Injuries Now Piling Up For The Tigers
As if the Eduardo Rodriguez injury wasn't bad enough for the Detroit Tigers, now their most important position player, outfielder Riley Greene (pictured above), is out due to a leg injury. He was pulled from Tuesday night's game by Tigers manager A.J. Hinch after he was gimping around in the outfield during the contest against the Texas Rangers.
Greene's injury was termed "left lower leg discomfort" by the team. Now, this could be a minor injury that puts him out for just a day or two (not a big deal). But if he has to spend any length of time on the injured list, the team gets worse very quickly.
Add to that the Matt Vierling injury (back soreness), and their outfield depth is severely compromised. The team traded cash considerations to the Chicago White Sox yesterday (Tuesday) for outfielder Jake Marisnick, who was a former Lansing Lugnut and played for manager A.J. Hinch in Houston from 2014-2019. Hinch said in his post-game press conference that Marisnick will be activated for Wednesday's game against Texas.
Without Greene and Vierling, in the outfield. You have Akil Baddoo, the aforementioned Marisnick, and a hodgepodge of others who are thrown into the outfield out of necessity. Zach McKinstry, Nick Maton, the just-called up Tyler Nevin, and Eric Haase are among the guys that have seen time in the outfield. When Kerry Carpenter comes back sometime in June, he is expected to start out at designated hitter exclusively. And then work his way back into the outfield.
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This doesn't even mention the other pitching injuries they have. Tarik Skubal might return later this summer. Beau Briske is still out and might be back later this summer. Matt Manning might come back later this summer. And don't expect former 1st overall pick Casey Mize until next year, he's recovering from Tommy John surgery. Reliever Trey Wingenter is still recovering from an injury as well.
With E-Rod's injury, their starting rotation now is: Michael Lorenzen, Matthew Boyd, Alex Faedo, Joey Wentz, and whoever they can cobble together as a fifth starter. Outside of Lorenzen, none of the above pitchers have pitched well with any consistency.
Because the Tigers are in the worst division in baseball, the American League Central, they're still in the race for a division despite their 25-28 record (2 games behind the Minnesota Twins). But if they keep getting injuries at this clip, they'll fall out of the race at a rapid rate.