The Tigers announced that second baseman on Wednesday Gleyber Torres goes back on the 10-day injured list. He has also dealt with a left oblique strain – the same injury that kept him out from May 4 to June 2. The right-hander Casey Mize he was returned to the injured list in the corresponding move. He will start today’s game for Detroit.
Torres’ injury (or re-injury) is a blow to a Tigers team that has been clicking of late – in no small part due to the play of its second baseman. Torres was healthy in 11 games between IL stints and hit .341/.413/.585 with two homers and two doubles in 46 plate appearances during that span. He’s been a key factor in the Tigers’ 8-5 record so far this month — more games already than they won in the inexplicably bad month of May that saw them slip away with a 6-22 record.
Overall, Torres took 190 plate appearances in 2026 and posted a hearty .280/.395/.395 (126 wRC+) line with almost as many walks (15.3%) as strikeouts (17.4%). He played a good second base as well, posting a good mark in Defensive Runs Saved (6), while Statcast’s Outs Above Average calls him a starting defender.
The Tigers have not set a timetable for Torres’ expected absence. Every injury is different, but Torres going nowhere for nearly a month in his last oblique injury fits the bill for Grade 1 oblique strains. If this growth produces a very important species, it may be out for a long time. Manager AJ Hinch will likely have more details when he meets the Tigers’ pace today.
With Torres down again, the Tigers will be back in the mix Zach McKinstry again Hao-Yu Lee on second base. Colt Keith could join that mix, even though he hasn’t pitched an inning this season. Detroit only used him on the infield corners and designated hitters.
Despite losing a key member of the roster, the Tigers also gained a key member of the pitching staff. There were rumors that Mize would return on Sunday, but that game was rained out and there was a trade. They went with the cow game on Monday, they kept it Framber Valdez with the usual rest of Tuesday, and now they will give Mize the ball on Wednesday.
Mize, 29, has done very well in the nine games he has started this season. He threw 47 2/3 innings and registered a 2.27 ERA with a career-best 26.5% strikeout rate and a 6.5% walk rate that matched his career mark. Mize, the No. 1 draft pick. 1 overall pick in 2018, he had a pedestrian comeback from Tommy John surgery in 2024 but now has a 3.48 ERA 23.2% strikeout rate, a 5.9% walk rate and a 38% groundball rate in 196 2/3 innings dating back to 202 Opening Day.
The Tigers will plug Mize back into the rotation around the ace Tarik Skubal (who just returned Saturday from his IL stint), Valdez and the young righty Troy Melton. Detroit is set Jack Flaherty on the injured list over the weekend and chose to go the right way Keider Montero in the barn at least some time. Justin Verlander it is expected to return this weekend and will look for the remaining turning point.
Both Torres and Mize are free agents at the end of the season. Therefore, both are theoretical trade candidates for a Tigers club that is shy of expectations. That disastrous May performance has Detroit nine games back in the American League Central, but the American League’s poor performance as a whole means they are just six games out of the Wild Card chase — despite being 13 games under .500.
If the trade deadline were a week away, the Tigers would be sure sellers. Instead, they have seven weeks to try to put that May debacle behind them and build on their newly improved play. It will take a long time to remember their Cinderella finish in 2024 to get them back into the relegation picture in such a short period of time, but they will probably take the next six weeks or so to try to do that before considering the sales route.
