Tanner Scott Rainey is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut with the Reds in 2018.
Rainey signed with the Reds, made his professional debut with the Billings Mustangs, and spent the whole season there, pitching to a 2-2 record and 4.27 ERA in 15 starts.
He pitched in 2016 with the Dayton Dragons and was 5-10 with a 5.57 ERA in 29 games (20 starts), and in 2017 with the Daytona Tortugas and Pensacola Blue Wahoos, compiling a combined 3-3 record and 3.19 ERA in 53 relief appearances along with 104 strikeouts in 62 innings (15.1 per nine innings). The Reds invited him to spring training in 2018.
On December 12, 2018, the Reds traded Rainey to the Washington Nationals for Tanner Roark. Rainey was called up to the Nationals from the Class-AAA Fresno Grizzlies on May 18, 2019, and swiftly became one of manager Dave Martinez’s go-to relievers.
Rainey pitched 6.2 innings in the 2019 playoffs including throwing 2 strikeouts and finishing Game 3 of the 2019 NLCS, the first-ever NLCS game at Nationals Park and in Washington, DC history. Rainey pitched 20.1 innings of 2.66 ERA ball in 2020, going along with 32 strikeouts and a 1-1 record, however after experiencing forearm tightness in mid-September 2020, Rainey sat out the remainder of the season.
Rainey has never divulged any information about his parents, he is a very private person who likes to keep his personal life away from media attention.