The Tigers placed Reese Olson on the 15-day injured list due to right ring finger inflammation, as first reported by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. Reliever Chase Lee was recalled from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding active roster move.
Detroit will temporarily operate with a nine-man relief group and four starters. McCosky adds that they’ll push Jack Flaherty’s start back to what would have been Olson’s turn on Thursday against the Guardians while deploying a bullpen game on Wednesday in St. Louis. The Tigers are three games into a nearly two-week stretch without an off day, so there aren’t upcoming opportunities for their starters to work on regular rest in a four-man rotation.
Olson’s injury comes as a surprise. He looked sharp as ever during Saturday’s start in Toronto, firing six scoreless innings in an eventual 2-1 loss. He sat north of 95 MPH with both his four-seam fastball and sinker, slightly above his season average. It’s not clear if the soreness arose during that start or in the past two days, but it’s evidently enough to shelve him for at least two weeks.
The 25-year-old Olson has somewhat quietly emerged as one of the better young pitchers in the sport. He owns a 3.60 ERA over parts of three seasons and is out to a career-best start. Olson carries a 2.96 earned run average across 48 2/3 innings. He’s striking out more than a quarter of opponents while getting grounders on half the batted balls he allows. Olson has reeled off four scoreless appearances through his first nine starts. He could be in the mix for his first career All-Star selection if this injury proves minor.
At 31-16, the Tigers have MLB’s best record. Olson, Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize each carry sub-3.00 ERAs, helping Detroit to a 3.39 rotation earned run average that ranks fifth in the majors. Mize went down with a hamstring strain a couple weeks ago, while they’ve been without Alex Cobb all season due to a right hip issue. Skubal, Flaherty, Jackson Jobe and Keider Montero comprise A.J. Hinch’s current four-man starting staff. McCosky writes that Mize could be activated from the IL by the weekend.
Well it’s a Tigers article. I wonder who we will see in the comments complaining. BM and ch where you at?
Olsen is a solid pitcher. It’s going to be difficult to replace him. Even with pitching chaos.
I’m here to complain about this article
Haha yeah I get it. Hope he recovers fast!
So…..back to “Pitching Chaos”?????
Mize is back Saturday.
Slim pickings at AAA right now. Yeesh.
I got a little worried when AJ answered a reporter’s question with “it’s not a blister.” I thought he was irritated with the reporter at first, but then it occurred to me that the injury was on the inside, not the outside.
The Tigers sure do get weird IL situations.
I have a feeling that Mize and Olson are just as much to give em a break than anything
“Right ring finger inflammation…..shelved for two weeks.”
Uh… wow.
Mlb transactions says he has been placed on the 10 DL and that Chase Lee had been called up. This injury really hurts because the one area that Detroit is missing at Toledo is good starting pitching. Lots of good relief pitching but not starters. I dont know if any starters in AA or high A are ready for a spot promotion yet or not. Remember a few years ago when they brought Reese up he had mainly been at AA with a brief stop at Toledo before it was on to Detroit.
It’s 10-day for hitters, 15 for pitchers.
Don’t forget sone of the bullpen arms were starters. Brieske. Guenther.
It looks to me like the Tigers’ AA is loaded with SPs.
Workload management.
Wtf??? Sounds like a broken fingernail
Out atleast 2 weeks???!
Yes, minimum IL stint for pitchers is 15 days
It’s Boy Wonder Harris’ fault as he should have signed Heany instead of Cobb…we wouldn’t be in this mess if we had a reliable 6th starter vs one who is always injured (and overpaid). 😎
Is the mess you are referring to them having the best record in MLB despite numerous injuries?
Any word on when Cobb is returning? They mentioned he was throwing bullpen sessions 2 weeks ago and I have not heard anything since.
I think I read he had a setback.
Not that much of a surprise if you read the Detroit Free Press, which reported Saturday night that he was pulled early from his start because the finger irritation arose while throwing his changeup.
Jobe is getting better tho. I know it doesn’t mean much, but the Tigers have won every game which Jobe started.
Hopefully Mize is about to return….
Is Cobb getting closer?
Now they could use Kenta Maeda. But they kicked him to the curb like yesterday’s recycling.
I don’t agree that Kenya Maeda could help. He gives the Tigers NO chance to win.
Maeda is a wild batting practice pitcher at this point. A kid could do AT LEAST just as good.
Used for what? I haven’t heard of any of the ground crew on the IL?
I still believe that Olson is going to throw a no hitter this year.
I think both Mize and Olson’s placement on the IL is just as much err on the side of caution and allow them to be more fresh come September as much as the actual injuries.
I hope this is the scenario: Instead of simply skipping his turn, 15 IL retroactive and call on the help from the back 40.
I agree – the Tigers tend to do this with players. Their roster depth helps as the Tigs have options on the farm that can get outs in MLB.
IMO that’s why they signed Cobb: pitching depth, not a rotation spot. Eventually, Cobb will come up for someone. Probably won’t log many IPs, but if he contributes to a W that helps lead DET to winning a WS, nobody will care we paid Cobb $15M for a few winning starts.
Lower roster guys can contribute to a pennant winner. Baddoo just made 3 incredible, crucial outs in a W at Toronto. He single-handedly retired the side in a tough first inning, bailing Jobe out of a 1st-inning mess.
Doesn’t matter. When Baez is hitting over .300, it’s Detroit’s year.
I’m amazed at the number of times this season I’ve watched a guy pitch and he looks good, only to go on the IL before he pitches again.
Load management.
Should have hired the Superfife.
Cobb and Gibson-Long might be ready in June
The way he holds the ball & releases it causes severe pressure & possibly irritating the nerve