Injuries & Moves: Mize (hamstring) headed for IL
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July 2: RHP Casey Mize (left hamstring strain) to be placed on 15-day injured list; RHP Keider Montero to be recalled from Triple-A Toledo
Mize left his last outing Sunday against the Angels with what was initially believed to be a cramp in his left leg following a pitch to Jo Adell. Subsequent testing on Monday’s off-day revealed a hamstring injury, not believed to be severe but enough for the Tigers to proceed cautiously.
“I guess I was a little confused on the feeling; I’ve never had a soft tissue injury, so I didn’t know,” Mize said. “The closest way I could describe it was a cramp, I guess, but obviously not the case.”
Mize played catch on Tuesday at Target Field and will progress day by day as the hamstring allows. The minimum IL stint would take him into the All-Star break, so he’ll have ample time.
If there’s any silver lining to the situation, it’s that the absence could answer the looming question about watching Mize’s innings in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, a procedure that cost him the better part of two seasons. The Tigers haven’t specified an innings limit, but this stint might give Mize the break he needs to finish out the season in the rotation once he returns.
“It kind of takes care of a lot of conversations that we were going to have to have at some point,” Mize said.
The Tigers will wait until Wednesday to make the roster move, though they can backdate it to Monday. They’ll use the roster move to recall Montero, who had been optioned to Toledo after a bulk relief appearance against the Phillies last Wednesday and would’ve had to wait until next weekend to be recalled except as an injury replacement. He’ll get at least a couple of turns in Detroit’s rotation as the Tigers get an extended look at their No. 7 prospect.
July 2: RHP Jack Flaherty (low back tightness) receives second injection, will skip turn
Keider Montero, instead of starting in Mize’s spot, will start Wednesday in place of Flaherty, who stayed back in Los Angeles following the Tigers’ series against the Angels to see his back specialist. The recommendation was his second injection in just more than three weeks and third in just more than a year.
“The shot that he needed, sometimes they take, sometimes they don’t,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He still was feeling a little bit off, and so another injection was warranted. We were in Los Angeles, the doctor’s right there, so we’re going to give him a couple of days to do that.”
Flaherty will rejoin the team later in the week in Cincinnati, and he is expected to start again early next week against the Guardians at Comerica Park.
Flaherty made three starts after his earlier injection last month. He tossed five scoreless innings at Houston on June 15 and 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball six days later before the Angels roughed him up for five runs on seven hits -- three of them home runs -- in 5 2/3 innings on Thursday.
July 2: OF Kerry Carpenter (lumbar spine stress fracture) slows down progression
Carpenter, who resumed baseball activity last week and joined the team on the current road trip, experienced increased discomfort during workouts and is now resting and rehabbing. The update came after manager A.J. Hinch’s pregame media session, but Hinch seemed to hint at the situation earlier in the day during his weekly interview with MLB Network Radio.
“With the back and specifically the injury that he had, the doctors have told us to proceed slowly,” Hinch said. “And so [just because] he can start swinging doesn’t mean that he can take a hundred swings. That means you can take a few. It’s usually a fungo, then it’s usually a bat, then off a tee. We haven’t gotten to the field yet, so he’s not doing enough to really put together a calendar for a return to play. He’s just doing more than he was before.
“Provided that we can keep the inflammation away from the back and we can keep the soreness to a minimum, then he can keep progressing. But there may be a time when we have to take a day off because of just getting him back into the torque it takes to swing a baseball bat.”
June 30: OF Matt Vierling scratched from lineup
Vierling, who was slated to bat leadoff on June 30 in the Tigers' series finale against the Angels, fouled a 99 mph pitch off his left foot in the 10th inning on June 29. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Vierling has left foot soreness and “wasn’t moving around too good.”
The Tigers plan to evaluate Vierling on a day-to-day basis.
10-DAY/15-DAY INJURED LIST
RHP Casey Mize (left hamstring strain)
Expected return: TBD
Mize felt the injury on one of his final pitches against the Angels on June 30. He played catch on July 2, but the Tigers expect to proceed cautiously with Mize, who was already expected to have his innings limited at some point this season. (Last updated: July 2)
RHP Jackson Jobe (left hamstring strain; Tigers' No. 2 prospect, MLB No. 11)
Expected return: July 5
Jobe is scheduled to return to the rotation at Double-A Erie on Friday after three rehab starts for High-A West Michigan. (Last updated: July 2)
SS Javier Báez (lumbar spine inflammation)
Expected return: Possibly week of July 8
Báez is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on July 2 as a designated hitter before starting at shortstop for the Mud Hens the next day. Báez continues to work out at the Tigers' Spring Training facility, and he will remain there this week. The team is expected to proceed slowly with his rehab, including an extensive rehab assignment once he is cleared for game action. (Last updated: July 2)
OF Kerry Carpenter (lumbar spine stress fracture)
Expected return: Possibly July
Carpenter experienced increased discomfort during recent workouts and is now on a progression of rest and rehab. He is traveling with the team after being cleared for baseball activity last week. He began hitting off a tee on June 24 and started running and throwing. (Last updated: July 2)
INF Jace Jung (right wrist soreness; Tigers’ No. 3 prospect, MLB No. 42)
Expected return: Early July
Sidelined since June 20 with a right wrist issue that has been nagging him since May, Jung is on the comeback trail. The 2022 12th overall pick in the Draft began a rehab assignment at Single-A Lakeland, going 0-for-1 with two walks and making a couple of solid plays at third base in Lakeland’s 7-1 win at Tampa. Jung was cleared for baseball activity last week after visiting a hand specialist. The 23-year-old slashed .270/.390/.500 with 11 home runs over 64 games this season for Triple-A Toledo in his first taste of that level. (Last updated: July 1)
60-DAY INJURED LIST
RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (left groin strain, right forearm tightness)
Expected return: 2025
After having UCL repair surgery on his right elbow, Gipson-Long is completing rehab daily in Lakeland, Fla. The Tigers transferred him to the 60-day injured list on May 7 to open a 40-man roster spot. (Last updated: May 7)