Tigers’ Brendan White Adds A Gyro Slider To His Menu

Brendan White knew the call was coming.

He just didn’t know when.

Last November, the 24-year-old righthander was one of several Tigers minor leaguers who would be eligible for the 2022 Rule 5 draft if not added to the 40-man roster.

And while he knew a call was likely, the waiting was the hardest part.

“It was a very long and stressful day, to say the least,” White said. “I had my phone on ring the whole day, and every time my phone buzzed or dinged, I’d sprint over just to see what was going on.” 

Roughly 30 minutes before the deadline, as White sat waiting with his mother at the kitchen table, his phone rang.

It was Tigers farm director Ryan Garko notifying White that he had been added to Detroit’s 40-man roster.

“It was a really, really good feeling,” White said. “I was incredibly excited, and thankfully, I had my mom with me, too, so we could share that moment together.”

As a 26th-round selection in 2019 out of Siena, White knows he faces an uphill battle to reach the big leagues. To help his odds, he’s expanded his arsenal.

Previously, White threw a low-to-mid-90s four-seamer, a sinker, a high-spin slider and a less-used splitter. He tried to add a cutter, but something funny happened along the way. 

“Originally it was supposed to be a cutter, but I kind of morphed it into a gyro slider, which is a different variation of a cutter and a slider,” White said.

Now with Triple-A Toledo, where he had made 17 relief appearances, White has leaned on catcher Dillon Dingler to help him get the most out of his pitch mix.

“(Dillon) knows my arsenal better than anybody,” White said. “What he puts down, I have trust in . . . That’s a really good feeling, because it takes a ton of stress off me . . .

“I know that no matter who steps in that box, it’s two on one. It’s fingers, brain, and then my arm and my body and whatever I have to do to execute against that hitter.”