Tigers sign Joel Hanrahan - MLB

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that the Tigers have signed right-hander Joel Hanrahan, who recently held a workout for teams to show them how he’s progressing in a return from Tommy John elbow surgery.

Hanrahan is expected to be ready for game action sometime in June and Heyman previously wrote that the Tigers, Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox, and Rockies were all in the mix to sign the former Pirates (and very briefly Red Sox) closer.

Prior to an injury wrecked 2013 season in Boston he saved 40 games in 2012 and 36 games in 2011 for Pittsburgh, posting a combined 2.24 ERA with 128 strikeouts in 128 innings during that time.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski always loves hard-throwing pitchers and few throw harder than Hanrahan, who averaged 96.5 miles per hour with his fastball from 2011-2013. Joe Nathan has the closer job locked down in Detroit, but the 32-year-old Hanrahan could emerge as a late-inning setup man in the second half if his recovery goes smoothly.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”