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Jose Urquidy's Solid Return To MLB Mound Gives Tigers Important Bullpen Arm

Originally posted on Detroit Tigers on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Sep 14, 2025 4:41 PM ET

The Detroit Tigers made an under-the-radar signing in March when they inked Jose Urquidy to a one-year, $1 million contract for the 2025 season with a $4 million club option for 2026.

Because the veteran pitcher was still recovering from Tommy John surgery, that deal was largely seen as something that would help the Tigers in the future, with it being unclear if he would return and play a role for the big league club this year.

But Urquidy kept progressing in his rehab, and he eventually was sent on a rehab assignment on Aug. 20, which signaled he might actually return at some point before the end of the regular season if everything went well.

That was the case on Sept. 12 when Detroit activated him off the injured list, but it wasn't until Sunday when he had his first major league outing since Oct. 23, 2023.

Jose Urquidy Has Successful Return for Tigers

The 30-year-old was thrown into the fire on Sunday trying to protect a two-run lead. After Keider Montero went five innings where he allowed just three hits and no runs, it was up to Urquidy to keep things rolling in his return.

He did exactly that in the bottom of the sixth inning, striking out the first batter he faced before inducing two fly outs that were sandwiched in between a single. Urquidy ran into a bit of trouble during the seventh, giving up a leadoff single. He struck out the next batter he faced, but after he walked the next one to put runners on first and second, manager A.J. Hinch pulled the plug. Thankfully, Tommy Kahnle came in and closed out the frame, recording two outs that ended the inning without a run allowed.

Urquidy's final line during his return was a scoreless outing across 1 1/3 innings where he gave up two hits with two strikeouts and a walk, giving Detroit a chance to win the finale of this set.

facing his first batter in two years...

José Urquidy gets his first strikeout as a Tiger pic.twitter.com/lQiRqE2C38
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 14, 2025

While it's just one outing, this should give Hinch confidence that Urquidy can be a weapon for the Tigers down the stretch and during the playoffs, with the right-hander's return coming in a high-leverage spot where he was tasked with keeping things scoreless.

Detroit needs more arms they can rely on, especially because the bullpen hasn't been as dominant of a unit as they were last year. And with there still being questions about how their rotation is going to be deployed during the postseason, having someone available who has playoff experience and can pitch multiple innings in an outing is huge.

The Tigers will need to see more from Urquidy to close out the regular season, but this was a great showing in his return.