5% sliders, 29.8% four-seam fastballs, 18% sinkers and 10.7% changeups.

The Tigers selected Petit in the 14th round of the 2021 draft from Charleston Southern University. He received a promotion from Double-A Erie to Triple-A Toledo in July 2025.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers get a pitcher back after losing him to Rule 5 draft